Jared Cohen - The New Digital Age

Télécoms Sans Frontières: Adele Waugaman, “Telecoms Sans Frontieres’ Emergency Response,” presentation to the U.S. Department of State, Haiti Earthquake, July 9, 2010, United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation, http://www.unfoundation.org/assets/pdf/haiti-earthquake-tsf-emergency-response-1.pdf; Tom Foremski, “Télécoms Sans Frontières—How a Simple Phone Call Helps in Haiti,” Silicon Valley Watcher, February 4, 2010, http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2010/02/telecoms_sans_f.php.

Thomson Reuters Foundation’s AlertNet: Thomson Reuters, “Thomson Reuters Foundation Launches Free Information Service for Disaster-Struck Population in Haiti: Text Your Location to 4636 to Register,” press release, January 17, 2010, http://thomsonreuters.com/content/press_room/corporate/TR_Foundation_launches_EIS.

delivery of funding from institutional donors: José de Córdoba, “Aid Spawns Back-lash in Haiti,” Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2010, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304023804575566743115456322.html; Ingrid Arnesen, “In Haiti, Hope Is the Last Thing Lost,” Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704515904576076031661824012.html.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians: William Booth, “NGOs in Haiti Face New Questions about Effectiveness,” Washington Post, February 1, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/01/AR2011020102030.html.

People well qualified to say what transpired: See Paul Farmer, Haiti After the Earthquake (New York: PublicAffairs, 2012).

a pattern emerging: See Jessica T. Mathews, “Power Shift,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 1997, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/52644/jessica-t-mathews/power-shift, about the rise of NGOs.

70 percent overhead in “production costs”: Aly Weisman, “Invisible Children Respond to #StopKony Viral Video Criticisms,” The Wire, Business Insider, March 8, 2012, http://www.businessinsider.com/invisible-children-respond-to-stopkony-viral-video-criticisms-2012-3.

bizarre detention: Sarah Grieco, “Invisible Children Co-founder Detained: SDPD,” NBC 7 San Diego, March 17, 2012, http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/jason-russell-san-diego-invisible-children-kony-2012-142970255.html.

There already are monitoring and rating systems for NGOs: GuideStar, Charity Navigator, GiveWell, CharityWatch, Philanthropedia, GreatNonprofits, and others fall into the former category. Their primary goal is to facilitate better-informed giving. They range from simply aggregating relevant information such as organizations’ Form 990 tax returns (GuideStar), to engaging charities directly to collect information and analyze evidence of impact (GiveWell). While these tools are incredibly valuable, our hunch is that they are only used by foundations and a small minority of individuals who give in considerable amounts. A report called Money for Good confirms this hunch, finding that only 35 percent of individuals do research before giving and that those who do primarily go to the organization itself for information. See Money for Good II: Driving Dollars to the Highest Performing Nonprofits, Summary Report 2011 , Hope Consulting, November 2011, 9–10, http://www.guidestar.org/ViewCmsFile.aspx?ContentID=4040.

There are already some umbrella aid organizations like InterAction, but they have a couple of hundred members at best, which is only a fraction of the tens of thousands of NGOs involved in some kind of relief work.

demonstrated this to great effect: Jason Palmer, “Social Networks and the Web Offer a Lifeline in Haiti,” BBC, January 15, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8461240.stm; “How Does Haiti Communicate after the Earthquake?,” BBC, January 20, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8470270.stm.

Ushahidi volunteers in the United States: James F. Smith, “Tufts Map Steered Action amid Chaos,” Boston Globe, April 5, 2010, http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2010/04/05/tufts_project_delivered_aid_to_quake_victims/?page=1; Jessica Ramirez, “ ‘Ushahidi’ Technology Saves Lives in Haiti and Chile,” Newsweek and Daily Beast, March 3, 2010, http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/blogs/techtonic-shifts/2010/03/03/ushahidi-technology-saves-lives-in-haiti-and-chile.html.

“I’m buried”: Ramirez, “ ‘Ushahidi’ Technology Saves Lives in Haiti and Chile,” http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/blogs/techtonic-shifts/2010/03/03/ushahidi-technology-saves-lives-in-haiti-and-chile.html.

Roshan has launched a pilot program: Eltaf Najafizada and James Rupert, “Afghan Police Paid by Phone to Cut Graft in Anti-Taliban War,” Bloomberg, April 13, 2011, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-13/afghan-police-now-paid-by-phone-to-cut-graft-in-anti-taliban-war.html.

“Where people have needs”: Paul Kagame in discussion with the authors, September 2011.

(an estimated $1 billion annual business): Aditi Malhotra, “The Illicit Trade of Small Arms,” Geopolitical Monitor (Toronto), Backgrounder, January 19, 2011, http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/the-illicit-trade-of-small-arms-4273/.

Mali with disgruntled Tuareg fighters: Michel Moutot, Agence France-Presse (AFP), “West’s Intervention in Libya Tipped Mali into Chaos: Experts,” Google News, April 5, 2012, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hJtUvEGQfS0X5Lip5M2Z7MOJIgkw?docId=CNG.90655ad2d0483083880b2914c0ec5599.251.

demilitarization of tens of thousands of former fighters: Reintegration Program: Reflections on the Reintegration of Ex-Combatants, Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program (MDRP), September–October 2008, http://www.mdrp.org/PDFs/MDRP_DissNote5_0908.pdf.

“We believe that we need to put tools in the hands of ex-combatants”: Paul Kagame in discussion with the authors, September 2011.

more than $380 million in aid: Frederick Womakuyu, “South Sudan: Nation Embarks on Disarming Ex-Combatants,” AllAfrica, July 12, 2011, http://allafrica.com/stories/201107130081.html.

two hundred thousand former soldiers: Ibid.

In Colombia, a largely successful DDR program: Author observations while visiting the DDR program in Colombia on two separate occasions.

“Human-rights and justice groups can build”: Nigel Snoad in discussion with the authors, March 2012.

Dozens of criminals: Report of the International Criminal Court, Sixty-Sixth Session, United Nations General Assembly, August 19, 2011, 6–7, http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/D207D618-D99D-49B6-A1FC-A1A221B43007/283906/ICC2011AnnualReporttoUNEnglish1.pdf.

for many months before their trials: Susana SáCouto, Katherine Cleary et al., “Expediting Proceedings at the International Criminal Court,” American University, Washington College of Law, War Crimes Research Office, International Criminal Court, Legal Analysis and Education Project, June 2011, http://www.wcl.american.edu/warcrimes/icc/documents/1106report.pdf.

the country’s new government: Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: A Hand-book, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), 2003. See section by Peter Uvin, “The Gacaca Tribunals in Rwanda,” 116–117, accessed October 19, 2012, http://www.idea.int/publications/reconciliation/upload/reconciliation_full.pdf.

the gacaca tribunal: Ibid.