Role of NGO

Nongovernmental
Organizations
The term NGO stands for nongovernmental organization, and it includes a variety of organizations such as
“private voluntary organizations,” “civil society organizations,” and “nonprofit organization”
The term NGO describes a range of groups and organizations from watchdog activist groups and aid
agencies to development and policy organizations. Usually, NGOs are defined as organizations that pursue
a public interest agenda, rather than commercial interests (Hall-Jones, 2006).
Role of Nongovernmental Organizations
These roles are (1) social development, (2) sustainable community

development, (3) sustainable development, and (4) sustainable
consumption
Social Development
NGOs play an important role in global social development—work that has helped facilitate achievements in
human development. One of the major strengths of NGOs is their ability to maintain institutional
independence and political neutrality. Even though NGOs need to collaborate with governments in numerous
instances, failure to maintain neutrality and autonomy may severely compromise the NGOs’ legitimacy.
Unfortunately, if a government insists upon political allegiance, the NGOs encounter the dilemma of either
violating the neutrality position or failing to provide needed services to the population. Indeed, some NGOs
have been asked to leave in troubled countries due to political reasons. The major advantages that NGOs
bring to this role include “flexibility, ability to innovate, grass-roots orientation, humanitarian versus
commercial goal orientation, non-profit status, dedication and commitment. The drawbacks in working with
NGOs are similar to the advantages that were previously listed. In addition, some other disadvantages
include “over-zealousness, restricted local participation, inadequate feasibility studies, conflicts or
misunderstandings with host partner, inflexibility in recruitment and procedures, turf wars, inadequately
trained personnel, lack of funding to complete projects, lack of transparency, inability to replicate results,
and cultural insensitivity”
Sustainable Community Development
NGOs have shown leadership in promoting sustainable community development. Due to their particular
ideology and nature, NGOs are good at reaching out to the poor and remote communities and mobilizing
these populations. They can also empower these populations to regain control of their lives and can work
with and strengthen local organizations. In addition, such NGOs can carry out projects more efficiently and
at lower costs than government agencies and, most importantly, promote sustainable development.
Since NGOs are professionally staffed organizations aimed at reduction of human suffering and to the
development of poor countries, they have a significant role to play in supporting women, men, and
households. The roles for such NGOs include “counseling and support service, awareness raising and
advocacy, legal aid and microfinance”. The long-term aim for these NGOs is to assist in sustainable
community development through activities such as capacity building and self-reliance. This can be done by
funding projects, contributing to awareness, and promoting the self-organization of various groups.
Sustainable Development
NGOs have played a significant role in promoting sustainable development at the international level. NGOs
are going beyond their primary focus on governments and starting to address large corporations. In this vein,
NGOs have focused attention on the social and environmental impacts of business activity, helped in part by
advances in information and communications technology. The brands of multinational corporations have also
been vulnerable to pressure from activists and from NGOs on the corporation’s labor, environmental, or human
rights record. As the downstream customers are targeted, even the supply chain partners and suppliers are
feeling the pressure
Sustainable Consumption
NGOs can also play an important role as partners to business/industry in promoting sustainable
consumption. Some of the instances where this partnership has been successful is in categories such as
product development, sustainable housing, labeling, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), green purchasing,
marine stewardship, and so on.

Role of NGO

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What roles do NGOs play?

How do NGOs promote sustainable community development?

Nongovernmental

These roles are (1) social development, (2) sustainable community

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