UN Headquarters, photo courtesy of Ashitaka San
The United Nations (UN) is a powerhouse with the ability to create international law. Through its various committees, commissions and the UN Security Council – the core group of five countries that wield veto power on resolutions passed – international law is born. Its influence shapes the challenges international non-governmental organizations (iNGOs) face, and also the benefits they receive. Many iNGOs choose to partner with the UN and receive the full benefit of being sheltered under that umbrella.
Ross Pink, a professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, has worked with iNGOs such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). From an early age, his interest in justice and human rights led him to work alongside iNGOs to promote understanding and awareness.
“The greatest human rights crisis in the world today is clean water,” Pink said. “It doesn’t get as much attention, I feel, that it deserves.” To change that, Pink is establishing his own educational iNGO, Global Water Rights.
“NGOs are not just about following their own agenda. They also form a very valuable policy role. There’s a very good relationship in most cases between governments and NGOs because they can help advise,” he said.
“A lot of NGOs are very close to the UN because there’s a very wide range of NGOs, everything from agriculture to water.”
This diversification of interests causes many NGOs to fall under the protective umbrella of the UN, and enhances their cause through increased exposure and funding. But is there enough protection for NGOs working abroad, even under the UN’s laws?
When Pink was in Mumbai working with the Indian Health Organization (IHO) doing a documentary on child trafficking, he found out first-hand that safety, even under international law, is not a given. Pink and Dr. Gilada, the founder of the IHO, were forced to flee from a red light district after local gangsters, angry at their presence, threatened violence.
UN and government diplomats and other governments enjoy protection under conventional and customary international law, but that’s not something that applies to NGO workers, even when associated with UN programs.
“There is an unwritten rule that you don’t attack diplomats, you don’t arrest them. Even when the American diplomats were kidnapped in Tehran in 1979, as radical as the Khomeini regime was, they did not harm any American hostages,” Pink said.
That immunity does not extend to iNGO representatives, even those linked to the United Nations. In fact, it can be a deterrent to be a citizen or iNGO associated with the UN, and in particular, its powerful Security Council member, the United States.
The recent attacks in Kenya, where foreigners and non-Muslims were targeted because of their association with powerful western countries are proof.
“There’s always that risk. A nation that’s as powerful and involved in the world as the United States is inevitably going to make enemies and that puts American citizens, be they NGO workers or just tourists, at risk,” said Pink.
“It’s important to keep in mind that a lot of times NGOs are working in hostile environments.”
The NGOs are as subject (if not more so) to domestic politics and policies as they are to international law, and there is a danger inherent in that that no amount of UN influence can mitigate.
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Dr. Ross Pink will be delivering a talk at Kwantlen University March 3, 2014 through the TALK program, at the KPU Richmond Campus, on water in the developing world.
In part four of this series, we’ll look at the extent that domestic law influences NGOs, both abroad and at home here in Canada.
