The Dark Side of NGOs

Sam Feldman

                                                   The Dark Side of NGOs


          Many non-governmental organizations, such as Red Cross, Greenpeace, and Human Rights Watch involve themselves in a wide range of issues that include pressing injustice or oppression, in which local governments are unable or unwilling to help.  Intuitively, many people believe that these organizations completely solve issues and partake in all positive encounters in areas of the world where people are suffering. Many of these issues include the environment, poverty, and human rights, and while their goal may be to help people in certain situations, they often end up doing the opposite and critically harming the people they claim to be helping.  In Sebastian Mallaby’s article “NGOs: Fighting Poverty, Hurting the Poor”, he exploits these organizations and has first hand evidence that they are damaging the people’s lives that they declare to be making significantly better.
          When Mallaby visited Uganda, he personally saw what these NGO’s were doing to supposedly “fight poverty” and “protect the environment”.  They were campaigning on behalf of these poor people, however many of their campaigns ended up harming the poor.  Many projects of these NGOs either ended up being useless to the Ugandans or disrupted their already difficult lives.  Similarly, they also claimed to be helping the environment, but after they forced out the World Bank (a financial institution that provides loans to developing countries), these NGO’s proceeded without the environmental safety precautions that the bank would have imposed on them.  This type of behavior is not uncommon among NGO’s around the world as they gain public support for their campaigns that they pledge to be saving lives and providing justice for certain parts of the world.
          A similar event happened not too long ago in 2010 with the earthquake in Haiti.  In 10th grade, I remember doing a research project on organizations devoted to helping aid the Haitians that were affected by the earthquake, and what I read was shocking. I always thought that these organizations did nothing but rebuild houses and donate money to save the destroyed lives of Haiti’s citizens.  However, the exposure of the failure of NGO’s during this time of suffering became clear.  Even after many NGO aid systems claimed to have solved many problems and provided tons of aid in Haiti after the devastating earthquake, there were still more than a million people living in overcrowded camps, many of which didn’t have toilets or safe drinking water.  These people were not necessarily even better off after the “help” of these NGO’s.  When money from foreign governments and private donors is pledged to Haiti, it usually goes directly to NGOs, which is then to be used at their discretion.   This is the perfect example of the corruption of many NGOs that claim to provide aid to underprivileged parts of the world.  While many organizations declare to be providing relief in areas during harsh times, it is important to research and find out what is actually going on in these NGOs, rather than blindly following their agenda.