NGOs y Captain Cook: Historia, Definición y Vida del Explorador James Cook

NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations)

As you know, although Paco thinks he does not need any help at all, he loves helping people. In fact, he helps some NGOs which send basic aid supplies to countries which need some kind of help. "I wish I could found an NGO", he sometimes thinks. Not only would he like to found one, he would also love to help all the NGOs worldwide. However, there are too many. But what is an NGO?

What is an NGO?

Non-governmental organization (NGO) is a term that has become widely accepted as referring to a legally constituted, non-governmental organization created by natural or legal persons with no participation or representation of any government. In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status and excludes government representatives from membership in the organization. In many jurisdictions these types of organization are defined as "civil society organizations" or referred to by other names.

Number of NGOs

The number of internationally operating NGOs is estimated at 40,000. National numbers are even higher: Russia has 277,000 NGOs. India is estimated to have between 1 million and 2 million NGOs.

History of NGOs

National NGOs go back to antiquity. International non-governmental organizations have a history dating back to at least 1839. It has been estimated that by 1914 there were 1083 NGOs. International NGOs were important in the anti-slavery movement and the movement for women's suffrage, and reached a peak at the time of the World Disarmament Conference.

However, the phrase "non-governmental organization" only came into popular use with the establishment of the United Nations Organization in 1945, with provisions in Article 71 of Chapter 10 of the United Nations Charter for a consultative role for organizations which are neither governments nor member states. The vital role of NGOs and other "major groups" in sustainable development was recognized in Chapter 27 of Agenda 21, leading to intense arrangements for a consultative relationship between the United Nations and non-governmental organizations.

Globalization and NGOs

Globalization during the 20th century gave rise to the importance of NGOs. Many problems could not be solved within a nation. International treaties and international organizations such as the World Trade Organization were perceived as being too centred on the interests of capitalist enterprises. Some argued that in an attempt to counterbalance this trend, NGOs have developed to emphasize humanitarian issues, developmental aid and sustainable development.

A prominent example of this is the World Social Forum, which is a rival convention to the World Economic Forum held annually in January in Davos, Switzerland. The fifth World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in January 2005 was attended by representatives from more than 1,000 NGOs.

Criticism of NGOs

Some have argued that in forums like these, NGOs take the place of what should belong to popular movements of the poor. Others argue that NGOs are often imperialist in nature, that they sometimes operate in a racialized manner in dominant countries, and that they fulfill a similar function to that of the clergy during the high colonial era. The philosopher Peter Hallward argues that they are an aristocratic form of politics. However, this philosophy would suggest that organizations of indigenous peoples are not represented, which is untrue. Whatever the case, NGO transnational networking is now extensive.

Captain Cook's Early Life

Introduction

After visiting the Opera House, Paco wanted to know more about when, why and who colonized Australia and turned it into a place to take all kinds of convicts from the British Isles. Thus, he visited the Australian National Maritime Museum at Sydney's Darling Harbour, where he could read and see documents that talked about the well-known British navigator and explorer, Captain Cook.

Birth and Childhood

Captain James Cook was born in the village of Marton in Yorkshire, which today is a suburb belonging to the town of Middlesbrough, in 1728. He was baptised in the local church of St. Cuthbert's, where today his name can be seen in the church register. Cook was the second of eight children of James Cook, a Scottish farm labourer, and his locally born wife Grace Pace from Thornaby on Tees.

In 1736, his family moved to Airey Holme farm at Great Ayton, where his father's employer, Thomas Skottowe, paid for him to attend the local school, which is a museum nowadays. In 1741, after five years of schooling, he began to work for his father, who had by now been promoted to farm manager. For leisure he would climb a nearby hill, Roseberry Topping, enjoying the opportunity for solitude. Cook's Cottage, his parents' last home, which he is likely to have visited, is now in Melbourne, having been moved from England and reassembled brick by brick in 1934.

Apprenticeship in Staithes

In 1745, when he was 16, Cook moved 20 miles (32 km) to the fishing village of Staithes to be apprenticed as a shop boy to grocer and haberdasher William Sanderson. Historians have speculated that this is where Cook first felt the lure of the sea while gazing out of the shop window.

Work in Whitby

After 18 months, not proving suitable for shop work, Cook travelled to the nearby port town of Whitby to be introduced to friends of Sanderson's, John and Henry Walker, who were prominent local ship-owners and Quakers, and were in the coal trade. Their house is now the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.

Cook was taken on as a merchant navy apprentice in their small fleet of vessels plying coal along the English coast. As part of this apprenticeship, Cook applied himself to the study of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, navigation and astronomy, all skills he would need one day to command his own ship.

Career in the Merchant and Royal Navy

His three-year apprenticeship completed, Cook began working on trading ships in the Baltic Sea. He soon progressed through the merchant navy ranks, starting with his 1752 promotion to Mate (officer in charge of navigation) aboard the collier brig Friendship. In 1755, within a month of being offered command of this vessel, he volunteered for service in the Royal Navy, as Britain was re-arming for what was to become the Seven Years' War.

Despite the need to start back at the bottom of the naval hierarchy, Cook realised his career would advance more quickly in military service and entered the Navy at Wapping on 7 June 1755. He died on 14 February 1779.