NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs)

						  	  Richard J. Estes
	 					University of Pennsylvania

"Non-governmental organizations" (NGOs) refer to those non-profit,
voluntary, organizations that carry a broad range of social development
functions with and on behalf of people.  The vast majority of these
organizations exist outside of government and, thus, their programs
emanate more from the expressed needs of people rather than from governments.

	In recent years, NGOs have emerged as powerful sources for social 
change within developing countries.  NGO efforts have been particularly
noteworthy in the areas of social service delivery, advocacy, protection
of the natural environment, and in establishing new institutions to reflect
the changing needs of impoverished peoples (e.g., credit unions,
agricultural cooperatives, day-care for age-dependent and sick persons,
etc.).  Many NGOs operate under religious sponsorship; others are
non-sectarian in auspice and, today, even government-sponsored NGOs have
come into being (GONGO).  Whatever their auspices, the majority of NGOs
devote their attention to service, advocacy, and social change efforts
with and on behalf of people.  Many NGOs have targeted their efforts
toward population groups that tend to be underserved by governmental
programs, including women, the aged, physically and mentally disabled
persons, the poor, as well as various social groups that have been
"marginalized" by virtue of race, religion, ethnicity, caste, social class,
etc.

	Based on its international work with more than 240 large and small NGOs,
the World Bank classifies NGOs into five categories (World Bank, 1989).
 

1.	Community Associations

Community associations consist of member-run organizations that provide
information, assistance and leadership to local communities.  Often,
community associations help public institutions connect effectively with
local needs, thereby performing a "bridging" function between people and
governments.  

	At the local level, community associations may also represent the
special interests of collectives of people including farmers, small
businesses, or water users.  Community associations are typically formed
by persons who recognize that pooling resources enables the community to
work on its own development.


2.	Policy Advocacy Groups 

Policy advocacy groups operate at the local, national, and international
levels; their primary purpose is to serve as advocates for groups of
persons whose unorganized actions tend to be politically ineffective. 
Many of these groups focus on environmental, health, and public safety issues.  

	Given their social change orientation, advocacy groups often come into
conflict with government officials; but they also contribute toward larger
political processes.  Advocacy NGOs, therefore, often serve as catalysts
for collective action among poor persons in societies unaccustomed to such
behavior.

	Policy advocacy groups exist at three levels:

	a. community level NGOs consist of community groups that engage in
political actions similar to those of a political party.  Driven by the
desire to correct actual (and perceived) injustices, politically active
community groups are often anti-government and subject to frequent repression.

	b. indigenous-intermediary NGOs are organizations that represent the
powerless in their fight for policy change.  The membership of these
organizations often consist of persons who have not been disenfranchised
by the power structure, e.g., members of unions, religious communities, etc.

	c. international NGOs are international advocacy groups that attempt to
influence policy changes at national and international levels.  Activities
are usually centered on specific issues such as the environment, minority
rights, women, and child survival.


3.	Service Provider-Intermediary 

Service Provider/Intermediary NGOs operate at either at the national or
international levels.  The primary purpose of these organizations is to
serve as intermediaries between governments and people and, hence, like
other NGOs, perform an important "bridging" function in making government
policies more relevant to the needs of people need, and vice versa.

	Service Provider NGOs engage in a broad spectrum of human and other
service provision.  Normally they serve populations that government
programs fail to reach.  They also foster private sector development
through such activities as credit administration and technical training for
small-scale enterprises.  These NGOs may also operate income-generating
enterprises, but most are not-for-profit.  

	Motivated by neither the security incentives of government workers nor
the profit motives of private enterprises, the staff and supporters of
Service-Provider NGOs tend to be drawn to these organizations by altruistic
motivations to create an environment favorable for development.


4.	Contractors

Contractor NGOs become involved in sponsored projects as consultants to
government agencies or to international financial institutions.   They
seek to strengthen existing institutional capacity, or may serve as
contractors designated to construct roads, build schools, or engage in
other public works.  

	Though these NGOs often engage in activities other than contracting, 
many behave like private contractors, often competing with private firms. 
However, many of these NGOs have income from sources other than contracts
and, therefore, can compete more successful in the contracting process
than many for-profit organizations.  Though all of these organizations
maintain a not-for-profit status, their consultants are paid market, or
close to market, rates for their services.


5.	Cooperatives

Defined as "voluntary organizations set up to protect and generate
economic benefits for their members," cooperatives are formed when a task
cannot be done on a individual level, such as obtaining credit (Cernea,
1988:13-14).  

	Cooperatives distribute profit as dividends to members.  They are often
run on a one vote per person principle.  While many cooperatives are, in
fact, full-fledged private enterprises, those with which development
donors are concerned are generally dependent for an extended period on
project-supplied concessional credit, inputs, and management training.



The NGO "Life Cycle"

David Korten (1990) further distinguishes between "NGOs", "PVOs" (private
voluntary organizations) and "POs" (people's, mostly "grass roots"
organizations).  In Getting to the 21st Century: Voluntary Action and the
Global Agenda Korten suggests that NGOs have evolved through four distinct
phases over the past 40 years:

	Phase 1:	Relief and Welfare in which NGOs delivered critical 
social services during periods of acute shortages;

	Phase 2: 	Community Development in which NGOs functioned as 
mobilizers of popular and governmental support in responding to
locally-based community projects;

	Phase 3: 	Sustainable Systems Development in which the focus if 
NGOs shifted to subregional and national concerns (especially in the
environmental areas); and,

	Phase 4: 	People's Movements in which NGOs functioning as 
activists and educators seek to coalesce and energize self-management
networks toward both national and global social development goals (p. 117).


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	RESOURCE MATERIALS ON
	NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs)


BASIC BOOKS

Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC).
1989. NGO Poverty Alleviation Strategies Towards the Year 2000 (Manila:
ANGOC).

Berg, Robert J. 1987. Non-Governmental Organizations: New Force in Third
World Development and Politics (East Lansing MI: Center for Advanced Study
of International Development, Michigan State University).

Cernea, Michael. 1988. Non-governmental Organizations and Local
Development.  World Bank Discussion Paper No.40.  (Washington).

Chaudhuri, Ranjit (ed.). 1989. Conflict, Development, and NGOs (Calcutta:
Best Books).

Heredia, Rudolf C. 1988. Voluntary Action and Development: Towards a
Praxis for Non-Government Agencies (New Delhi: Concept Publishing).

Korten, David. 1986. Micro-Policy Reform: The Role of Private Voluntary
Agencies.  NASPAA Working Paper No. 12 (Washington).

Korten, David C. 1990. Getting to the 21st Century: Voluntary Action and
the Global Agenda (West Hartford CT: Kumarian Press, Inc.).

Lipnack, Jessica and Jeffrey Stamps. 1986. The Networking Book: People
Connecting with People (New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul).

Livezey, Lowell. 1988. Nongovernmental Organizations and the Ideas of
Human Rights (Princeton, NJ: Center of International Studies).

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 1988. 
Voluntary Aid for Development: The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations
(Paris).

O'Neil, Michael. 1989. The Third America: The Emergence of the Non-Profit
Sector in the United States (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass).

Van Til, Jon. 1988. Mapping the Third Sector: Voluntarism in a Changing
Social Economy (New York: The Foundation Center).

World Bank. 1989. World Bank Work with Nongovernmental Organizations
(Washington).


UNITED NATION PUBLICATIONS

ESCAP. 1988. The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in the
Socio-Economic Development of Asia and the Pacific, and Future
Co-operation with ESCAP and Other United Nations Agencies (Bangkok:
ESCAP), AD/RSCESD/1.

ESCAP. 1989a. A Study on Measures to Enhance the Contribution of
Non-Governmental Organizations to Social Development (Bangkok: ESCAP),
ST/ESCAP/811.

ESCAP. 1989b. Case Studies on Strengthening Co-Ordination Between
Non-Governmental Organizations and Government Agencies in Promoting Social
Development (Bangkok: ESCAP), ST/ESCAP/815.

ESCAP. 1991b. Regional Support Measures for the Implementation of the
Social Development Strategy for the ESCAP Region: Proposal Relating to
NGO-Government Cooperation (Bangkok: UN/ESCAP), SD/MCSWD(4)/5.

ESCAP. 1991c. Proceedings of the Seminar on Co-operation Between
Government Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations in the Planning
and Delivery of Social Services (Bangkok; ESCAP).
 
UNICEF. 1987. NGO/UNICEF Cooperation: A Historical Perspective (New York:
United Nations Children's Fund).

World Health Organization. 1988. Partners in Health: The Role of
Nongovernmental Organizations in Health Development (New Delhi).


MAJOR DECLARATIONS AND AGREEMENTS

Asian NGO Coalition. 1989. "The Manila Declaration on People's
Participation and Sustainable Development."  Reprinted as Appendix A in
Korten (1990), pp. 217-221.



--------------------
Excerpted from Richard J. Estes (1992) _Internationalizing Social Work
Education:  A Guide to Resources For a New Century_ (Philadelphia: 
University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work).

Permission is granted to disseminate this document so long as proper
credit has been given to the source.