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33-663: By 2019, SOCADEF claimed that it had 3,500 troops, though the International Crisis Group argued that the militia had at most 500 active armed members. The militia made some headlines in March 2020 when it declared a two-week ceasefire to give people time to get tested for coronavirus . After suffering major losses in inter-rebel clashes with the Fako Mountain Lions in June 2021, SOCADEF was rumored to have disbanded. In reality,

66-570: A global conflict tracker designed to identify both risks of escalation and opportunities to advance peace. The organisation says that it produces detailed analysis and advice on specific policy issues that are affecting conflict or potential conflict situations; that it engages with policy-makers, regional organisations and other key actors to promote peaceful solutions to major conflicts; and that it offers new strategic and tactical thinking on intractable conflicts and crises. The ICG has been characterized as "liberal". Its permanent field presence forms

99-468: A liability. During disasters and other humanitarian crises, companies and individuals often want to help with the disaster relief operations. Some people have argued that giving goods that are already at hand is more cost effective for the donor than giving money to buy these same goods, thus reducing the cost of buying the goods afresh, particularly in the face of shortages. Helping with longer term development in impoverished or otherwise distressed areas

132-569: A presence in Abu Dhabi, Abuja, Bangkok, Beirut, Caracas, Gaza City, Guatemala City, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Juba, Kabul, Kyiv, Mexico City, Mogadishu, Rabat, Tbilisi, Toronto, Tunis and Yangon. As of September 2023, Crisis Group Board of Trustees has 44 members. Frank Giustra , founder of the Giustra Foundation and Acceso, became co-chair in 2020, and Susana Malcorra , former Foreign Minister of Argentina and former Chef de Cabinet of

165-585: A prolific entrepreneur and financier, and H.R.H. Prince Zeid Raad Al Hussein , UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Olympic Refugee and Paralympic Teams. The Swedish ONG Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research alleged in 2005 that the ICG board of directors' had close ties to Western governments, a lack of independent scholars, and an absence of an objective standard theoretical framework. In 2010, Tom Hazeldine argued in an article published in

198-463: A proposal for an annual budget of $ 8 million and 75 full-time staff. In mid-1995, the organisation was formally registered in the U.S. as a tax-exempt non-profit. From 1996 to 1999, Crisis Group had an annual budget of around $ 2 million and around 20 full-time staff; by 2017 its budget had risen to over $ 17 million. Crisis Group received funding under grants from governments, charitable foundations, private companies and individual donors. For

231-566: Is a high priority for governments and large NGOs . It is argued that gifts in kind can be a significant component of a larger humanitarian development strategy. It has been argued that donated goods are much less susceptible to becoming graft because physical goods are more tangible than money. However, the argument may be reversed in the modern context, now that there exist mobile phone -based payment mechanisms such as m-Pesa that have been used successfully for cash transfer programs, making cash transfers less dependent on intermediaries than

264-583: Is anti-malarial drugs, which are unavailable in many areas of the world where they are most needed, and if they are available, the people who need them are not in a position to purchase them. They are not manufactured locally and the costs of setting up local manufacturing facilities would be prohibitive, given the regulations surrounding pharmaceuticals. There is a high likelihood of locally available drugs being counterfeit, with often fatal consequences. As more and more companies continue to acknowledge their corporate social responsibility , they are also recognizing

297-406: Is not the amount but the sources of the ICG's funding which have opened Western policymakers' doors to its advocacy, while at the same time (possibly) compromising the ICG's political independence". She wrote that the ICG has "contradict[ed] the idea of simple, straightforward connections between donors and reporting" through the broad variety of its donors. Robert Malley , who previously served in

330-679: Is the President and CEO of the organisation with Richard Atwood as Executive Vice President. George Soros provided the organisation's seed funding and continues to support it. The first government representative to offer financial support was Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari , in March 1994. That same year, Gareth Evans , as Foreign Minister of Australia, pledged $ 500,000. As private individuals, Ahtisaari later became Chairman of ICG, and Evans became CEO of ICG. A January 1995 meeting in London brought many international figures together and approved

363-614: The New Left Review that the ICG "styles itself as independent and non-partisan, but has consistently championed NATO's wars to fulsome transatlantic praise". A 2007 piece in Foreign Policy described ICG as "liberal" and critical of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez . The ICG generated controversy in April 2013 as it awarded Myanmar President Thein Sein its "In Pursuit of Peace Award", with

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396-761: The Ambazonia Self-Defence Council , an umbrella organization created by the Interim Government . However, its political wing, the African People's Liberation Movement (APLM), took part in forming the Southern Cameroons Liberation Council in March 2019, effectively uniting with the Interim Government under an umbrella organization. International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group ( ICG ; also known as

429-458: The Crisis Group ) is a global non-profit , non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank , used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ICG has described itself as "working to prevent wars and shape policies that will build a more peaceful world". ICG states that it provides early warning through its monthly CrisisWatch bulletin,

462-729: The Iran Experts Initiative . Gifts in kind Gifts in kind , also referred to as in-kind donations , is a kind of charitable giving in which, instead of giving money to buy needed goods and services, the goods and services themselves are given. Gifts in kind are distinguished from gifts of cash or stock . Some types of gifts in kind are appropriate, but others are not. Examples of in-kind gifts include goods like food, clothing, medicines, furniture, office equipment, and building materials. Performance of services, providing office space or offering administrative support, may also be counted as in-kind gifts. While many attest to

495-668: The Obama administration as a senior adviser, became president and CEO of ICG in January 2018. Malley had his ties to the Obama electoral campaign severed in May 2008, when it became public that Malley had been in discussions with the militant Palestinian group Hamas , listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organisation. His predecessors in the position include former UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno , former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Justice of

528-744: The Supreme Court of Canada Louise Arbour , and former Foreign Minister of Australia Gareth Evans. The Crisis Group, and in particular its Iran Project Director, Ali Vaez, played an important role in advancing the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Crisis Group is headquartered in Brussels , with advocacy offices in Washington DC, New York and London. Other legally registered offices are based in Bogota, Colombia; Dakar, Senegal; Istanbul, Turkey; and Nairobi, Kenya. As of June 2018, Crisis Group has

561-613: The UN Secretary-General, joined him as co-chair in 2021. Previously, the board was chaired by Mark Malloch Brown , former UN Deputy Secretary-General and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Past board members have included Sandy Berger and Stephen Solarz . Chairmen emeritus are Martti Ahtisaari, George J. Mitchell and Thomas R. Pickering. Gareth Evans remained President Emeritus as of 2023. Crisis Group's "In Pursuit of Peace Award”

594-654: The advent of the Internet as it is now possible to create an online marketplace for in-kind donations. Gifts in Kind International operates a network called Good360 that aims to do exactly this. Occupy Sandy volunteers use a sort of gift registry for this purpose; families and businesses impacted by the storm make specific requests, which remote donors can purchase directly via a web site. The majority of online giving marketplaces, including GlobalGiving and DonorsChoose , however, are focused on cash donations, though

627-404: The award ceremony coinciding with the publication of a Human Rights Watch report of ethnic cleansing by Sein's administration. In 2014, the journal Third World Quarterly published a special issue about the ICG and its role in knowledge production about conflict, featuring 10 separate critiques about the ICG, ranging from its influence on foreign-policy makers, "manufacturing" crises, and

660-703: The basis of the organisation's methodology. It has regional programmers covering over 70 actual and potential conflicts in Africa, Asia, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and the United States. As of September 2023, Crisis Group has approximately 150 staff members from various backgrounds, including academia, civil society, diplomacy and media. Since December 2021, Comfort Ero

693-473: The benefits of in-kind over cash gifts, others have argued for their disadvantages, particularly in the context of disaster relief . Many donated goods are either second hand or otherwise surplus. If not donated to people who need them, they might otherwise end up in a landfill . Thus, it is argued that gifts in kind reduce resource use and pollution. This provides a means, particularly for corporations, of doing social good with things that would otherwise be

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726-543: The benefits of participating in gifts in kind programs. In The Business Case for Product Philanthropy, a 63-page report published by the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, authors Justin M. Ross and Kellie L. McGiverin-Bohan argue that businesses can do well by doing good through product philanthropy, as well as explore the advantages of donating goods over the liquidation and/or destruction of goods. In addition, with cash donations on

759-471: The decrease over the past several years, offering donations of goods and services is a way for corporations to continue pursuing their philanthropic goals. One of the chief criticisms of gifts in kind, particularly in the context of disaster relief but also in other contexts, is that the things that people are likely to gift may be poorly matched to the immediate needs of recipients, but rather be influenced by what donors happen to want to dispose of. Some of

792-472: The financial year ending June 30, 2019, it received 43% of its funding from governments, 31% from foundations, 22% from the private sector, 2% from in-kind contributions and 2% from investment income. In a 2014 paper for Third World Quarterly , social researcher Berit Bliesemann de Guevara writes that ICG's significant budget was a requirement of its activities, though small compared to government research agencies. She wrote that "Critics have argued that it

825-604: The methodologies it deploys in gathering its research. The ICG's briefings and reports were described as having "a generally good reputation" among policymakers in the issue's introduction, which also notes that while academics working on conflict often cite the ICG's analysis, there is little academic research about the ICG itself. The ICG was criticised in September 2016 for its 2011 report entitled "The Syrian Regime's Slow-motion Suicide", with Nicholas Noe arguing: "Regrettably, ICG's overconfidence in regime suicide not only encouraged

858-498: The militia went underground for several months while acquiring better weapons and a new leadership. In October 2021, SOCADEF launched "Operation No Rest For You", targeting Cameroonian troops at Ikiliwindi and reportedly killing nine. In July 2022, rebels under " General Transporter " carried out another attack against security forces at Ikiliwindi; at the time, General Transporter was reportedly loyal to SOCADEF. Though Ebenezer Akwanga has served as SOCADEF's head since its foundation, he

891-521: The nonprofits seeking these donations usually specify what types of things they intend to buy with a given donation quantity. Global Hand has published a series of standards for gifts in kind. The principles include: and many more. The Tales from the Hood blog has argued that there are two preconditions for successful gifts in kind.: Unlike a disaster relief scenario, the needs of a charity shop are long-term and more flexible; any item that can be sold at

924-433: The possibilities are: In addition to the argument that gifts in kind often do not meet the needs of recipients, it has also been argued that gifts in kind fail to empower the recipients because the recipients don't have as much flexibility on how to spend the gifts as they would with gifts of cash or of public goods that they actively solicit. Relatedly, it has been argued that sending gifts in kind without checking on what

957-497: The premature and disastrous rejection of diplomacy that has helped prolong the Syria war. It also essentially abdicated the main role for which peace, promotion, and conflict mitigation NGOs exist in the first place: Advocating for strong international engagement and negotiated solutions that regard the safety of civilian populations as paramount". In 2023, several of ICG's staff, including Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director, were connected to

990-535: The recipients may actually need may be disrespectful to the recipients, and in some cases self-centered and narcissistic, being focused on the needs of the donor rather than the recipient. Some critics of gifts in kind argue that, like dumping , these have an artificial adverse impact on local industries producing similar goods. Some of the downsides of gifts in kind may be mitigated by allowing recipients to communicate their needs to donors, thus helping donors and recipients match up. This has been made possible with

1023-470: The shipping of physical goods. Gifts in kind supply a market efficiency that is difficult to attain by other means. For example, many charities that provide life-saving medications to people in impoverished nations could not afford to buy these drugs using their cash donations or grants alone. Donated drugs help these organizations to work most effectively at a much lower cost. Some products are simply not available but are still desperately needed. An example

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1056-535: Was established in 2005, and is associated with a gala event in New York City. Recipients include U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, former Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Martti Ahtisaari and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and financier and philanthropist George Soros. Recipients for 2018 included Frank Giustra , founder of the Radcliffe Foundation and

1089-547: Was living in exile; thus, the group had a series of ground forces commanders who led the troops in the warzone. By 2018, the militia's chief frontline officer was "General Molua C", later replaced by "General" Andrew Ngoe. On January 24, 2019, General Andrew Ngoe was killed in Matoh, Mbonge , leaving Nsom Hilary (alias "General Opobo") in charge. After General Opobo's death at the hands of rival separatists in June 2021, "General Jason" became SOCADEF's new commander. SOCADEF has not joined

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