World NGO Day is celebrated on 27 February to raise awareness about the NGO sector and to encourage people worldwide who are involved and dedicatedly working for a good cause. Let us have a look at World NGO Day’s history and significance.
NGO is known as a Non-Governmental Organisation or Non-Profit Organisation that faces several challenges in today\’s society. NGOs play an important role in various sectors namely education, culture, science or development, etc. The aim of the day is to inspire and encourage people to be involved with NGOs for the betterment of society
History
In 2010, World NGO Day was officially recognized by the member countries of the IX Baltic Sea NGO Forum Council of the Baltic Sea States in Lithuania. The Baltic Sea NGO Forum member countries are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Norway, and Sweden. On 27 February 2014, the first time World NGO Day was celebrated in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Hundreds of NGOs, the UN, UNESCO, and EU international leaders gathered at the event in Helsinki.
According to Eric Falt, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO said: “This is an opportunity to raise the flag for the NGOs and simply recognize the way they change the world we live in…”
What is an NGO?
An NGO or non-governmental organization is defined as,” any international organization that is not founded by an international treaty”. NGO is a legally constituted organization, created by private persons or the government. They may be totally or partially funded by the government but usually maintain their non-governmental status.
It is believed that the voice of people against slavery in the mid-19th century gained power and was an important part of the anti-slavery movement. The phrase. ‘NGO’ came into popular use with the establishment of UNO (United Nations organizations) in 1945, for a consultative role between the UN and organizations.
An NGO’s main role became to hear the voice of deprived people, address their problems, take up humanitarian issues, bring aid or help, and address developmental aid and sustainable development. Because of their presence, the main problems could be solved within a nation. But they have branches or work with other organizations to have a better reach. So their transnational networking is extensive. Apart from the term NGO, today, terms like, self helps groups, private voluntary organizations, and grass-root organizations are used.
NGOs exist and function effectively where the government may not be able to reach out or help in areas where government help is not possible. They are greatly involved in the welfare of disadvantaged people, encourage observance of human rights, poverty alleviation(provide the basic skills to find food and maintain themselves), and work with people displaced by natural disasters, like floods, earthquakes, drought, tsunami and so on bringing them medical aid.
NGOs maintain good public relations to meet their goals. They work to mobilize support from individuals, private organizations, and local people. Mobilizing support and funds are two basic management techniques that enable an NGO to function properly also each member has the knowledge, and should be able to contribute and help in the decision-making process and also learn more. Some of the qualities that make them effective are accountability, credibility, and a code of conduct. The presence and important role of NGOs have increased with globalization and environmental problems.
NGOs are of two types-one, which is operational-they design/plan and implement development-related projects which may be community-based, national, and international. They work with a lot of professional help and volunteers.
The second one is advocacy-these work to defend or promote a specific cause. They try to raise awareness. acceptance, and knowledge by doing press work (getting information published) and conducting activities and events. E.g. most environmental groups work to raise awareness about global warming and the pollution of rivers.
In India, NGOs must be created under a public trust act and enjoys tax benefits and privileges. There are more than a million NGOs working in India and play a great role in providing relief and help in different parts of the country. Some of the well-known and certified NGOs in India are-
- Association for Rural Development and Action Research (ARDAR).
- Apnalaya
- Childline India Foundation
- Help Age India
- GandhianTrust
- National Association for the Blind.
- SankaraNetralaya
- The Banyan
Some of the International NGOs are-
- (United Nations)
- United Nations Trauma Relief
- International RED CROSS SOCIETY
- INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
- WHO(WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION)
- WWF(WORLD WILDLIFE FUND)
- CRY(CHILD RELIEF AND YOU)
- SEVVA (SELF-EMPLOYED WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION)
- 9 Action Aid
- AAH(ACTION AGAINST HUNGER)
- SOS
- CARE INTERNATIONAL
NGOs work in difficult conditions (disasters: war or conflict zones) and are contributing immensely towards humanity. We on our part must contribute to them by way of help, manually or financially. We must make efforts to give a helping hand and spend some time working with them selflessly.
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