NGO Forum

Al Jazeera posted the following article:

“International NGOs have condemned the US government’s decision to cut more than half of its planned funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in a Twitter post late on Tuesday that Washington was “holding Palestinian kids’ humanitarian needs hostage to political agendas”.

Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, urged the US government to reverse its decision announced on Tuesday to withhold $65m out of $125m aid package earmarked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).”

The Canadian Broadcasting Company posted the following article:

“NGOs say some countries are purposely stalling groups supporting causes they disagree with.

NGOs and voices within the United Nations are calling for the reform of the committee tasked with accrediting non-governmental organizations, saying it has become a political tool to block rather than bolster their participation.

The UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations was established in 1946 and falls under the Economic and Social Council, one of six principal entities of the UN. Its primary task is to grant so-called consultative status to NGOs that want to have a voice at the UN….”

Mongabay posted the following article on its website:

• President Donald Trump has proposed cutting foreign aid funding to nations and inter-governmental organizations by 32 percent, about $19 billion – cuts the U.S. Congress has yet to vote on. Voting has been delayed since September, and is next scheduled for 19 January, though another delay may occur.
• One inter-governmental organization on Trump’s cutting block is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) best known for its global Red List, the go-to resource for the status of endangered species planet-wide. Over the past four years the U.S. contributed between 5 and 9 percent of the IUCN’s total framework funding, and 4 to 7 percent of its programmatic funding.

An article published on News 24 reported:

“Oslo – A Norwegian court on Thursday dismissed a case by Greenpeace and two other NGOs which sued Norway, western Europe’s largest oil producer, over licences it awarded in 2016 for oil prospecting in the Arctic.”

Click here to read the entire article.

The Times of Malta published the following article about NGOs:

“The President has pledged her support for fundraisers in aid of animal welfare and offered proceeds from the annual citrus festival in aid of this cause.

The proposal was made during a meeting between Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and animal NGOs’ representatives, who voiced their concern about not benefitting from L-Istrina funds.

The organisations have suggested organising a separate televised fundraiser in aid of animal welfare. Since the NGOs would not be able to afford the administration of such an event, and also to keep things “as clean as possible”, they had suggested it would be handled by those running L-Istrina.