Non-governmental organization Totally Explained

Everything about Non-governmental Organisations totally explained

A Non-governmental organisation (NGO) is a legally constituted organisation created by private persons or organisations 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 insofar as it excludes government representatives from membership in the organisation.
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

International non-governmental organizations have a history dating back to at least the mid-nineteenth century. They 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 organisation" only came into popular use with the establishment of the United Nations Organisation in 1945 with provisions in Article 71 of Chapter 10 of the United Nations Charter for a consultative role for organisations which are neither governments nor member states – see Consultative Status. The definition of "international NGO" (INGO) is first given in resolution 288 (X) of ECOSOC on February 27, 1950: it's defined as "any international organisation that isn't founded by an international treaty". The vital role of NGOs and other "major groups" in sustainable development was recognised in Chapter 27 of Agenda 21, leading to intense arrangements for a consultative relationship between the United Nations and non-governmental organisations. Globalisation during the 20th century gave rise to the importance of NGOs. Many problems couldn't be solved within a nation. International treaties and international organisations 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 emphasise 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. 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 and that they fulfill a similar function to that of the clergy during the high colonial era. Whatever the case, NGO transnational networking is now extensive.

Types of NGOs

Apart from 'NGO' often alternative terms are used as for example independent sector, volunteer sector, civil society, grassroots organisations, transnational social movement organisations, private voluntary organisations, self-help organisations and non-state actors (NSA's).
Nongovernmental organisations are a heterogeneous group. A long list of acronyms has developed around the term 'NGO'.
These include:

INGO stands for international NGO;
BINGO is short for business-oriented international NGO, or big international NGO;
ENGO, short for environmental NGO, such as Global 2000;
GONGOs are government-operated NGOs, which may have been set up by governments to look like NGOs in order to qualify for outside aid or promote the interests of the government in question;
QUANGOs are quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). (The ISO is actually not purely an NGO, since its membership is by nation, and each nation is represented by what the ISO Council determines to be the 'most broadly representative' standardisation body of a nation. That body might itself be a nongovernmental organisation; for example, the United States is represented in ISO by the American National Standards Institute, which is independent of the federal government. However, other countries can be represented by national governmental agencies; this is the trend in Europe.)
TANGO, short for technical assistance NGO;
CSO, short for civil society organization;

There are also numerous classifications of NGOs. The typology the World Bank uses divides them into Operational and Advocacy:
The primary purpose of an operational NGO is the design and implementation of development-related projects. One frequently used categorisation is the division into 'relief-oriented' or 'development-oriented' organisations; they can also be classified according to whether they stress service delivery or participation; or whether they're religious or secular; and whether they're more public or private-oriented. Operational NGOs can be community-based, national or international.
The primary purpose of an Advocacy NGO is to defend or promote a specific cause. As opposed to operational project management, these organisations typically try to raise awareness, acceptance and knowledge by lobbying, press work and activist events. USAID refers to NGOs as private voluntary organisations. However many scholars have argued that this definition is highly problematic as many NGOs are in fact state and corporate funded and managed projects with professional staff.
NGOs exist for a variety of reasons, usually to further the political or social goals of their members or funders. Examples include improving the state of the natural environment, encouraging the observance of human rights, improving the welfare of the disadvantaged, or representing a corporate agenda. However, there are a huge number of such organisations and their goals cover a broad range of political and philosophical positions. This can also easily be applied to private schools and athletic organisations.

Methods

NGOs vary in their methods. Some act primarily as lobbyists, while others conduct programmes and activities primarily. For instance, an NGO such as Oxfam, concerned with poverty alleviation, might provide needy people with the equipment and skills to find food and clean drinking water.

Public relations

Non-governmental organisations need healthy relationships with the public to meet their goals. Foundations and charities use sophisticated public relations campaigns to raise funds and employ standard lobbying techniques with governments. Interest groups may be of political importance because of their ability to influence social and political outcomes. At times NGOs seek to mobilise public support such as the by the NGO Global Warming Alliance.

Consulting

Many international NGOs have a consultative status with United Nations agencies relevant to their area of work. As an example, the Third World Network has a consultative status with the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). While in 1946, only 41 NGOs had consultative status with the ECOSOC, by 2003 this number had risen to 3550.

Project management

There is an increasing awareness that management techniques are crucial to project success in non-governmental organisations. Generally, non-governmental organisations that are private have either a community or environmental focus. They address varieties of issues such as religion, emergency aid, or humanitarian affairs. They mobilise public support and voluntary contributions for aid; they often have strong links with community groups in developing countries, and they often work in areas where government-to-government aid isn't possible. NGOs are accepted as a part of the international relations landscape, and while they influence national and multilateral policy-making, increasingly they're more directly involved in local action.

Management

Two management trends are particularly relevant to NGOs: diversity management and participatory management. Diversity management deals with different cultures in an organisation. Intercultural problems are prevalent in Northern NGOs which are engaged in developmental activities in the South. Personnel coming from a rich country are faced with a completely different approach of doing things in the target country. A participatory management style is said to be typical of NGOs. It is intricately tied to the concept of a learning organisation: all people within the organisation are perceived as sources for knowledge and skills. To develop the organisation, individuals have to be able to contribute in the decision making process and they need to learn. The management is run by.

Staffing

Not all people working for non-governmental organisations are volunteers. The reasons people volunteer are not necessarily purely altruistic, and can provide immediate benefits for themselves as well as those they serve, including skills, experience, and contacts.
There is some dispute as to whether expatriates should be sent to developing countries. Frequently this type of personnel is employed to satisfy a donor who wants to see the supported project managed by someone from an industrialised country. However, the expertise these employees or volunteers may have can be counterbalanced by a number of factors: the cost of foreigners is typically higher, they've no grassroot connections in the country they're sent to, and local expertise is often undervalued.. Funding such large budgets demands significant fundraising efforts on the part of most NGOs. Major sources of NGO funding include membership dues, the sale of goods and services, grants from international institutions or national governments, and private donations. Several EU-grants provide funds accessible to NGOs.
Even though the term "non-governmental organisation" implies independence from governments, some NGOs depend heavily on governments for their funding. A quarter of the US$162 million income in 1998 of the famine-relief organisation Oxfam was donated by the British government and the EU. The Christian relief and development organisation World Vision collected US$55 million worth of goods in 1998 from the American government. Nobel Prize winner Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) (known in the USA as Doctors Without Borders) gets 46% of its income from government sources.

Monitoring and control

In a March 2000 report on United Nations Reform priorities, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote in favour of international humanitarian intervention, arguing that the international community has a "right to protect"

citizens of the world against ethnic cleansing, genocide, and crimes against humanity. On the heels of the report, the Canadian government launched the Responsibility to Protect project, outlining the issue of humanitarian intervention. While the R2P doctrine has wide applications, among the more controversial has been the Canadian government's use of R2P to justify its intervention and support of the coup

in Haiti.
   Years after R2P, the World Federalist Movement, an organisation which supports "the creation of democratic global structures accountable to the citizens of the world and call for the division of international authority among separate agencies", has launched Responsibility to Protect - Engaging Civil Society (R2PCS). A collaboration between the WFM and the Canadian government, this project aims to bring NGOs into lockstep with the principles outlined under the original R2P project.
   The governments of the countries an NGO works or is registered in may require reporting or other monitoring and oversight. Funders generally require reporting and assessment, such information isn't necessarily publicly available. There may also be associations and watchdog organisations that research and publish details on the actions of NGOs working in particular geographic or programme areas.
In recent years, many large corporations have increased their corporate social responsibility departments in an attempt to preempt NGO campaigns against certain corporate practices. As the logic goes, if corporations work with NGOs, NGOs won't work against corporations.
   In December 2007, The United States Department of Defense Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) (External Link

) established an International Health Division under Force Health Protection & Readiness (External Link

). Part of International Health's mission is to communicate with NGOs in areas of mutual interest. Department of Defense Directive 3000.05 (External Link

), in 2005, requires DoD to regard stability-enhancing activities as a mission of importance equal to warfighting. In compliance with international law (External Link

), DoD has necessarily built a capacity to improve essential services in areas of conflict such as Iraq, where the customary lead agencies (State Department and USAID) find it difficult to operate. Unlike the "co-option" strategy described for corporations, the OASD(HA) recognises the neutrality of health as an essential service. International Health cultivates collaborative relationships with NGOs, albeit at arms-length, recognising their traditional independence, expertise and honest broker status. While the goals of DoD and NGOs may seem incongruent, the DoD's emphasis on stability and security to reduce and prevent conflict suggests, on careful analysis, important mutual interests.

Legal status

NGOs are not subjects of international law, as states are. An exception is the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is subject to certain specific matters, mainly relating to the Geneva Convention.
The Council of Europe in Strasbourg drafted the European Convention on the Recognition of the Legal Personality of International Non-Governmental Organizations in 1986, which sets a common legal basis for the existence and work of NGOs in Europe. Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to freedom of association, which is also a fundamental norm for NGOs.

Citizen organisation

There is a growing movement within the “non”-profit and “non”-government sector to define itself in a more constructive, accurate way. Instead of being defined by “non” words, organisations are suggesting new terminology to describe the sector. The term “civil society organisation” (CSO) has been used by a growing number of organisations, such as The Center for the Study of Global Governance. The term “citizen sector organisation” (CSO) has also been advocated to describe the sector — as one of citizens, for citizens. This labels and positions the sector as its own entity, without relying on language used for the government or business sectors. However some have argued that this isn't particularly helpful given that most NGOs are in fact funded by governments and business.

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