NGO Forum

By Samuel Worthington

The Huffington Post

A common misperception regarding NGO-private sector relations is one based on mutual distrust and occasional confrontation; or with the advent of corporate social responsibility funding, one solely based on donor-recipient transactions. With the international development landscape rapidly evolving, some historical and present-day assumptions are simply inaccurate.

The following statements are not true of operational U.S. NGOs:

1. They are generally uncomfortable partnering with companies seeking new markets or profits

2. As advocates they only critique private sector practices or push for increased regulation

By Cory Doctorow

Boing Boing

A new report from the storied Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto documents the advanced, persistent threats levied against civil society groups and NGOs — threats that rival those facing any government or Fortune 100 company, but whose targets are much less well-equipped to defend themselves.

Citizen Lab has a remarkable record when it comes to tracking down and exposing cyber-threats, from China’s spying on the Dalai Lama to indispensable work on the Russian surveillance apparatus. In their new report, Communities @ Risk: Targeted Digital Threats Against Civil Society , they present a grim, detailed view of the attacks brought to bear on groups concerned with human rights, fair elections, and other core democratic values.

9News

The bulk of the roughly three billion dollars given over the past decade by the Gates Foundation to foster agriculture in poor countries has been given to aid groups based in rich nations, said a study published today.

The foundation – set up by Microsoft founder Bill Gates to fight poverty and disease in impoverished nations — awarded 610 agricultural development grants worth $3.11 billion between 2003 and September 2013, the study by the Barcelona-based research group Grain found.

Roughly half of this amount went to international organisations such as the World Bank or United Nations agencies, as well as global agriculture research networks, Grain said in a report.