NGO Recommendations for the Creation

NGO

Recommendations for the Creation of AU.S.-Lead NGO Targeting Poverty, Hunger, and Social Injustice

As the Bush administration prepares to leave office, the international community cannot help but remember the actions that occurred during this administration that lead to the worsening of the United States' reputation throughout the world. Just a few of these events include an unpopular war in Iraq, the United States' attitude toward alternative fuels, and United States' military action in other parts of the globe. Furthermore, the United States has chosen to ignore many worldwide problems, including social justice issues, poverty, hunger, disease prevention, and the like. The Obama administration's decision to rectify this situation is positive on many levels. First, it signifies the United States' willingness to engage once again in the Global Civil Society, entering a forum to solve issues that are important to the world as a whole, not simply United States issues. Second, it suggests that the United States is finally open to listening to the rest of the world. Currently, many of the cases with which NGOs deal, cases that have to so with world hunger, poverty, social justice, and other issues, are located in the United States. In professing to care about such issues, the United States implies that it may begin to address some of its own problems that have to do with such problem. Keeping these issues in mind is important when considering how to craft the NGO that will deal with problems of interest to the entire world. If the goal of this NGO is not only to address these problems around the globe, but also to improve the image of the United States, then the NGO director and advisors should be sure to understand that both showing willingness to engage in the global civil society and listening to the rest of the world are key elements in attaining both goals.

Although quite a large number of issues exist that this new NGO could address, the issues of poverty, hunger, and social justice are the three on which the NGO director should concentrate on immediately. These issues are those that are in the international spotlight, but they are some of the issues that have caused controversy in the United States in the past. For instance, the United States has the reputation of a nation filled with people that are so well overfed that obesity is a problem. Although many would contend that poverty is a problem in the United States, it is also the nation of materialism, credit, and the world's wealthiest. Furthermore, the United States is among less than 100 countries that still has the death penalty, and many claim that equality issues in the United States are not as progressive as in other countries, such as Europe. By targeting these issues first, the new NGO will show real commitment to making a difference in the world.

Furthermore, by targeting the issues, the United States can make an impact on many other issues as well. For instance, many believe hunger and poverty lead to many situations of social injustice, violence, and other worldwide problems, like terrorism. By targeting the issues of hunger, poverty, and social injustice, the United States will not only promote the United States' reputation, but it will also help guard the United States against the repercussions of these problems.

To begin to address these problems, the NGO director and advisors must ease their way into the community of institutions developed to solve problems such as those already detailed. Currently, many NGOs and IGOs exist with the expressed purpose of addressing these problems. In addition, the United States has maintained a reputation of the world power that likes to burst in and take care of problems its own way, without consulting others with vested interest in the solution. If their entrance into this arena is not carefully planed, it may confirm the United States' reputation as a jealous dominate rather than change that reputation. Thus, the NGO director and advisors should plan a multilateral conference with the leaders of other NGOs that are of like-minded ideals. This way, the U.S.-lead NGO can collaborate with other NGOs in order to determine an action plan, discuss issues of importance, and foster cooperation. According to Walsh, the international community has entered a new era in which entities must work together in order to affect change. While Walsh specifically discusses the partnership that for-profit companies can have with NGOs, his point is more generally applicable. Indeed, it is the very definition of global civil society. Global civil society is an international community that functions and works together in order to solve shared problems. By entering the NGO arena by working with other arenas, the director and advisors of Obama's U.S.-sponsored NGO will represent its willingness to enter that global civil society.