We explain what an NGO is and the types of NGO that exist. Also, its various functions and examples of this type of organization.
What is an NGO?
NGO is the acronym for Non-Governmental Organization, that is, a organization private non-profit organization that is not involved at any level with the institutions of Condition. In other words, they are intermediate organizations between Business private and public institutions, generally made up of and in charge of citizens common with a similar mission and vision.
NGOs generally get their financing from various sources: governments (nationals or foreigners), private companies, other NGOs, volunteers, etc., without ideally compromising their objectives and their methods to the control or supervision of the interests of any group of power, thus sustaining themselves as independent entities in the concert of public and private forces. This does not mean, of course, that NGOs are above the legal or juridical framework of the nation in which they operate.
NGOs can be groups of various kinds, which pursue objectives also diverse, oscillating between the ecology, the fight against poverty, the complaint of totalitarianism, sex education, women's liberation, and a huge etcetera. It is estimated that in the United States alone, more than one and a half million NGOs operate each day, and in third world countries such as India, that number may rise to two million or more.
Despite their diversity, NGOs tend to have in common their autonomous character, unconcerned about the gain financial, which allows them to pursue very long-term objectives, and in many different areas of action.
NGO types
NGOs can be classified based on two different criteria:
- NGO according to their level of orientation. According to its tasks, it can be spoken of:
- Charitable NGO. Dedicated to the development of charitable activities, especially for the poor or underprivileged sectors, with little participation from the beneficiaries.
- Service-oriented NGO. They focus their efforts on indiscriminate care in sectors such as Health, the education, family planning, among others. They usually involve donations, roaming services, etc.
- NGO with participatory orientation. They offer self-help projects that involve the population beneficiary, who are provided with specialized guidance to guide their efforts towards success and learning participatory.
- Orientation to empowerment. They provide educational and psychological assistance to various disadvantaged or oppressed sectors of society to provide them with existential, emotional or psychological tools for self-improvement or entrepreneurship.
- NGO according to its scope of operation. According to its capacity for action, one can speak of:
- Community-based NGOs. Usually product of the population's own initiatives and demands, they act in small areas and seek to improve small sectors of the population. society.
- NGO level town. They usually operate as cameras Commerce or from industry or organizations of cultural exchange, ethnic or religious fraternity, etc.
- National NGOs. Organizations of action throughout the country, with an important presence within the institutions of the nation.
- International NGOs. NGO with presence in various countries or even regions continental, with international coordination, large-scale meetings, etc.
Functions of an NGO
The NGOs are aimed at social, solidarity or political-independent action.
NGOs may have functions and missions really dissimilar to each other, since they are born to fight for a specific and specific task.
However, broadly speaking, they are considered institutions aimed at social, solidarity or political-independent action, occupying an intermediate place between private interests and public policies.
This means that they can face more directly certain problems that are difficult (or inconvenient) to assume from the State, with a greater quota of freedoms.
The latter, however, has played against them on various occasions, since their tasks may go against those of certain States and, consequently, they have been accused of playing a role of intervention or sabotage in internal affairs. of countries, undermining international law in favor of imperialism.
NGO examples
Some of the best known NGOs in the world are:
- WWF. The Global Fund for Nature seeks to preserve the biodiversity and fight for the species put into extinction.
- Doctors without borders. Focused on medical care in countries in humanitarian crisis or for the populations displaced or threatened by war conflicts or humanitarian tragedies.
- International Amnesty. Committed to the fight for the human rights in more than 150 countries around the world.
- Greenpeace. Ecological NGO and denunciation and condemnation of anti-ecological actions, such as indiscriminate logging or irresponsible industrial activity.
- CARE International. An aid organization for displaced people and refugees from the war, with a presence in 84 countries and more than 122 million people benefited.