The role of various organizations, such as Amnesty International, Oxfam, Greenpeace, Pakistan Policy Institute and thousand of others serve as, voluntary or civil society organizations whose main focus is to advise governments and international policy making bodies in policy formulation across the continents. Most political scientists term them as Non Government Organizations, or pressure groups, however terming them as such are highly controversial. Scholars agree, that such organizations command significant legitimacy, oftentimes more than the national governments. A German opinion poll showed higher level of trust on Greenpeace as opposed to the German government. The Pakistan Policy Institute has a following of well over 600,000 in the social media. Accountability and democracy are one of the key concerns in an emerging global culture, and that culture, has a global village that surpasses geographical borders and boundaries. In this emerging culture of the 21st century, the role of such organizations is pivotal to success in cross border issues through a track-2 diplomacy led by such organizations. The rights of NGOs were won in the United Nations in wartime negotiations in 1943-45. Later, it was approved through a United Nations Charter Article 71 providing legitimacy to its functioning. The beginning of the 21st century saw over 2,000 NGOs securing consultative status at the United Nations. Thus, the role of NGOs is increasing by the day. A vibrant democracy cannot function in the absence of accountability and transparency. Most of the emerging democracies are faced with corruption and bribery, which makes it difficult to maintain an enduring and functional democracy in most underdeveloped nations. This makes the role of non-state actors beneficial in supporting statecraft dynamics.
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