Page 64 - Proceeding 2015

FAMP PĂCE?ILĂ Mihaela
CCASP INVOLVEMENT OF NGOS IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

The decolonization of African societies in the 1960s led to a change in addressing the poverty issues:

reduce the causes rather than the consequences of poverty. The armed conflicts that ravaged the
countries during the 1970s and 1980s (Vietnam, Angola, Palestine) led the European NGOs to act as
mediators in order to support informal diplomacy. In addition, in the mid-1980s, the World Bank found that

NGOs were more efficient and less corrupt than typical government channels (Berthoud, 2001).

The history of NGO movements is marked by several stages. The first stage was the solidarity movement
which led to important political changes in Poland in the 1980s. Another stage is represented by the

impact of environmental activists on the Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The latest stage reference
is represented by the anti-globalization and environmental organizations who have protested against the
World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Seattle in 1999 (McGann & Johnstone, 2006).

NGO involvement in social, economic, political and environmental issues turned them into key actors of
society which promote the change. They could be the solution to the collapse of traditional structures and
the failure of governments in some fields. Moreover, in democratic societies citizens have the right to

freedom of association. The exercise of this right leads to the emergence of political religious, artistic,
sporting, commercial organizations, etc, which operate within society and mobilize resources in order to

produce wealth and improve the quality of life (Korten, 1990; Bagci, 2007). PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11 TH ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ”Strategic Management for Local Communities” 30 th – 31 st October 2015 Bucharest

In the 1980s, the recognition of the essential role of civil society in the civic and political development of
countries increases the importance of non-governmental sector. In this context, people consider that

NGOs, the expression of citizens’ freedom of association, contribute to bridging the opportunity gap
between the advantaged and the disadvantaged people in the society. Furthermore, another authors
(Bebbington and Farrigon, 1992; Bebbington and Thiele, 1993) considers that not only social activities
contribute to the growing importance of NGOs, but also military activities, especially in developing

countries.

According to Edwards and Hulme (1992, 1996) NGOs are considered an important channel for social
welfare, poverty alleviation and development of civil society at the end of the Cold War in 1989. The

explosion of NGOs is also related to reducing the role of the state in the economy. Taking into account
their effectiveness in reducing poverty, the states increasingly support NGOs in providing services in

sectors where government intervention is not enough. Moreover, many NGOs operate in fields which
were previously the exclusive jurisdiction of the state, such as education and health (Gideon, 1996).

The increasing global influence of NGOs is an important phenomenon with implications on the

development perspectives of poor people, on the future of these organizations and on the economy in
which they operates (Bagci, 2007). However, while the governments of many developing countries are

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