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Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are
non-profit organizations that are neither
governmental nor intergovernmental. Generally
established to bring together like-minded
individuals committed to achieving particular
objectives, NGOs vary considerably in the size of
their constituencies, in their organizational
structures and in their effectiveness. They range
from organizations of small producers and rural
people to development and environment NGOs,
traditional trade unions and to professional,
academic and industry associations. At a national
level NGOs often have links to international NGOs
either formally as member organizations or through
informal networking. In practice, political parties
and their international associations are not
considered NGOs.
Globally, the role of NGOs in the governance of
fisheries at local, national and international
levels has greatly increased in the last two
decades. The emergence of NGOs as
policy-influencing and implementing actors distinct
from governments and political parties has many
reasons. These include the diversification of
peoples' interests in the course of technological,
economic and social changes whose demand for
organized representation cannot be satisfied within
the existing structures; the desire for just,
equitable and sustainable development;
disillusionment with the ability and capacity of
governments and international agencies to implement
effective development policies for poor and
vulnerable sections of the population; and as a
means of self-employment.
Governments, donor agencies and academics
increasingly recognize that the involvement of NGOs
is generally constructive and sometimes
indispensable for achieving effective fisheries
management. In co-management or community-based
management schemes, NGOs frequently offer a
detailed knowledge of local culture, practices and
political structures to fisheries management and
often have highly motivated staff.
FAO's relationship with NGOs has evolved
considerably during the last decades. In the 1960s
and 1970s, the main emphasis of FAO's Fisheries
Department was to assist fisheries administrations
and research agencies in introducing advanced fish
harvesting, processing, distribution and marketing
technologies and practices, to assess fish stocks
and to upgrade national capabilities in these areas
through training. At that time, the few development
NGOs interested in fisheries and fishing
communities were often critical of FAO's focus on
industrial or semi-industrial fisheries.
From the latter part of the 1970s, the FAO
Fisheries Department's work was gradually
re-oriented towards small-scale (artisanal)
fisheries and fisheries management. The emphasis on
small-scale fisheries reflected the increasing
international concern with basic needs of poor
people and the recognition that most of the world's
fishers were from poor communities in developing
countries.
The 1984 World Fisheries Conference provided,
inter alia, a mandate to FAO to strengthen
its relationship with NGOs active in fisheries,
particularly in view of the requirement to involve
local-level producers' organizations in the
planning and implementation of small-scale
fisheries development and management programmes.
Parallel to this, NGOs organized an International
Conference of Fishworkers and their Supporters that
marked a turning point in the role of NGOs -
especially on international fisheries issues - and
in their relationship with FAO which led to closer
collaboration in areas of common interest.
Since the early 1990s, important environmental
NGOs have taken a strong interest in the work of
FAO, especially in relation to fisheries and
coastal zone management issues addressed in the
1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment
and Development (UNCED). NGOs actively participated
in negotiations leading to the 1995 UN Agreement on
Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish
Stocks and the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for
Responsible Fisheries.
Currently, issues of critical interest to NGOs
include: excess fleet capacities and harmful
subsidies in world fisheries, impacts of fishing
agreements and fish trade on the environment, food
security and the socio-economic conditions of
small-scale and indigenous fishers, and
environmental and social effects of certain types
of aquaculture (e.g. shrimp and salmon
culture).
NGOs have become important agents for
disseminating information produced by FAO.
Similarly, staff and associates of NGOs are
important carriers and producers of information,
which assist the Fisheries Department staff in
performing their monitoring and advisory functions
effectively. Owing to their preferential access and
interaction with producers' organizations, NGOs
have increasingly become indispensable
intermediaries of a two-way information flow
between the FAO and fishworkers, and the public at
large.
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