...various prominent figures, including David Bahati, the author of the anti-homosexuality bill, is indicative of the direction in which it is pulling Uganda. This influence relied on personal connections of the sort that other NGOs often fail to cultivate and the resulting actions, perhaps more than the mission statement, of the foundation have significantly influenced Ugandan lawmakers to adopt a decidedly anti-homosexual agenda. And then there i...
...em I would never have gotten a chance to use equipment like computers and cameras, and I would not know how to make films, but there has got to be a point when you wake up.” Vituko, however, finds that the problem within most NGOs is a lack of understanding, despite their good intentions. “They come here and they want to do something, to help, but they did not think about us. They do not think to ask us what we need or want. NGOs need to understa...
...Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Indeed, stopping war criminals while saving children is a noble cause few would oppose. Yet when Kony 2012 aired in Uganda, it caused a flood of spontaneous protests. Various NGOs, with the exception of Invisible Children, reacted with similar anger. Kony 2012 is a phenomenon that merits a closer look at the creation of facts by mass media and NGOs, and at the consequences of “fact engineering” f...
...the quantity and the quality of war crimes trials. This includes—indeed primarily refers to—war crimes trials not conducted at the ICC. In 1998, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, an umbrella organization of NGOs campaigning for the ICC’s establishment, argued that “…the ICC will cause the greatest strengthening of national prosecution of crimes against humanity.” There are three fundamental reasons for the indirect effects of t...
...ent headlines. March 24, the popularly elected and temporary legislative Shura Council—of which Mohammad Morsi’s Freedom and Justice Party holds a majority of the seats— passed in principle a new law that will heavily subject NGOs to government supervision, and limit their avenues for political participation and foreign funding. Many have since cried out against the law and have claimed that the regulatory provision will restrict civil society ac...
...edom and democracy and more of a breeding ground for terrorists. The counter-insurgency mentality of the Coalition nations that entered Iraq in 2003 is not so different from the liberal values held by the UN organizations and NGOs conducting humanitarian aid. Haunted by the long and costly years in Iraq, the United States is unlikely to take any direct ground action in Syria, and it has instead delivered more funds for humanitarian aid than any o...
...with Republicans themselves pointing out that Iraq was a great example of the failure of blindly enforcing US values abroad. When asked if the United States should cut its aid to Egypt as a result of its crackdown on American NGOs, the Democrats responded with caution, stating that the United States should be patient and respect the sovereignty of Egypt. Following up on this, the Libertarians questioned why, if sovereignty was a key issue, the Li...
...will never stick and where no viable independent economy can ever sustain itself. A January 24 Economist article warned, “The stakes are high. A complete meltdown in Kenya may set back the entire continent.” The fear is that NGOs and business interests will stop investing time and money in the entire continent. Certainly, an escalated conflict in Kenya would have severe implications for a region already plagued by ongoing conflicts in Somalia an...
...school and University of California’s School of Design chronicled the moving story of night commuters and child soldiers in Northern Uganda. Millions of hits from college students later, the cause is a crucial issue for many NGOs, and has captured the attention of Washington. Columbia’s own InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) has partnered with World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization, to provide immediate assistance to the area...
...t officials ultimately secured my release from a Chinese prison and subsequent resettlement in the U.S. in 2005, and I remain deeply grateful to the U.S. for bringing about my personal freedom. Amnesty International and other NGOs in the U.S. and around the world also campaigned for my release. The U.S. government is also quite concerned with the situation of my family members, especially my two sons in prison. However, the Uighur movement still...
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