Roles of NGOS (NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ).

ndigenous Method of Conflict Resolution
Indigenous way of mediating conflict refers to the local traditional approach of harmonizing and bringing conflicting parties together to an agreement, through the use of traditional teachings and norms while observing and following keenly the historic experience on the mediation process, in Africa organizations such as the USIAD, Amnesty International, Red cross, World Vision, Pact, Mercy-Corp, African Union and the United Nation have ensured that there is smooth conflict resolution through engaging with local leaders. The adoption of social norms, that is consoling and using the spirits plays a key role in ensuring the smooth mediation process hence the indigenous mediation process is a genetic traditional model of conflict resolution with its main focus on traditional cultural practice faith and beliefs, rituals are mainly observed in totality which gives a clear difference on how conflict is resolve in an African traditional settling and that of the western world.

The role of civil society in poverty reduction
‘Poverty’ entails much more than “a lack of material resources”. It includes “a lack of access to and control over social, economic and political resources that people must have to satisfy their basic needs”, and severe limitations on the freedom of choice. It also entails vulnerability and insecurity – immense difficulties in “the safeguarding of certain rights and protection from violence and injustice”. And it includes social exclusion not least on grounds of gender and an incapacity “to fulfil social obligations, to be a respected and valued member of a family and a community
Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics classic Progress and Poverty, are those that raise, or are intended to raise, ways of enabling the poor to create wealth for themselves as a conduit of ending poverty forever.
In modern times, various economists’ movements propose measures like the land value tax to enhance access to the natural world for all. Poverty occurs in both developing countries and developed countries. While poverty is much more widespread in developing countries, both types of countries undertake poverty reduction measures.
Poverty has been historically accepted in some parts of the world as inevitable as non-industrialized economies produced very little, while populations grew almost as fast, making wealth scarce.
ROLES PLAYED
Promotes political participation.
Flearn Julie. (1999) argues that civil society organizations promote political participation. CSOs can do this by educating people about their rights and obligations as democratic citizens, and encouraging them to listen to election campaigns and vote in elections. CSOs can also help develop citizens’ skills to work with one another to solve common problems, to debate public issues, and express their views. This plays an important role in improving on the standards of living of the people and thus leading to poverty reduction.
Civil society is made up by very different organisations, networks and associations. From football clubs to debate groups, from women’s networks to labour unions, from book clubs to political parties) and from environmental lobby groups to religious groups. Although some organisations will have a much clearer influence on political processes and democratisation than others, all are included in the civil society and all do have some influence on democratisation.
Develops democracy.
Hemmati, Mimi. (2001) notes that civil society organizations can help to develop the other values of democratic life: tolerance, moderation, compromise, and respect for opposing points of view. This also helps to improve on the political stability within the community and thus improves on poverty reduction. Without this deeper culture of accommodation, democracy cannot be stable.
It can be said that anything which restricts the scope of public participation not only weakens a country’s democratic foundations but also has the immediate effect of limiting debate over its development priorities. Furthermore, political participation is essential for realizing the basic values and objectives that minorities have. Elections constitute an essential feature of democratic governance. Through elections, people choose their representatives.
Furthermore, political parties occupy a central place in the political process in modern democracies since these parties are deemed to be intermediaries between society and state. In order to guarantee the involvement of minorities in political parties, it is important to ascertain that the basic human right of freedom of association is fully respected.
Provision of health services.
According to ministry of health report (2006), CSOs are involved in the provision of general health services, including the provision of drugs and sundries, training health workers, and health education of communities on domestic hygiene, water and sanitation and thus improves on the life expectancy and thus poverty reduction.
This means that the presence of CSOs improves access to health care through construction of CSO health units and stocking these with drugs. Some CSOs have further enhanced physical access through the construction or repair of roads, as one respondent. A community networked with others is always healthy and good for the members, Hemmati, Minu (2001) stressed that civil society organisations have been at forefront of playing the role of building the communities by developing networks and above all they build horizontal structures between people which is very much important in forming social capital and building links between individuals from different institutions, clubs, groups and associations.
Through this interaction between individuals and institutions, it can be observed that people are able to solve problems that are normally faced in societies. Furthermore, the plurality of these associations enhances them to come together to check the state power. It is from this point of view that some scholars like Tocqueville stated that “the science of association is the mother of sciences”
Community mobilization.
CSOs assist citizens in finding out about the activities of the government and other which may affect them; they use advocacy and political influence to hold local officials accountable for their activities which are damaging to the poor; they help communities mobilize and form societies their concerns , and guard against reprisals; they also construct a forum in which officials can consult people about development plans and listen to alternatives presented by the people: and they help ensure that individuals disadvantaged by government decisions receive just compensation, negotiates with affected parties.
Civil society and particularly advocacy organisations have been an important source of specialist community expertise which the government has frequently relied on. Specialists in matters regarding to communities have often been identified within particular civil society organisations dealing in advocacy piogiammes not forgetting that these advocacy organisations promote strong, effective and open democracy (Hemmati. Minu, 2001).
Poverty eradication
In reference to Kasfir Nelson (1998), when CSOs are going to fight against poverty, they are to identify the causes of poverty of the region where they are going to work and thus define what poverty is. According to O’Connell, Brian. (1999), most of CSOs are engaged in projects aiming to eradicate poverty, either by directly supporting the poor, or by creating opportunities for disadvantaged or marginalized categories of people to escape poverty.
CSOs are closer to the people they serve usually grass root development organization. This are set up to focus on particular problems affecting a particular community. Microfinance is another important sector that CSO’s have fully ultilised in reaching out to the poor. Their roles in this sector, has immensely contributed to alleviating poverty among the poor. The purpose of using microfinance to alleviate poverty is as a result of what role microfinance can play and what impact it created on the beneficiaries.
Overcomes bureaucracy.
Hemmati, Minu (2001) noted that CSOs are structurally less bureaucratic so this helps them to cut down costs in the running of the organization unlike the government sector which is highly bureaucratic. The cost of running is high. They are appropriate to provide public services because the state and market institutions are driven by the need of social control and profit making respectively.
CSOs are primarily assumed for community building unlike the state and the market institution which aim at social control and profit making. In the 1 990s domestic and external forces started to exert considerable pressure on African governments to liberalize the political space. Consequently. democratic systems were introduced, which embarked upon ambitious programmes of political, institutional and economic reforms. The objectives of those reforms involved changing the role of government, creating an enabling environment for private sector and civil society to flourish and establishing an effective civil service by increasing its competence, efficiency, fairness and quality of services.
Ensures accountability and transparency.
Perlas, Nicolas, (2000) maintains that CSOs have sound financial base and their accountability is transparent so that they can be able to provide efficient and effective service provision as compared to the public sectors. The comparative advantage of CSOs has been shared by many scholars and believers. Believe that those governments have a broader range than communities at grass root levels so that they provide both social and economic dimensions. This plays a vital role since it improves on the GDP and thus poverty reduction.
According Tripp Aili. Man. (1998), CSOs are active in empowering vulnerable groups who are economically and socially marginalized such as the children elderly and disabled and they play particularly strong role in meeting the poor’s needs. However, the overall impact is rather limited and it is not very visible on a larger scale. CSOs activities continue to remain invisible to the majority of the population and majority of them are more oriented to the donor’s priorities and unable to construct local constituencies,
Lobby for the community needs.
Civil society is an arena for the expression of diverse interests, and one role for civil society organizations is to lobby for the needs and concerns of their members, as women, students, farmers. environmentalists, trade unionists, lawyers, doctors, and so on. CSOs and interest groups can present their views to parliament and provincial councils, by contacting individual members and testifying before parliamentary committees. They can also establish a dialogue with relevant government ministries and agencies to lobby for their interests and concerns.
Whaites, Alan. (1996) notes that civil society can provide a training ground for future political leaders. CSOs and other groups can help to identify and train new types of leaders who have dealt with important public issues and can be recruited to run for political office at all levels and to serve in provincial and national cabinets. Experience from other countries shows that civil society is a particularly important arena from which to recruit and train future women leaders.
Community sensitization.
Whaites. Alan, (1998) emphasizes that civil society can help to inform the public about important public issues. This is not only the role of the mass media, but of CSOs which can provide forums for debating public policies and disseminating information about issues before parliament that affect the interests of different groups, or of society at large.
In addition, civil society organizations can play an important role in mediating and helping to resolve conflict. In other countries, CSOs have developed formal programs and training of trainers to relieve political and ethnic conflict and teach groups to solve their disputes through bargaining and accommodation. Gosewinkel, Dieter (2011) mentions that civil society organizations have a vital role to play in monitoring the conduct of elections. This requires a broad coalition of organizations. unconnected to political parties or candidates, that deploys neutral monitors at all the different polling stations to ensure that the voting and vote counting is entirely free, fair, peaceful, and transparent. It is very hard to have credible and fair elections in a new democracy unless civil society groups play this role.