C/P/29. NGOs-State Relationship in Humanitarian Relief Operations

Realist theory of International Relations tends to downplay the capacity of NGOs for independent actions and portrays their activities by reference to agendas of states and governments. The essay considers the NGO performance in the context of humanitarian relief operations to find that NGOs are often apprehensive of coordinating relief efforts with Western governments or UN agencies for fear of losing ´independenceŽ and ´impartialityŽ and compromising the security of their own personnel. While government donors often finance NGO operations in the field through ´subcontractingŽ humanitarian tasks, NGOs are not easily manipulated into following donor agendas and, in fact, they often impose their own agendas on the donors.