Civil society between the GONGOS, DONGOS, and POLINGOS,

written by Ayman Okeil

During one of my trips to Geneva, the capital of human rights in the world, I heard about the accusations against some civil society organizations that do not take a confrontational approach with the country in which they were founded. One of these accusations that caught my attention was the term “GONGOS,” so I learned that GO is an abbreviation for Governmental, while NGOS is an abbreviation for Non-Governmental Organization. The term is generally applied to organizations that are allegedly managed by governments.

Curiosity prompted me to delve deeper into the origin of these terms, and I learned that the beginning of the expansion of the use of this concept was after World War II and during the Cold War, when the term DONGOS was applied to non-governmental organizations in the Soviet Union and in Eastern European countries that were allegedly supporting the movements of the Soviet Union at that time. If the motivation behind this term was political in origin, it came from other organizations and figures who received their funding from the Western bloc. So, I knew the reasons and preferred to remain silent. Whoever realizes the virtue of silence, as it is said in the narrations.

During my conversation with my Egyptian friend who lives in Switzerland, “the land of watches and chocolate.” While we were on the shores of Lac Léman in Geneva, I said to him, “Have you heard about (DONGOS)?” He smiled and said, “What do you think about (DONGOS and POLINGOS)?”

I learned that DONGOS is a term given to non-governmental organizations that are allegedly established by a donor, so I laughed, but he continued his speech and told me: There are also POLINGOS, which are organizations that are claimed to be a destination for political parties and forces. But after I remained silent, I continued my speech and told him: Civil society must serve as a link between the state and the citizen, and whether these organizations are human rights, development, or charitable, their goal must be to help the state achieve the well-being of its individuals, and to make them aware of their rights and duties.

We continued the conversation until we reached the Au Furet: Gambas Agogo in Geneva restaurant, and there we came across a gathering of an organization that often comes at the top of the lists of speakers for organizations at Council sessions. I told him, with the same logic as the previous terms, that we can hear about the term HUNGOS and claim These organizations are managed by the Human Rights Council or the Secretariat, as long as these organizations are at the forefront of the list of speakers during general discussions and interactive dialogues.

I concluded my conversation with him by saying: It does not matter whether one is called GONGOS, DONGOS, or POLINGOS. The most important thing is that the organization be present and able to work for the benefit of the citizen and achieve results on the ground.