WORLD NGO DAY

World NGO Day is observed annually on 27 February. It was officially recognised and declared on 17 April 2010 by 12 countries of the IX Baltic Sea NGO Forum to the 8th Summit of the Baltic Sea States in Vilnius, Lithuania. The World NGO Day was internationally marked and recognised on 27 February 2014 in Helsinki, Finland by Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand who congratulated with the World NGO Day and highlighted the importance of NGO sector for the UN through her speech. Andris Piebalgs, the European Commissioner for Development (European Commission) sent his regards and said “It’s only right that, on just one of those days, the world should celebrate NGOs and thank them for the tremendous work that they do.”

The World NGO Day initiative was founded in 2009 by university student Marcis Liors Skadmanis (at age 24); who first thought of the initial idea during his Masters in International Law and NGO Legislation. His desire to see a better future for all globally and his passion for finding new solutions for global development is what drove him to establish this initiative (International day) - while believing that innovation is the key for a more sustainable future.

The World NGO Day - intended to be a symbol of bringing together the world’s NGOs to build a stronger future for all - would aim to raise awareness of the many organisations working for good around the globe. A dedicated day - an important annual marking point - for all NGOs to commemorate and celebrate their achievements, ensuring that also small grassroots organisations gain the recognition they deserve. To inspire people to become more actively involved within NGOs, and encourage more collaboration between NGOs.  

 

The World NGO Day is for everyone, celebrating Non Governmental Organisations and the important endowment to society of the various people behind each one of them.

• A day for NGOs around the globe to share knowledge and experiences with one another.
• An opportunity for education, enabling individuals worldwide to understand more clearly what NGOs are doing for society locally, nationally and internationally.
• An international symbol that displays the efforts and achievements of all NGOs from all sectors.
• An opportunity to inspire people to consider a career within the third sector.
• An opportunity for individuals to learn more about the people behind NGOs.
• An opportunity for NGOs to discuss the issues that affect their work, and form partnerships that can resolve mutual problem.

What are Non-Governmental Organizations

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is basically a legally constituted organization which is operated by legal persons who act independently from any government. In those cases where the NGOs are funded partially or completely by governments, the NGO barred the government representatives from any membership in the organization in order to sustain its non-governmental status. The term is used for those organizations which have wider social target with political aspects. However, any NGO cannot be blatantly political organizations. The term “non-governmental organization” has no agreed legal definition and these are termed as “civil society organizations” in many jurisdictions.

Across the world, the number of internationally operating NGOs is around 40,000. The number of national NGO in countries is even higher with around 1-2 million NGOs in India and 277,000 NGOs in Russia. The remodelling processes of the welfare state have led to the rapid development of the non-governmental sector in western countries. With increasing globalization, the intensity of such processes has increased further. In the 20th century, the Globalization makes the people understand the importance of NGOs.

There are many problems which could not be solved effectively within a country. The international bodies at a global level including international organizations like World Trade Organization were considered to be too centred to favour the interests of capitalist firms. The growth and rise of NGO is seen as an attempt to offset this trend, where NGO emphasize the core issue related to human cause like sustainable development, developmental aid and other humanitarian issues. One such remarkable example of organization for raising the cause of people is World Social Forum. This organisation is an opponent convention to the World Economic Forum. In some cases, it represents the popular movements of the poor and other ways, it is regarded as an aristocratic form of politics. 

The NGOs can be classified into various types on the basis of different factors like orientation or level of cooperation.

NGO type by orientation can be grouped into Charitable orientation; Service orientation; Participatory orientation; and Empowering orientation.

NGO type by level of co-operation can be grouped into Community- Based Organisation; City Wide Organisation; National NGOs; and International NGOs;

The Non-governmental organizations forms a heterogeneous group and it has a long list of organization working in different areas with varied scope of work. The alternative terms used in addition to “NGO” include private voluntary organizations, civil society, independent sector, self-help organizations, grassroots organizations, volunteer sector, transnational social movement organizations, and non-state actors (NSA’s).

Some of the Famous terms used for NGO are mentioned below.

BINGO – It is a short term used for business-friendly international NGO

CITS – It is a type of NGO that basically devoted in helping the scientific community by motivating the young talent towards R & D.

CSO – It is short term for civil society organization

DONGO – It refers to the Donor Organized NGO

ENGO – It is an abbreviated form of environmental NGO like Global 2000;

GONGO – It refers to the government-operated NGOs

INGO – It is an abbreviated form of international NGO like Oxfam

QUANGO – It refers to the quasi-autonomous NGO like an ISO non-governmental organizations, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

TANGO – It refers to the technical assistance NGO

GSO – it stands for the Grassroots Support Organization

MANGO – It refers to the market advocacy NGO

CHARDS – It is a short form for Community Health and Rural Development Society

As per the World Bank Typology, the NGOs can be classified into Operational and Advocacy NGOs.

Operational NGO – The main purpose of operational NGO is to design and implement the development-related projects. The scope of the Operational NGOs can be national, international or even community-based.

Advocacy NGO – The main purpose of an Advocacy NGO is to promote a specific cause. It makes efforts to raise awareness and knowledge by doing various activities like lobbying, press work and activist events.