It is argued that Non State actors have the potential to influence policy or even the outcome of Diplomatic negotiations both in home and foreign soil, but how effective is the role of NGOs in conducting public Diplomacy?
Non state actors face numerous challenges to achieve their goals, being the issue of legitimacy one of the most common of all. This issue is frequently stressed by some governments whose policies and methods are challenged by NGO’s.
According to an article written in 2003 by Henri Rouille d’orfeuil and Jorge Eduardo Durao (coordination SUD) , some Governments with more conservative characteristics often try to discredit NGOs by raising questions regarding their legitimacy, representativeness, diversity and their funding.
Not being recognised as a legitimate organization is definitely a big problem for some NGOs, if they are not recognised as such, then their credibility is automatically in jeopardy, which between some other aspects is one of the most important characteristics of an NGO.
On the other hand, when it comes to addressing foreign audiences Non Governmental organizations have an upper hand on Governments, their independency and Non Governmental involvement makes them more credible, since they are not “supposed” to be representing the interests of any particular government.
People tend to be more receptive to NGOs for the simple fact that they don’t represent the interests of a certain nation or government but often defend and represent the interests of the common citizen in other words; they don’t have a hidden Agenda or at least that is what they claim, since politics is a tricky field with a great potential for unlawful and immoral practices.
This supposed detachment from a certain Government makes NGOs more credible in the eyes of the common population.
References :
Articles
• Non-state ambassadors: NGOs' contribution to America's public diplomacy (http://www.palgrave-journals.com)
• The Role of NGOs in the public debate and international relations (http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/pdfs/ngo_public_diplomacy.pdf)
Book
• Michele M. Betsill and Elisabeth Corel. NGO DIPLOMACY, 2008
Nairy I agree international audiences are usually suspicious of state –led public diplomacy initiatives; this is mainly because they tend to have a political agenda. On the other hand, foreign audiences seem to trust NGOs due to their independence from governments. NGOs ability to challenge government decisions lead to this trust. However, NGOs also have their own interests just as governments do. NGOs generally work for the benefit of their own organization, ideology, or country. I think audiences should also become more critical of NGOs and not believe everything just for the sake that they are non-governmental organizations. This in turn could make NGOs improve their accountability record and strengthen the work for the benefit of the communities.
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