What is an INGO?
Nonprofit organizations with a global scope that operate in countries with low or intermediate incomes are known as international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs). These organizations are referred to be “international” because they generate funds in wealthy nations and use them in other countries.
They operate in a variety of sectors: economic development; humanitarian emergency; environmental; human rights.
Roles of NGOs
At the risk of generalization, the following six functions among the many different ones that NGOs play can be characterized as significant.
Development and Operation of Infrastructure:
Community-based organizations and cooperatives are able to acquire, subdivide, and develop land, construct housing, provide infrastructure, and administer and maintain infrastructure, such as public toilets and solid refuse collection services. In addition, they can establish material supply centers and other community-based economic enterprises. In many instances, they will require technical assistance or advice from government agencies or organizations of a higher level.
Supporting Innovation, Demonstration and Pilot Projects:
Governments have certain limitations in this area, but NGOs have the benefit of choosing specific locations for innovative initiatives and outlining in advance how long they will fund the project. Due to their capacity to move more swiftly than the official bureaucracy, NGOs can also serve as pilots for bigger government programs.
Facilitating Communication:
NGOs employ interpersonal communication techniques and research the best entrance points for winning the community’s trust. Additionally, they would be well-aware of the viability of the tasks they undertake. The importance of this position to the government is that NGOs may convey information about the lives, capacities, attitudes, and cultural traits of people at the local level to government decision-making levels.
NGOs can facilitate communication upward from people tot he government and downward from the government tot he people. Communication upward involves informing government about what local people are thinking, doing and feeling while communication downward involves informing local people about what the government is planning and doing. NGOs are also in a unique position to share information horizontally, networking between other organizations doing similar work.
Technical Assistance and Training:
Governments and CBOs can benefit from the technical help and training that training institutes and NGOs can provide.
Research, Monitoring and Evaluation:
Effective participatory monitoring would enable sharing of outcomes with both the people being monitored and the project personnel, making it essential that innovative actions be meticulously documented and disseminated.
Advocacy for and with the Poor:
In certain instances, NGOs act as the poor’s representatives or ombudsmen and make efforts to change government policies and initiatives on their behalf. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, including the dissemination of research findings and case studies of the underprivileged, involvement in public forums, the creation of government policies and programs, and demonstration and pilot initiatives. Thus, NGOs serve a variety of purposes, such as acting as mediators, collaborators, and counselors, as well as advocates for the underprivileged and implementers of government programs.