Development Economies

Non-Government Organisations

A non-government organisation (NGO) is a structured group that operates without the formal involvement of any level of government. The World Bank has divided the term non-government organisation into two distinct groups:

1. Operational Non-Government Organisations: This classification is reserved for those groups that actively work on the design or implementation of development projects.

2. Advocacy Non-Government Organisations: These groups work to promote awareness of a particular issue. They are more likely to use work through the media, direct lobbying or perhaps through the organisation of key events.

NGOs have played an important role in helping to promote economic growth in developing countries. There are many thousands of NGOs around the world, and as a result you will no doubt be familiar with some of them.

The Red Cross – www.ifrc.org

The Red Cross operates all over the world The Red Cross lists its mission as “improving the lives of vulnerable people by mobilising the power of humanity”. This simple statement has allowed the organisation to improve the lives of millions of people since its foundation in 1919. One of the key guiding principles of the Red Cross is that they do not limit the distribution of aid based on colour, religion, nationality or gender. If a person is in need, the Red Cross will help where they can. For example, after the bushfire tragedy in Victoria in February 2009, the Red Cross responded with over $60 million worth of aid. This money was used for temporary accommodation, food and first aid supplies.

Although the Red Cross is primarily known for their work in responding to disasters (both natural and man-made), they also play an important role in developing communities towards a position of being self-sustaining. For example, the Red Cross has helped many countries to develop their own program in regards to the collection of blood. Blood donations are important on a day-to-day basis, but they are even more important for a country that is susceptible to disaster situations. This is part of a nation’s infrastructure that is often overlooked; the work that has been done by the Red Cross in this area is vital to the long term sustainability of the relevant countries.

Médecins Sans Frontières– www.msf.org

The MSF operates in over 100 countries Médecins Sans Frontières (or MSF) is an organisation that aims to promote strong medical practices all over the world, especially in developing nations. The organisation was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1999 for the work that was completed over many years.

The MSF plays a vital role, primarily in an operational sense but also as advocates. Through direct intervention they have been able to provide medical services in almost 100 countries. In each case they aim to do much more than just enter a country, patch up some wounds, and then move on. The MSF organisation works to train local medical people in the procedures that will be most beneficial to their country. In this way, when it is time for the organisation to move on it is more likely that those who remain will be self-sufficient.

As advocates, MSF has worked to increase the visibility of medical problems that exist all over the world. For example, they worked with a team of women in Zimbabwe to create a soccer team. This team ultimately went on to become the subject of a documentary, The Positive Ladies Soccer Club. This documentary helped to spread understanding, and also helped to increase funding for AIDS programs in Africa. (You can see segments of this documentary on YouTube.)

Amnesty International – www.amnesty.org

Amnesty International is one of the best known NGOs One of the most well known NGOs, Amnesty International has been operating since 1961. Unlike the other NGOs discussed here, Amnesty International is primarily an advocacy group; through the use of published statistics, articles and campaigns, they are able to create pressure so that international governments change the way in which they act.

In recent years, Amnesty International has instigated a large number of very well known campaigns. Given the nature of their work, it is often a slow and frustrating process. Despite this, it can not be denied that progress has been made. For example, in 2003 they were partly responsible for a program designed at controlling the spread of small weapons, and in 2004 a program to stop violence against women was started. Most notably, Amnesty International has been vocal in working to prevent torture and capital punishment. In 2006 they published details explaining how European governments had worked with the USA to capture terrorist suspects and have them transported to Guantanamo Bay. And in 2007 they were successful in pressuring the United Nations into passing a resolution asking all countries to suspend the use of the death penalty.

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