AGS Doctoral Student Gives a Guest Lecture on the Role of NGOs in Humanitarian Issues

Emirjona Cake, a Ph.D. Candidate at AGS, was a guest speaker in Professor Anand’s NGO class on September 16, where she gave a presentation about the role of NGOs in emergency response.

Titled “How NGOs are Bridging the Gap in Humanitarian Issues”, her talk focused on the respective impact of NGOs and Intergovernmental Organizations on humanitarian aid, as well as their mutual influence and cooperation, arguing that NGOs can be more effective than government and international organizations on the matter.

Her discussion drew on her experience interning and working with numerous different organizations over the course of these past 4 years, which allowed her to explore the humanitarian aid system from both ends. Her experience includes the UN News Centre in New York City, UNESCO in Paris and Haiti, and the Alternative Dispute Center in Rome Italy, which piloted a project to incorporate ADR in Afghanistan.

She says “My experience with the UN News Centre and Press Services at the UN headquarters in NYC gave me a better understanding of the important roles NGOs play, as I witnessed firsthand how they would put pressure on the speakers during the briefings and how some of the most accurate information that the UN uses is from NGOs, particularly Red Crescent and Red Cross in Syria.”

In what she calls “NGO diplomacy”, she discussed what makes NGOs effective new actors of international relations and better emergency responders: they are not bound to follow set guidelines outside of their own field of action, they are not limited by state capacity, they are successful at connecting with the media, and they bring forth issues that are not normally recognized.

“In the case of Syria, which has been one of my focuses both in my research at AGS and professional work such as my internship over the summer and my work at UNESCO, my presentation shows how important NGOs have been in managing the crisis. Food Shortage in Syria has been an ongoing issue, and humanitarian aid has been severely hampered by Assad's forces and ISIS alike. NGOs have played a crucial role in providing food and necessities to those in need. They also provide information and statistics/data to show the severity of the issue.”

Emirjona Cake is a Ph.D. candidate in the International Relations and Diplomacy program at AGS. Her research focuses on State building and nationalism in the Middle East, with a specialization in Emergency Situations in armed conflict and natural disasters. She has worked on projects to be implemented in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Mali, and Haiti. She has also worked at UNESCO in Paris and in Haiti.