NGOs have not changed the balance of power on the international scene, where the main characters with the power to act are still governments, but governments have been made to take NGO's actions into account. NGOs have established themselves in national cultures as tools of reform in favour of universal human values. War, massive human rights violations, structural violence and other forms of conflict are the context for the work of humanitarian agencies and INGO's in general. The presence of a conflict requires a focus on it, and the conflict must be incorporated as a strategic theme in development and social justice work. Observers do not generate such negative consequences on their own, but simply play a role in setting them off, governments themselves being the ultimate agents with capacity to generate them.
Observers simply play the role of witnesses.
Besides that, the presence of international observers is a key factor in the decision-making process of governments. As in any conflict, the actors are the only ones who can really solve it, and so the intervention of third parties must be focused on transforming the conflict so that the parties concerned take steps towards finding solutions. One of the main voices in areas of conflict is so-called civilian society, whose efforts to find peace and social justice are limited and repressed. Because of this, a key factor in transforming the conflict is the protection of the people and organisations in civilian society who suffer repression because of their non-violent search for solutions. These three categories of observers have similarities.