In two speeches marking the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Daniel Benjamin, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, acknowledged the role of poverty and injustice in leading people to violence. They said the Obama administration will have a “wide focus” in addressing these issues. To be successful, this focus will need to address counterproductive rules for charities and charitable giving.  

Clinton’s Dec. 14, 2009 speech at Georgetown University explained how a wide focus on rights must  address “desperation caused by poverty and disease often leads to violence that further imperils the rights of people and threatens the stability of governments.” She acknowledged the importance of civil society movements and nongovernmental organizations as “essential partners in advancing the principle that every person counts, and in exposing those who violate that standard.” In addressing democratic rights as human rights she referred to key elements of nonprofit organizations, saying people “must be free to worship, associate and to love in the way that they choose.” Human Rights Watch associate director Carroll Bogert told the Washington Post the speech broke from Bush era policy by emphasizing that the U.S. must also be held accountable on its human rights record.

Benjamin’s speech at the Jamestown Conference in Washington, DC on Dec. 9 focused on addressing violent extremism. He said, “it is clear that navigating by our values is an essential part of a successful counterterrorism effort.”  He went on to say “We need to confront the political, social, and economic conditions that our enemies exploit to win over the new recruits…the funds…and those whose tacit support enables the militants to carry forward their plans.”

Benjamin noted he has established a unit in his office to work on ”Countering Violent Extremism” (CVE). He said, “We know that violent extremism flourishes where there is marginalization, alienation, and perceived–-or real–-relative deprivation… There is a broad understanding across the government that we have not done nearly enough to address underlying conditions for at-risk populations–-and we have also not done enough to improve the ability of moderates to voice their views and strengthen opposition to violence.”

The work of U.S. nonprofits is critical to addressing the problems Benjamin cited, but reform of current rules that create barriers to this work will be necessary for that potential to be fully realized. As Benjamin concluded, “There is no denying that when children have no hope for an education, when young people have no hope for a job and feel disconnected from the modern world, when governments fail to provide for the basic needs of their people, when people despair and are aggrieved, they become more susceptible to extremist ideologies.”