What Are NGOs?

Non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, are independent, usually non-profit groups that pursue public goals across borders. The term comes from Article 71 of the UN Charter (1945), which allowed the UN to consult such groups, but the organizations are older. The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1839, campaigned internationally against slavery. Eglantyne Jebb founded Save the Children in 1919 to help children starving after World War I. Oxfam began in 1942 as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief.

NGOs deliver aid, run development projects, monitor governments and campaign for change, often reaching places states cannot. They have grown enormously in number since the 1970s. Critics raise questions about accountability, since NGOs are not elected, about the dominance of large organizations from wealthy countries, and about whether foreign NGOs sometimes overshadow local groups. Supporters argue they give a voice to people and issues governments ignore.