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Non-Governmental Organisations in France and Britain
Written by Mary Braid
A seminar held in Leeds Castle in March 2003 brought together the directors of some of the most significant NGOs in France and Britain with academics and government officials. What are NGOs for? To whom are they accountable? Are they better able than governments or official bodies to respond to the needs and people they aim to serve? Do close links with government and/or major corporations cause them to ‘lose their souls’ as one French delegate put it? This report by Mary Braid, a journalist who writes for The Sunday Times and The Observer, answers these questions in summarising the main themes which emerged from the meeting: the accountability of NGOs, their relations with national governments, the tensions between NGOs in the North and those in the South and the extent to which they ought to engage with international corporations as advisors and watchdogs. She concludes with a list of suggestions made during the seminar as to how to increase the effectiveness and widen the scope of NGOs. These include the creation of a Franco-British group to focus on major issues in order to shape policy and public debate and greater efforts by NGOs to develop joint advocacy policies across the EU. The publication includes annexes provided by seminar participants which outline:- the NGO sector in France and Britain
- their roles in French and British foreign policy
- the relations between NGOs and national governments and the implications.
Number of pages/format: B5 32 pp
Published: May 2003
ISBN: 0 9540118 7 2