Matching Items (7)
Description
This phenomenological qualitative study examines the experiences of volunteer tourism on host communities using social representations theory. The experiences of three stakeholder-groups (community residents, volunteers, and nongovernmental organizations) are considered. Overall objectives of this project are to investigate the following questions: a) what are the effects of volunteer tourism on a community as perceived by different stakeholders; b) what effects do volunteer tourists have on the community compared to other forms of tourism as perceived by different stakeholders; c) how do the various stakeholders perceive the different forms of tourism in communities in which they live or work; and d) why and how do nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) use volunteer tourism as a strategy for their projects. This study attempts to describe and interpret these meanings with a high degree of depth and richness using interviews, observation, and document analysis. Each chapter is written as a stand-alone paper to be published in a journal and describes the perspectives of the three groups interviewed with the final chapter a summary and comparison from all three groups. Findings show that there are both positive and negative impacts of volunteer tourism in favela communities, with the majority of the three groups expressing its positives and its importance to the community. All groups mentioned similar positive and negative elements of volunteer tourism with some elements that were unique to each group. This study also attempted to compare and contrast the differences between volunteer tourism and favela tours. The findings show that volunteer tourism helps recreate the social representations of the favela thereby improving self-esteem in the community, helps breakdown preconceptions, and helps create community pride. The community feels as equals with the volunteers and describes the interactions as friendships, sharing cultural experiences, and exchanging of knowledge. Conversely, all three groups described favela tours as dehumanizing using words like `safari tour' or `zoo tour' and felt that their community was being sold as a commodity. However, the interviews showed that all three groups, although had strong opinions about the ethical implications of favela tours, still felt conflicted when comparing it with some of the potential social and economic benefits that it may bring.
ContributorsAquino, Jessica Faustini (Author) / Andereck, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Mcgehee, Nancy (Committee member) / Phillips, Rhonda (Committee member) / Wang, Lili (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This dissertation examines the factors related to the success of host country field offices established by international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Further, this dissertation examines NGO field office mission success in the context of working with foreign host governments and clients. This dissertation is a case of the field offices of The Nature Conservancy in South and Central America. The principal research aim is to identify the primary factors that are related to success of field offices. Success is identified as a multidimensional concept. A conceptual model for success is developed. The conceptual model derived causal factors from the literature and captured categories of variables such as: (1) managerial tactics and techniques dictated by the NGO and adopted by field office leaders; (2) the distance between cultural features of the host country and those of the country of origin of the field office manager and personnel; and, (3) characteristics of the host country government. The dissertation: (1) utilizes a working definition of NGO drawn from the scholarly literature in the field; (2) describes the role of field offices (located in host countries) in the calculus of "home office" goal achievement; (3) discusses the types of "change"--delivery of goods, delivery of services, changes in behavior, changes in norms or attitudes--that field offices may have and how they differ in the challenges they create for field office managers; and, (4) develops a conceptual definition for success. This dissertation is concerned with the factors associated with success in the international NGO's field office. A model of success predictors is tested in this work. The findings suggest that the field offices mission success may be affected by local culture but this was not an issue for the organization studied. Mission success as perceived by the field seems to be a product of organizational culture. The contribution of the research to academic literature is that this study is both an exploratory and descriptive study of how NGO mission is carried out in the field and the impacts of national and organizational culture on mission success.
ContributorsKraeger, Patsy (Author) / Cayer, N. Joseph (Thesis advisor) / Yoshioka, Carlton A. (Committee member) / Lan, Zhiyong (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In countries of conflict, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) often resort to humanitarian relief. A small number of peace and conflict resolution organizations (P/CROs) engage more directly, through grassroots mediation, elite negotiation and advocacy. This thesis observes the potential for implementing such direct conflict interventions in traditional relief and development organizations. To understand current NGO activities, I examine ten case study organizations in two countries of conflict, Cote d'Ivoire and Somalia. I analyze organizations' rhetorical presentation, their society-level engagement, strategies for intervention, and responses to persistent challenges, such as security, impartiality, collaboration and evaluation. Based on conflict study literature, I make tentative recommendations for NGOs in Cote d'Ivoire and Somalia specifically. I also propose a more general system for classifying NGO peace work: five generations of conflict intervention, each more integrated, direct, and political. Rhetorical, structural and operational changes will help organizations move toward higher generation work.
ContributorsDiddams, Margaret (Author) / Ron, Amit (Thesis advisor) / Friedrich, Patricia (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Lili (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Collective action among non-governmental organizations working in maternal and child health in Haiti
Description
This mixed-methods research study examined the level of collective action that is occurring among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in maternal and child health in Haiti. This study takes the view that health, and by extension, maternal and child health, is a global public good; global public goods are most efficiently provided by the means of collective action. Therefore, to the extent that maternal and child health services are provided efficiently in Haiti, collective action should be occurring.
This study utilized a semi-structured interview approach to gather both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 17 participants who were managers or executives of NGOs working in maternal and child health in Haiti were interviewed. The interviews also gathered quantitative data that characterized types of cooperation that were occurring among NGOs. The qualitative data that were collected in these interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using social network analysis. The findings concluded that while there is cooperation occurring among NGOs in Haiti, the cooperation levels are low, networks are not very dense and there is overall general consensus that more cooperation is needed
This study utilized a semi-structured interview approach to gather both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 17 participants who were managers or executives of NGOs working in maternal and child health in Haiti were interviewed. The interviews also gathered quantitative data that characterized types of cooperation that were occurring among NGOs. The qualitative data that were collected in these interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using social network analysis. The findings concluded that while there is cooperation occurring among NGOs in Haiti, the cooperation levels are low, networks are not very dense and there is overall general consensus that more cooperation is needed
ContributorsMcCool, Sarah (Author) / Gaughan, Monica (Thesis advisor) / Wutich, Amber (Committee member) / York, Abigail (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Development throughout the course of history has traditionally resulted in the demise of biodiversity. As humans strive to develop their daily livelihoods, it is often at the expense of nearby wildlife and the environment. Conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs), among other actors in the global agenda, have blossomed in the past century with the realization that there is an immediate need for conservation action. Unlike government agencies, conservation NGOs have an independent, potentially more objective outlook on procedures and policies that would benefit certain regions or certain species the most. They often have national and international government support, in addition to the credibility and influencing power to sway policy decisions and participate in international agendas. The key to their success lies in the ability to balance conservation efforts with socioeconomic development efforts. One cannot occur without the other, but they must work in coordination. This study looks at the example of African Great Apes. Eight ape-focused NGOs and three unique case studies will be examined in order to describe the impact that NGOs have. Most of these NGOs have been able to build the capacity from an initial conservation agenda, to incorporating socioeconomic factors that benefit the development of local communities in addition to the apes and habitat they set out to influence. This being the case, initiatives by conservation NGOs could be the key to a sustainable future in which humans and biodiversity coexist harmoniously.
ContributorsPrickett, Laura (Author) / Parmentier, Mary Jane (Thesis advisor) / Zachary, Gregg (Committee member) / Gerber, Leah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
ABSTRACT
The purpose of involvement of Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) in armed conflict resolution is to help to keep peace, protect innocent people, contribute to relief operations, to advocate, assist in the reconstruction and development programs. This action is always carried out through the NGOs grassroots mediation processes. This study investigates the prospective of implementing humanitarian programs to help and care for the young war child survivors of the 1991 to 2001 civil wars in Sierra Leone.
To explore the intervention of the NGOs activities in the civil wars in Sierra Leone, I examined three NGOs and one governmental institution as case study organizations. The NGOs include 1) UNICEF, 2) World Vision, 3) Plan International and 4) the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Childrens’ Affair (MSWGCA) as government agency. The research investigates the NGOs and MSWGC’s specific services provided to children during and after the war in Sierra Leone. The specific services include: 1) the NGOs’ implementing policies, 2) who got served and under what conditions, 3) what models of services do they use, 4) what kind of government policies were put in place, 5) what were the challenges they faced, and 6) what were their strategies during and after the civil war in Sierra Leone. There were also ten Adult Survivors of Childhood Exposure to War (ASCEW) members interviewed to balance the NGOs’ claims. Based on my literature review and findings on ASCEW, I make my recommendations to allow the organizations to move forward with their humanitarian operations.
The purpose of involvement of Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) in armed conflict resolution is to help to keep peace, protect innocent people, contribute to relief operations, to advocate, assist in the reconstruction and development programs. This action is always carried out through the NGOs grassroots mediation processes. This study investigates the prospective of implementing humanitarian programs to help and care for the young war child survivors of the 1991 to 2001 civil wars in Sierra Leone.
To explore the intervention of the NGOs activities in the civil wars in Sierra Leone, I examined three NGOs and one governmental institution as case study organizations. The NGOs include 1) UNICEF, 2) World Vision, 3) Plan International and 4) the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Childrens’ Affair (MSWGCA) as government agency. The research investigates the NGOs and MSWGC’s specific services provided to children during and after the war in Sierra Leone. The specific services include: 1) the NGOs’ implementing policies, 2) who got served and under what conditions, 3) what models of services do they use, 4) what kind of government policies were put in place, 5) what were the challenges they faced, and 6) what were their strategies during and after the civil war in Sierra Leone. There were also ten Adult Survivors of Childhood Exposure to War (ASCEW) members interviewed to balance the NGOs’ claims. Based on my literature review and findings on ASCEW, I make my recommendations to allow the organizations to move forward with their humanitarian operations.
ContributorsBockarie, Michael Idriss (Author) / Anokye, Akua D (Thesis advisor) / Erfani, Julie M (Committee member) / Vaughan, Suzanne (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Great disasters can often serve as birthing grounds for national transformation. As communities work to recover and rebuild, opportunities to reassess of prevailing development theories and programs may arise. As traditional development programs, supported by top-down development theories and billions in foreign aid, have not changed Haiti's impoverished status, such an opportunity has been presented to the Caribbean nation. Just a few months removed from the devastating 7.0 earthquake of Jan 12, 2010, this study identified the emergent thinking about development as expressed by key informants (N=21) from six entity types involved in Haiti's rebuilding efforts - government agencies, social ventures, grassroots, diaspora, foreign, and hybrid nonprofits. Findings were supplemented by participant observation of a civil society meeting in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) Framework was used as a lens with which to understand the causes of Haiti's social, institutional, environmental, and economic vulnerabilities. Modified grounded theory was used as the qualitative data analytical method from which five themes emerged: Haitian government, rebuilding, aid work and its effects, Haitian society, and international interference. Participants called for a refoundation, the building a nation from the ground up, of Haiti. Based on these findings, four transformative processes were identified as fundamental to Haiti's refoundation: 1) communication and collaboration with the Haitian government, 2) engagement of the Haitian people and the Haitian diaspora in the redevelopment work, 3) a broad vision of development for the nation, and 4) coordination and collaboration among NGOs.
ContributorsInnocent, Darlye Élise (Author) / Knopf, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Phillips, Rhonda (Committee member) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Committee member) / Wang, Lili (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010