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NGO Watch as been revived, and has a new focus and mission, so most everything on this page was innacurate. The new NGO Watch (I am its editor--Jon Entine) is non-ideological.
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'''NGOWatch <http://www.globalgovernancewatch.org/ngo_watch/>''' is non-profit organization that monitors activities of [[non-government organization]]s (NGOs) and their impact on public policy. It operated between [[2003]] and [[2007]] as a collaborative project of the [[American Enterprise Institute]] for Public Policy Research and the [[Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies]]. It closed in 2007 when AEI and FedSoc formed Global Goverance Watch, and was. The work of NGOWatch was well financed and had over 160 NGOs listed.{{Fact|2007-11-14|date=November 2007}}
{{POV|date=December 2007}}
{{Inappropriate tone|date=December 2007}}
'''NGOWatch''' was non-profit organization that monitored activities of [[non-government organization]]s (NGOs) and their impact on public policy. It operated between [[2003]] and [[2007]] as a collaborative project of the [[American Enterprise Institute]] for Public Policy Research and the [[Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies]]. It closed in 2007. The work of NGOWatch was well financed and had over 160 NGOs listed.{{Fact|2007-11-14|date=November 2007}}


NGOWatch focussed on government funding of NGOs. "In recent years, NGOs have become more prominent, more visible across a broader spectrum of interests. Governments and international organizations increasingly rely on NGOs to implement aid programs and deliver development assistance, channeling millions of dollars through these organizations and arguing, in effect, that NGOs have the capacity to address social and environmental problems with greater efficiency than government agencies. Today, thousands of internationally operating NGOs deliver billions of dollars of assistance annually, and the U.S. government gives a large share of its aid funds through NGOs," they stated. <ref>[http://www.ngowatch.org/about.php About NGOWatch] NGOWatch</ref>
NGOWatch focussed on government funding of NGOs. "In recent years, NGOs have become more prominent, more visible across a broader spectrum of interests. Governments and international organizations increasingly rely on NGOs to implement aid programs and deliver development assistance, channeling millions of dollars through these organizations and arguing, in effect, that NGOs have the capacity to address social and environmental problems with greater efficiency than government agencies. Today, thousands of internationally operating NGOs deliver billions of dollars of assistance annually, and the U.S. government gives a large share of its aid funds through NGOs," they stated. <ref>[http://www.ngowatch.org/about.php About NGOWatch] NGOWatch</ref>

==Launch==
To coincide with the launch of NGOWatch, the [[American Enterprise Institute]] (AEI) co-hosted a conference called “We're Not from the Government, But We're Here to Help You - Nongovernmental Organizations: The Growing Power of an Unelected Few,” with the right-wing think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs in Australia. The list of speakers included: [[John Fonte]] from the [[Hudson Institute]], [[Gary Johns]] and [[Mike Nahan]], from the [[Institute of Public Affairs]], [[Fred Smith]], from the [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]], and [[David Riggs]] from the [[Capital Research Center]] that runs [http://www.greenwatch.org GreenWatch].


==Results of NGOWatch activities==
==Results of NGOWatch activities==
Just as some liberal and conservative monitoring groups maintain that in reviewing the impact of some philanthropic foundations, it's apparent that their work on behalf of social justice or environmental programs may actually damage the causes they were created to promote, so too objective monitors seek to shine a light on the works of NGOs and IGOs.
In September 2003, the [[Christian Science Monitor]] reported how “Spurred by conservative rumblings over the growing clout of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the Australian government is taking a closer look at such groups' activities at home and abroad”. The article noted how the investigation “could potentially cut off some charities from further government access, funding, or tax breaks, experts say” <ref>J. Kremmer (2003) “Australia Scrutinizes Influence of Nongovernmental Groups”, Christian Science Monitor, 5 September, p.7.</ref>

The month before, in July 2003, the Australian Treasurer, [[Peter Costello]] released draft legislation threatening to remove tax exemption status from NGOs if they were deemed to be more involved in political lobbying and advocacy than in community work. It was a move widely condemned as a bid by the Government to silence its most strident critics <ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/09/1060360555284.html Attack on covert project for IPA] Brendan Nicholson and Gary Hughes, The Age, 2003-08-10</ref>.

The result is that suddenly the two primary sources of funding for NGOs - tax deductible donations and government grants or payments for carrying out consultative work - are under simultaneous attack.{{Fact|2007-11-14|date=November 2007}}

Just as [[Conservatism|conservative]] groups argue that philanthropic foundations that fund social justice or environmental programs have strayed from their founders [[donor intent]], so too they seek to portray NGOs as having strayed from their original objectives. "Many groups have strayed beyond their original mandates and assumed quasi-governmental roles. Increasingly, non-governmental organizations are not just accredited observers at international organizations, they are full-fledged decision-makers," they complain. <ref>[http://www.ngowatch.org/info.htm NGOWatch info] NGOWatch <font color=red>'''dead link 2007-11-14'''</font></ref>

==Comments==
Inter-Press Service journalist, Jim Lobe, sees the project as part of an attempt to curb NGOs ability to influence governments and international negotiations. "Having led the charge to [[war in Iraq]], the [[American Enterprise Institute]] (AEI), an influential [[think tank]] close to the [[George W. Bush administration|Bush administration]], has added a new target: international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)," he wrote.{{Fact|2007-11-14|date=November 2007}}

Canadian writer Naomi Klein commented: "The war on NGOs is being fought on two clear fronts. One buys the silence and complicity of mainstream humanitarian and religious groups by offering lucrative reconstruction contracts. The other marginalizes and criminalizes more independent-minded NGOs by claiming that their work is a threat to democracy. The [[U.S. Agency for International Development]] (USAID) is in charge of handing out the carrots, while the American Enterprise Institute, the most powerful think tank in Washington, D.C., is wielding the sticks," she wrote. <ref>[http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030620/CONAOMI20/TPComment/Columnists Bush to NGOs: Watch your mouths] Naomi Klein, Globe and Mail, 2003-06-20 <font color=red>'''paid subscription required to view article 2007-11-14'''</font></ref>

== NGOs formerly on the Watch List ==
Some NGOs are currently linked and have NGOWatch profiles.

*[[American Civil Liberties Union|American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)]]
*[[Freedom House]]
*[[Global Policy Forum]]
*[[Green Cross International]]
*[[International Planned Parenthood Federation]]
*[[Margaret Sanger Center]]
*[[National Organization for Women|National Organization for Women (NOW)]]
*[[National Rifle Association]]
*[[National Wildlife Federation]]
*[[Open Society Institute]]
*[[Planned Parenthood Federation of America]]
*[[Population Council|The Population Council]]
*[[Population Institute]]
*[[Sierra Club]]
*[[World Council of Churches|The World Council of Churches]]
*[[United Nations Foundation]]
*[[United Nations Association of the United States of America]]
*[[United Nations Watch]]
*[[World Business Council for Sustainable Development]]
*[[World Resources Institute]]

==Notes==
<references/>

== See also ==
*[[George Soros]]


== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==
*[http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.329,filter.all/event_detail.asp We're Not from the Government, but We're Here to Help You] American Enterprise Institute, 2003-06-11.
*[http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2003/06/14821.php U.S. Conservatives Take Aim at NGOs] Jim Lobe, ''OneWorld'', 2003-06-12. <font color=red>'''site off-line due to reorganization 2007-11-14'''</font>
*[http://adelaide.indymedia.org.au/front.php3?article_id=5349&group=webcast Bringing the War Home: Right Wing Think Tank Turns Wrath on NGOs] Jim Lobe, Adelaide Independent Media Center, 2003-06-16
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,982977,00.html Now Bush wants to buy the complicity of aid workers] Naomi Klein, ''Guardian'' (UK), 2003-06-23.
*[http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8180 The War Against NGOs] Naomi Klein, ''TomPaine.com'', 2003-06-23. <font color=red>'''dead link 2007-11-14'''</font>
:This is a republication of a commentary column that first appeared in the Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail.
*[http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v18n1/hardisty_ngo.html Policing Civil Society: NGO Watch] Jean Hardisty and Elizabeth Furdon, ''The Public Eye'', Spring 2004 • Volume XVIII, No.1
*[http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1199,filter.all/event_detail.asp NGOs: Indispensable or Unaccountable?] American Enterprise Institute, 2005-12-07.
*[http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1199,filter.all/event_detail.asp NGOs: Indispensable or Unaccountable?] American Enterprise Institute, 2005-12-07.
*[http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1224,filter.all/event_detail.asp After the Storm: Lessons Learned from the Tsunami One Year Later] American Enterprise Institute, 2006-01-10.
*[http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1224,filter.all/event_detail.asp After the Storm: Lessons Learned from the Tsunami One Year Later] American Enterprise Institute, 2006-01-10.
*[http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1267,filter.all/event_detail.asp The New NGO Law in Russia: Weakening Civil Society or Strengthening the Rule of Law?] American Enterprise Institute, 2006-03-01.
*[http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1267,filter.all/event_detail.asp The New NGO Law in Russia: Weakening Civil Society or Strengthening the Rule of Law?] American Enterprise Institute, 2006-03-01.
*[http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1265,filter.all,type.past/event_detail.asp Is Corporate Social Responsibility Serious Business?] American Enterprise Institute, 2006-03-03.
*[http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1265,filter.all,type.past/event_detail.asp Is Corporate Social Responsibility Serious Business?] American Enterprise Institute, 2006-03-03.

:subtitled "Nongovernmental Organizations: The Growing Power of an Unelected Few"
*[http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/costello-aims-to-make-protesters-pay-for-boycotts/2007/02/22/1171733955291.html Costello aims to make protesters pay for boycotts] Jessica Irvine, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 2007-02-23.


[[Category:Lists of organizations]]
[[Category:Lists of organizations]]

Revision as of 17:05, 24 May 2009

NGOWatch <http://www.globalgovernancewatch.org/ngo_watch/> is non-profit organization that monitors activities of non-government organizations (NGOs) and their impact on public policy. It operated between 2003 and 2007 as a collaborative project of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. It closed in 2007 when AEI and FedSoc formed Global Goverance Watch, and was. The work of NGOWatch was well financed and had over 160 NGOs listed.[citation needed]

NGOWatch focussed on government funding of NGOs. "In recent years, NGOs have become more prominent, more visible across a broader spectrum of interests. Governments and international organizations increasingly rely on NGOs to implement aid programs and deliver development assistance, channeling millions of dollars through these organizations and arguing, in effect, that NGOs have the capacity to address social and environmental problems with greater efficiency than government agencies. Today, thousands of internationally operating NGOs deliver billions of dollars of assistance annually, and the U.S. government gives a large share of its aid funds through NGOs," they stated. [1]

Results of NGOWatch activities

Just as some liberal and conservative monitoring groups maintain that in reviewing the impact of some philanthropic foundations, it's apparent that their work on behalf of social justice or environmental programs may actually damage the causes they were created to promote, so too objective monitors seek to shine a light on the works of NGOs and IGOs.

Further reading

  1. ^ About NGOWatch NGOWatch