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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
IRAQ: New local NGOs set to play greater role
BAGHDAD, 25 March 2004 (IRIN) - Newly emerging local aid agencies look set to play a greater part in rebuilding Iraqi society as international agencies reduce both staff and projects as a result of ongoing security problems. But many local groups will need help to develop their role, aid workers say.
Under former President Saddam Hussein, aid organisations and charity groups were virtually all part of the government. International aid agencies were not allowed to operate in the country, although some small European agencies did some work, along with various United Nations groups.
Now, new non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are springing up almost overnight, many originally from northern Iraq, where civil society has been growing for more than 10 years under a government protected from the rest of Iraq by an international no-fly zone.
There are now more than 200 aid agencies, Iraqi al-Amal Association worker Awadis Intranik, told IRIN in Baghdad. Al-Amal was first established in 1992 in the north following the Gulf war. In May 2003 it opened headquarters in Baghdad and has since expanded operations across the country. "Our future work is to be with local NGOs," Intranik said.
But he noted that the new humanitarian groups need to learn how similar organisations work around the world. So, Al-Amal, which receives funding from a wide number of US-based aid agencies, is offering a series of workshops on civil society, democracy and human rights, networking, lobbying and advocacy, and other basic NGO tenets, to help other new groups.
It's not easy for such groups, or for the average Iraqi citizen, to figure out how a local NGO is supposed to work, said Anissa Badaoui, who is also working on the workshop project as the National NGO Support Group representative.
When you have US-led military troops doing humanitarian projects; private international companies hiring local people for humanitarian-related reconstruction on schools and other buildings; and some US-based aid agencies working with US administrators while others do not, there is room
for confusion, Badaoui said.
"It's not clear to them what civil society is, what an NGO is," she said. "The distinction is very difficult for them."
Saddam Hussein tried to keep people dependent on the government, which means new NGO leaders have limited knowledge of how global non-governmental groups work, Badaoui added.
For example, in a recent workshop, when the new NGO leaders were asked if they should pay taxes or customs fees at a border crossing to get humanitarian aid into a country, virtually all said they should, she said. International aid agencies traditionally are exempt from taxes in a host country, although rules vary from country to country. US administrators in Iraq are currently trying to register NGOs and offer them tax-exempt status.
"These NGOs don't understand yet the role they can play in changing things in society," Badaoui said. "If they are new ones, they don't have experience."
But some international agencies are trying to ensure a kind of transition. French aid agencies Enfants du Monde and Premiere Urgence are among those which have cut back operations recently and they are helping to nurture local NGOs to take on the work of international ones in the future, said Ahmed Watban, assistant head of mission at Enfants du Monde.
"Iraq has passed the emergency stage and has moved into the development stage, so that means different things for us," Watban said.
Meanwhile, nascent NGOs, such as Childhood Voice, get some support from groups like Norwegian Church Aid. Some of the other local groups receiving help include at least two peace organisations, three women's groups, three rights groups and the Care Society for Wassit Handicapped.
In the future, al-Amal and Badaoui of the National NGO support Group plan to open a local NGO centre to help build relationships between national and international NGOs. The centre would also continue to offer training and workshops.
"The process should be that the local NGOs take over, but it's a long one, with a lot of work," Badaoui said.
Theme(s): (IRIN) Other
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
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