NGOs, IFIs, and Subnational Diplomacy

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become established participants in global governance, working alongside — and sometimes in tension with — states and international organizations. Bodies such as Amnesty International, founded in London in 1961, Human Rights Watch, founded in 1978, and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), founded in Paris in 1971 and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, monitor human rights abuses, deliver humanitarian aid, and lobby governments and the United Nations to adopt binding standards. Many NGOs hold formal "consultative status" with the UN Economic and Social Council, granting them access to draft resolutions, brief diplomats, and shape the agenda of international conferences.