An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

(NGO) to an international scope. NGOs are independent of governments and can be seen as two types: ''advocacy NGOs'', which aim to influence governments with a specific goal, and ''operational NGOs'', which provide services. Examples of NGO mandates are

environmental preservation Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

, human rights promotions or the advancement of women. NGOs are typically not-for-profit, but receive funding from companies or membership fees. Many large INGOs have components of operational projects and advocacy initiatives working together within individual countries. The technical term " international organizations" describes

intergovernmental organization Globalization is social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the not ...

s (IGOs) and include groups such as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

or the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

, which are formed by treaties among sovereign states. In contrast, INGOs are defined as "any internationally operating organization which is not established by inter-governmental agreement". An INGO may be founded by private philanthropy, such as the Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gates and

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

s, or as an adjunct to existing international organizations, such as the Catholic or Lutheran churches. A surge in INGOs for economic development occurred during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, some of which would later become large organizations like SOS Children's Villages,

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 ...

Care International CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, formerly Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) is a major international humanitarian agency delivering emergency relief and long-term international development projects. Founded ...

and Lutheran World Relief. The number of INGOs grew from 6,000 in 1990 to 26,000 in 1999, and a 2013 report estimated about 40,000. Except for incorporation under national laws, no current formal legal status exists for INGOs, which can lead to complications in international law.

History

In 1910, the Union of International Associations (UIA) were the first to suggest that a "super-national" status be given to international organizations with diplomatic intentions without governmental influence. The International Law Association (ILA) modified this, adding that this "super-national" organizational status may be adopted for associations formed for no profit.

Activities

The main focus of INGOs is to provide relief and developmental aid to developing countries. Health-related projects such as

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

awareness, prevention and treatment, clean water, and malaria prevention—and education-related projects such as schools for girls and providing books—help to provide the social services that the country's government does not provide. International non-governmental organizations are some of the first responders to natural disasters, like hurricanes and floods, or crises that need emergency relief. Other organizations, like the International Justice Mission, are working to make judicial systems more effective and legitimate. Still others, such as those promoting micro-finance and education, directly impact citizens and communities by developing skills and human capital while encouraging citizen empowerment and community involvement. NGOs, in general, account for over 15% of total international development aid, which is linked to

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...

. As of 2007, aid (partly contributed to by INGOs) over the past thirty years is estimated to have increased the annual growth rate of the bottom billion by one percent.

Criticisms

Given they are usually supported by donations, a popular concern about INGOs is where the money goes and whether it is spent efficiently. High administrative costs can be an indication of inefficiency, enrichment of employees at the expense of beneficiaries, embezzlement or misdirection of funds to corrupt local officials or dictatorship. Numerous attempts have been made to remedy the accountability of INGOs surrounding where and for what their money is being used. Websites like

Charity Navigator Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial ...

and GiveWell attempt to provide transparency as to how much goes to administrative costs, what activities money is spent on, whether more donations would be helpful, and how cost-effective the activities are compared to other charities or potential activities. Another criticism is that many of the people benefiting from INGOs have no way to influence those activities and hold the organizations accountable. (for example by threatening to withhold donations). Some charitable organizations solicit the participation of local communities to avoid problems related to intercultural competence, and avoid unintended consequences due to lack of buy-in or lack of knowledge about local conditions. In March 2015, the ''European Journal of International Relations'' criticized the impact of INGOs on government decision-making, claiming they are slowing integration of developing countries into the global economy.

Notable international NGOs

Multiple interdisciplinary projects

* ActionAid * ACTED * ADRA *

AIESEC AIESEC is an international youth-run, non-governmental and not-for-profit organization that provides young people with leadership development, cross-cultural internships, and global volunteer exchange experiences. The organization focuses on em ...

* CAFOD *

CARE Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (relief agency), "Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere", an international aid and ...

* CRS * Danish Refugee Council * Islamic Relief *

Koyamada International Foundation Koyamada International Foundation, commonly referred to as KIF or KIF Global, is an international non-governmental organization, with its mission to improve quality of people's life by empowering global youth and women to reach their full potent ...

* Mercy Corps
Narayan Seva Sansthan
*

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

* SOS Children's Villages *

Tzu Chi Foundation Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, known for short as the Tzu Chi Foundation ( zh, t=佛教慈濟慈善事業基金會, p=Fójiào Cí Jì Císhàn Shìyè Jījīn Huì, l=Buddhist Compassionate Relief Charity Foundation), is a Taiwanese in ...

* World Vision International * Plan International

Health

* Amref Health Africa * Doctors Without Borders *

GAVI GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (previously the GAVI Alliance, and before that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) is a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunization ...

* The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Children and youth

Compassion International Compassion International is an American child sponsorship and Christian humanitarian aid organization headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that aims to positively influence the long-term development of children globally who live in pove ...

* International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements (FIMCAP) *

Plan A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal. ...

* Reggio Children Foundation *

Save the Children International Save the Children International, formerly known as the International Save The Children Alliance, is a worldwide non-profit organization that aims to improve the living of children. There are 30 Save the Children member organizations around the wo ...

* SOS Children's Villages *

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association supporting the female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 152 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, and has its ...

(WAGGGS) *

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...

(WOSM) * World Vision International *

Education

European Association of History Educators The European Association of History Educators (EuroClio) was established in 1992 with the support of the Council of Europe. The NGO works as a European wide facilitator for innovation and progress in history Education. The organisation contributes ...

Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential lea ...

The Library Project The Library Project is a non-profit organization that donates books and libraries to under financed schools and orphanages in China and Vietnam. The Library Project was founded on the principle that education is change and the key to breaking ...

* OpenmindProjects- INGO

Human rights

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in ...

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

* Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative *

Friends of Peoples Close to Nature ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

Humanists International Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Foun ...

* International Christian Concern * International Commission against the Death Penalty *

International Federation for Human Rights The International Federation for Human Rights (french: Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international h ...

* Survival International

Environmental

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

* International POPs Elimination Network *

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...

Multilateralism

Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of " sister citie ...

World Federation of United Nations Associations The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) (French: ''Fédération Mondiale des Associations pour les Nations Unies'', FMANU) was founded in 1946 as a Federation of national associations. Its objectives are to promote the values o ...

Religion

* International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements (FIMCAP) * Lutheran World Relief

Space and technology

COSPAR The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) was established on October 3, 1958 by the International Council for Scientific Unions (ICSU). Among COSPAR's objectives are the promotion of scientific research in space on an international level, wi ...

* RIPE NCC * IMIRAD