Atlas: Roles in Conflict---NGOs and Military Occupation in Iraq by Barbara Brubacher

Atlas home || Conferences | Abstracts | about Atlas

ISTR Sixth International Conference
Toronto, Canada / July 11-14, 2004
Contesting Citizenship and Civil Society in a Divided World

	Conference Homepage
	Abstracts

Roles in Conflict---NGOs and Military Occupation in Iraq
by
Barbara Brubacher
INTRAC, International NGO Training and Research Centre, 65 George Street, Oxford OX1 2BQ, United Kingdom
Coauthors: Matthew Brubacher

The U.S. and U.K. occupation of Iraq pose new challenges for Western NGO practitioners. While the humanitarian situation in Iraq is dire and the needs of the people immediate, engaging in development within Iraq is inherently political as the situation remains in a state of constant flux and the structure of post-conflict Iraq is only beginning to take shape. In this delicate interim phase, NGO involvement is particularly pivotal and it is important to identify the dangers and opportunities that will characterize this intervention. This paper will attempt to address two of these issues, drawing comparisons from western NGO experience in the Palestinian Occupied Territories (OPT) where necessary.

The first issue regards the relationship that western NGOs are developing with the Occupation Authority and how this will affect their ability to develop relationships with the local civil society in Iraq. While a degree of co-operation will inevitably be necessary and, helpful, too close a collaborative relationship with the Occupation Authority is likely to become a liability as the Authority becomes increasingly unpopular with the local population. Western NGOs must not only maintain their independence from the Occupation Authority but be perceived by the Iraqi population to be independent.

The second issue concerns the affect western NGOs are likely to have on civil society and initiatives towards building the capacity of local CSOs so that they can play an effective role in creating an Iraqi self-governing capacity. As in Palestine, western NGOs in Iraq will likely prefer to develop working relationships with secular and Christian local NGOs, leaving aside Islamic groups that represent a large sector of Iraqi society. As in Palestine, this refusal to engage with local Islamic groups has caused and continues to cause problems both existentially in supporting the creation of authentic, democratic and representative civil society organisations and, politically, in hardening the societal dichotomy between Islamic, Christian and secular groups. Civil society in Iraq only now has an opportunity to redefine their relationships with western NGOs. It is important from the outset, for western NGOs to maintain relationships with all sectors of civil society in order to support authentic democratisation and to ensure inclusion within the social fabric.

Among the Iraqi population, a variety of ethnic, religious, tribal and community divisions create a patchwork of local organisations. This patchwork (yet little understood) is rapidly rearranging itself. Local autonomy of these organisations is stronger than elsewhere also because the administrative capacity of the Authority is far too limited to relate to this patchwork. Autonomy in turn adds opportunities to capacity building.

In sum, the salience of capacity building in Iraq can be used to add analytical precision to the emerging INGO practices in Iraq. International NGOs must appreciate their situation and perceived role in the re-construction of Iraq just as they appreciated their situation and role in Palestine. Additionally, INGOs must remain open to forming relationships that are not orientated towards favouring one religious or ethnic group over another but on building partnerships that bridge divides.

Key Research Questions The occupation in Iraq poses several challenging questions to the NGO community. * To what extent must western NGOs co-operate with the Occupation Authority and what role will their intervention play in the development of Iraqi civil society and self-government?

* How will such co-operation, including accepting funding from the US and UK governments, limit the operational opportunities of western NGOs?

* How will co-operation with the Occupation Authority affect the development of partnerships with local CSOs?

* How have western NGOs chosen their Civil Society Organisation partners in Palestine and which sectors of society do these CSOs represent? Is this support truly representative of Palestinian civil society, particularly the Islamic sectors of the society? If not, how has this affected the society as a whole and how may western NGOs build bridges of dialogue and partnerships with Islamic relief agencies?

Date received: September 29, 2003