Student
Volunteer Research and Networking Opportunity with the 2019 Moynihan TNGO
Fellow: Lilian Mercado, Asia Regional Director at Oxfam International
The
Transnational NGO Initiative hosts a senior transnational NGO leader each year
through our Moynihan NGO Fellows program. These leaders spend 2 weeks of
‘intellectual rest and recreation’ at the Moynihan Institute, researching a
topic which poses a challenge to them as NGO leaders and which is aligned with
our research interest in the governance, leadership, and effectiveness of
transnational NGOs.
This
spring semester (March 25 to April 5, 2019), Lilian Mercado will
be visiting the Moynihan Institute as a Transnational NGO Fellow. Ms. Mercado
has served as the Asia Regional Director at Oxfam International for
the past two years. She has worked with Oxfam in a variety of positions over
the last 19 years, rising through the ranks from being a campaign officer to
Country Director to Deputy Regional Director to global Deputy Director for
Advocacy and Campaigns. Ms. Mercado has been a long-time activist for human
rights, democracy, and justice in addition to a career as an investigative
journalist. Among such activities, she campaigned for the Beijing Platform for
Action and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW).
While
here at Moynihan, she will be conducting research on the following topic: What
role do INGOs play in reclaiming and defending civil society space,
particularly in the context of Asia?
Oxfam
is going through a transformation it calls Oxfam 2020. The quest for greater
relevance in a rapidly changing world and the intention to shift power to the
south are among the drivers behind this transformation. However, the external
world has become more hostile to national civil society organizations (CSOs) as
well as to international NGOs (INGOs) like Oxfam. Many refer to this as “the
shrinking of civil society space.” In the process of developing Oxfam’s
regional strategy for Asia, it examined the rise of conservatism, intolerance,
and authoritarian regimes that use state power to close down civil society
spaces. These key trends shape the future of Asia and, consequently, inform
Oxfam’s strategy. A deeper analysis and understanding of this situation will
strengthen its praxis as a transnational NGO working in Asia and facilitate it
becoming more suitable and effective in the field.
A recent Oxfam statement underscores this need. “In the
1990s, the international donor community perceived support to civil society as
an integral part of democracy promotion and, thus, an end in itself. The
discourse on civil society has changed in the last decade, and civil society
participation is increasingly reduced to a means for national development and
poverty reduction, primarily through service provision.” There appears to be
continued and widespread acceptance of service delivery, on the one hand, but
growing intolerance for advocacy campaigns, public engagement and mobilization,
and rights-based work on the other. Given that a vibrant civic space is part
and parcel of development, what role could INGOs play in reopening spaces for
civil society?
Student Role
We are seeking students who are
interested in volunteering to do preparatory literature research on behalf of
Ms. Lilian Mercado from mid-February through March as well as to conduct
follow-up work as necessary during her stay at Moynihan from March 25 to April
5,2019.Students
will have an opportunity to interact with this important leader throughout her
stay, which can help with networking, career development, and research
assignments. We are asking for approximately 5 hours per week of
a student’s time from mid-February through April 5th.
If you are interested and
available, please send an indication of interest, CV, and course
schedule to Shauna Soljour, Program Coordinator, Transnational NGO
Initiative, Moynihan Institute (TNGOinfo@maxwell.syr.edu) by
Friday, February 8, 2019 at 5:00 pm.
Thank you for your consideration!