Who’s helping Who? NGO Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance With Special Reference to Afghanistan (1985 -2001) Arne Strand Dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Post-War Recovery August 2003 University of York Department of Politics Post-War Reconstruction and Development Unit Abstract Abstract The subject of this thesis is the coordination of humanitarian assistance in complex political emergencies undertaken by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), primarily assistance directed towards forced migrants. The study aims to address the paucity of literature and theories on NGO coordination, and focuses primarily on the situation in Afghanistan during the period 1985 to 2001. The research is drawing on the author’s field experience and an extensive literature review outlining and discussing complex political emergencies, forced migration, NGOs and NGO coordination. An empirical investigations was carried out at village level in Herat, Afghanistan, in a highly conflict-ridden environment. Questions emerging from the primary field research were then followed-up through interviews and surveys among NGOs at a regional and national level in Afghanistan, and later broadened and compared with case studies from other conflict contexts. This in order to respond to the following hypothesis: The existing NGO coordination arrangement seems to serve primarily the interests of their NGO members, by promoting their organisational interests and facilitating interagency communication, rather than serving the interests of their intended beneficiaries. NGOs are willing to join a coordinating body, but they will remain reluctant to be directed by such a coordination structure if it limits their organisational independence. The major contribution of this thesis is the empirical findings on forced migrants knowledge and views on NGOs and the assistance they provide, and to what extent such assistance meet the needs of forced migrants. This includes knowledge on why forced migrant choose to flee and return, how their needs and resources are assessed, to which extent their need for humanitarian assistance actually is met and how timely such humanitarian interventions have been. Here the prime finding is that the local population was essentially disconnected from the NGO decision making and coordination process. Further evidence is then provided on how divided the NGO community is in Afghanistan, manifested by the presence of five coordinating bodies. The thesis presents NGOs attitude towards coordination, how useful they assess the coordinating bodies and their activities, why they reject a forced coordination practise and underlines their scepticism towards allowing forced migrants larger influence on project and priority settings. And, finally, the thesis argues that the NGOs lack of willingness to join one common Afghan coordinating body is due to their fear of loosing influence and independence. Which, in sum, leads to a conclusion that NGO coordination is primarily benefiting the NGOs, not their intended beneficiaries. 3 Abstract The above sited findings lead to a confirmation of the hypothesis for this thesis, and, furthermore, the empirical findings lead the author to suggest a more realistic approach to NGO coordination in complex political emergencies. 4 Contents Contents ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................................... 3 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .............................................................................................................. 9 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................... 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................... 11 AUTHOR’S DECLARATION.......................................................................................................... 13 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................. 15 IDENTIFYING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM............................................................................................ 15 THE THEORETICAL APPROACH AND RESEARCH QUESTION .............................................................. 16 THE CENTRAL THESIS....................................................................................................................... 16 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................. 19 EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION .............................................................................................................. 20 STUDY STRUCTURE .......................................................................................................................... 21 THE AUDIENCE ................................................................................................................................. 21 MAIN CONTRIBUTION OF THE THESIS ............................................................................................... 22 1. COMPLEX POLITICAL EMERGENCIES AND FORCED MIGRATION...................... 23 1.1. COMPLEX EMERGENCIES..................................................................................................... 24 1.1.1. Defining a ‘Complex Emergency’.............................................................................. 24 1.1.2. Complex Political Emergency.................................................................................... 26 1.2. EFFECTS ON STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY.............................................................................. 27 1.3. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE IN CPES................................................................................ 29 1.3.1. The Continuum Debate .............................................................................................. 30 1.3.2. Gaps and Linkage Model ........................................................................................... 31 1.3.3. Differentiating Between Relief, Rehabilitation and Development ............................. 32 1.3.4. Funding Labels .......................................................................................................... 34 1.4. DEFINING FORCED MIGRATION ........................................................................................... 35 1.4.1. Migration ................................................................................................................... 36 1.4.2. Forced Migration....................................................................................................... 37 1.5. THE SCALE OF FORCED MIGRATION.................................................................................... 39 1.6. MIGRATION THEORIES......................................................................................................... 41 1.7. CENTRAL THEMES FOR FORCED MIGRATION RESEARCH..................................................... 44 1.7.1. Islam’s Influence on Migration in the Muslim World ................................................ 45 1.7.2. Gender and Migration ............................................................................................... 45 1.7.3. A Complex Migration Circle...................................................................................... 47 1.8. FORCED MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS TO ASSISTANCE ..................................................................... 50 1.9. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 52 2. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS ..................................................................... 55 2.1. THE RISE OF THE NGOS ...................................................................................................... 55 2.1.1. Religious Influence..................................................................................................... 55 2.1.2. ICRC and IFRC.......................................................................................................... 57 2.1.3. After the World Wars ................................................................................................. 57 2.1.4. The 1960s and 1970s ................................................................................................. 58 2.1.5. The 1980s and 1990s ................................................................................................. 58 2.1.6. The Humanitarian Regime......................................................................................... 61 2.2. NGO’S IN PROFILE .............................................................................................................. 62 2.2.1. Estimated Value of Humanitarian Assistance............................................................ 62 2.2.2. Donor Dependency .................................................................................................... 64 2.3. DEFINING AN NGO.............................................................................................................. 64 2.4. NGO DIVERSITY AND ASSUMED WEAKNESSES................................................................... 67 2.5. NGOS’ POSITION WITHIN CIVIL SOCIETY ........................................................................... 70 2.6. INTERACTION AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT.............................................................................