Non-Governmental Organizations and the Global RefugeeRegime

Noone questions today the increasing role ofnon-governmental organizations in internationalrelations. The field of refugee protection requires acomplex attitude from NGOs, as here they meet withgrowing reluctance of state actors, whose interestsare more formulated by economic and security aspects.That is why NGOs does not only provide first-handassistance to those in need, but also try toinfluence state's actions, force them to comply withtheir obligations, sets up new issues on theinternational agenda, and cooperates with otheractors in policy-formulation.Present essay aims to examine this complex role ofthe non-governmental actors in internationalrelations, and more particularly in the globalrefugee regime from both NGO and regime analysispoints of view.While this essay proves clearly the importance ofNGOs, it also shows those faults the regime actorshave to overcome and those areas where closercooperation is needed between them in order to reachthe regime's ultimate goal of "providinginternational protection and seeking permanentsolutions for the problems of refugees".

Autorentext

Ms. Eva Virag Suhajda has received her MA of International Relations and European Studies at the Central European University. She also holds master's degrees of Political Science and Information Management. Presently she undertakes PhD research on organizational dynamics at the University of Pécs, while works as an NGO manager in Budapest, Hungary.

Klappentext
Noone questions today the increasing role of non-governmental organizations in international relations. The field of refugee protection requires a complex attitude from NGOs, as here they meet with growing reluctance of state actors, whose interests are more formulated by economic and security aspects. That is why NGOs does not only provide first-hand assistance to those in need, but also try to influence state's actions, force them to comply with their obligations, sets up new issues on the international agenda, and cooperates with other actors in policy-formulation. Present essay aims to examine this complex role of the non-governmental actors in international relations, and more particularly in the global refugee regime from both NGO and regime analysis points of view. While this essay proves clearly the importance of NGOs, it also shows those faults the regime actors have to overcome and those areas where closer cooperation is needed between them in order to reach the regime's ultimate goal of "providing international protection and seeking permanent solutions for the problems of refugees".