Posts by SWALKER

The World Bank defines NGOs as "private organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development" (Operational Directive 14.70). In wider usage, the term NGO can be applied to any non-profit organization which is independent from government. NGOs are typically value-based organizations which depend, in whole or in part, on charitable donations and voluntary service. Although the NGO sector has become increasingly professionalized over the last two decades, principles of altruism and voluntarism remain key defining characteristics.

NGO=non-profit organization (not just any company that is not governmental)

Swalker

11

NGO DEFINITION

by SWALKER in

categorizing ngos

world bank criteria:

ngo world bank collaboration

SWALKER

Categorizing NGOs

World Bank criteria:

NGO World Bank Collaboration

Size and Influence of the NGO Sector

Over the past several decades, NGOs have become major players in the field of international development. Since the mid-1970s, the NGO sector in both developed and developing countries has experienced exponential growth. From 1970 to 1985 total development aid disbursed by international NGOs increased ten-fold. In 1992 international NGOs channeled over $7.6 billion of aid to developing countries. It is now estimated that over 15 percent of total overseas development aid is channeled through NGOs. While statistics about global numbers of NGOs are notoriously incomplete, it is currently estimated that there is somewhere between 6,000 and 30,000 national NGOs in developing countries. CBOs across the developing world number in the hundreds of thousands.

Definition

The World Bank defines NGOs as "private organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development" (Operational Directive 14.70). In wider usage, the term NGO can be applied to any non-profit organization which is independent from government. NGOs are typically value-based organizations which depend, in whole or in part, on charitable donations and voluntary service. Although the NGO sector has become increasingly professionalized over the last two decades, principles of altruism and voluntarism remain key defining characteristics.
Categories of NGOs

The term NGO is very broad and encompasses many different types of organizations. In the field of development, NGOs range from large, Northern-based charities such as CARE, Oxfam and World Vision to community-based self-help groups in the South. They also include research institutes, churches, professional associations and lobby groups The World Bank tends to interact with two main categories of NGOs: i) operational NGOs - whose primary purpose is the design and implementation of development-related projects, and; ii) advocacy NGOs - whose primary purpose is to defend or promote a specific cause and who seek to influence the policies and practices of the Bank. The focus of this paper is operational collaboration, as opposed to policy dialogue with NGOs. As a result, the emphasis here will be on the first of these groups. It should be noted, however, that these two categories are not mutually exclusive. A growing number of NGOs engage in both operational and advocacy activities, and some advocacy groups, while not directly involved in designing and implementing projects, focus on specific project-related concerns.
Operational NGOs

The World Bank classifies operational NGOs into three main groups: i) community-based organizations (CBOs) - which serve a specific population in a narrow geographic area; ii) national organizations - which operate in individual developing countries, and; iii) international organizations - which are typically headquartered in developed countries and carry out operations in more than one developing country. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, most examples of World Bank-NGO collaboration involved international NGOs. In recent years, however, this trend has been reversed. Among projects involving NGO collaboration recorded in FY94, 40% involved CBOs, 70% involved national organizations and 10% involved international organizations. CBOs (also referred to as grassroots organizations or peoples' organizations) are distinct in nature and purpose from other NGOs. While national and international organizations are "intermediary" NGOs which are formed to serve others; CBOs are normally "membership" organizations made up of a group of individuals who have joined together to further their own interests (e.g.: women's groups, credit circles, youth clubs, cooperatives and farmer associations). In the context of Bank-financed activities, national or international NGOs are normally contracted to deliver services, design projects or conduct research. CBOs are more likely to be the recipients of project goods and services. In projects which promote participatory development, grassroots organizations play the key function of providing an institutional framework for beneficiary participation. CBOs might, for example: be consulted during design to ensure that project goals reflect beneficiary interests; undertake the implementation of community-level project components; or receive funds to design and implement sub-projects. Many national and international NGOs work in partnership with CBOs - either channeling development resources to them or providing them with services or technical assistance. Such NGOs can play a particularly important role as "intermediaries" between CBOs and institutions such as the World Bank or government. NGO Typologies

Individual operational NGOs vary enormously according to their purpose, philosophy, sectoral expertise and scope of activities. A number of different NGO typologies exist. For example, NGOs have been classified according to whether they are more relief or development-oriented; whether they are religious or secular; whether they stress service delivery or participation and whether they are more public or private-oriented. Sources for further reading on NGO typologies are listed at the end of this section. NGO Strengths and Weaknesses

Because the nature and quality of individual NGOs varies greatly, it is extremely difficult to make generalizations about the sector as a whole. Despite this diversity, some specific strengths generally associated with the NGO sector include the following:

-strong grassroots links;
- field-based development expertise;
- the ability to innovate and adapt;
- process-oriented approach to development;
- participatory methodologies and tools;
- long-term commitment and emphasis on sustainability;
- cost-effectiveness.

The most commonly identified weaknesses of the sector include:

- limited financial and management expertise;
- limited institutional capacity;
- low levels of self-sustainability;
- isolation/lack of inter-organizational communication and/or coordination;
- small scale interventions;
- lack of understanding of the broader social or economic context.

Source: World Bank website "Nongovernmental Organizations and Civil Society/Overview." <http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/essd/essd.nsf/NGOs/home> Accessed June 8, 2001 (no longer available).

http://docs.lib.duke.edu/igo/guides/ngo/define.htm

Swalker

23

WTS STILL HAS NGO ASSOCIATE STATUS!

by SWALKER in

this information is posted at www.freeminds.org under watchtower news:.

http://www.randytv.com/secret/wtandwho.htm.

scroll half-way down until you see the heading "watchtower still has 2 ngos!.

SWALKER

WLG...I don't! It's just there was another poster who said he didn't think we should cut and paste so much...There was a ton of infomation provided at the link posted and I was trying to give a short version as to the info in the link. In the process, it was kind of confusing.

To family members that are still in, this will come as a shock to a few of them and I have already e-mailed it out. I think one more member of my family may leave because of this. Just thought it was worth showing to the posters....if they hadn't seen it already.

I didn't mean to stir up WWIII....

Swalker

32

WT celebrates the birthday of the World Health Organization and NGOs

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

celebrating a birthday with who!

jehovah's witnesses participated in celebrating the birthday of world health day 2000, with representatives of the world health organization, ngos, and other high ranking government officials.

what is world health day?

SWALKER

I hate to be a party pooper

Really?

Swalker

109

There IS a problem with global warming... it stopped in 1998

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/09/do0907.xml&ssheet=/news/2006/04/09/ixworld.html

there is a problem with global warming... it stopped in 1998 .

by bob carter .

SWALKER

Well there you have it everyone...discussion is over per AS. He seems to be an authority on every subject out there...by the way AS, what was your major in college?

It kind of reminds me of this:

Respectfully,

Swalker

23

WTS STILL HAS NGO ASSOCIATE STATUS!

by SWALKER in

this information is posted at www.freeminds.org under watchtower news:.

http://www.randytv.com/secret/wtandwho.htm.

scroll half-way down until you see the heading "watchtower still has 2 ngos!.

SWALKER

The European Association of Jehovah's Christian Witnesses is a non-governmental organization, but so is the local volunteer fire department—

Did the fire department show up for the conference?

AS...We all understand what the term NGO means...but there is no other way to state what the WTS is doing without using that word. It may not seem important to you in the least but to some of us it is the ultimate in hypocrisy!!! You have your reasons for leaving....but some of us left over this issue. It goes against everything the WTS taught us in MY opinion!

Maybe we should rename the board after you...it seems that you feel you are right about everything and it's your way or no way. I appreciate your comments and your viewpoints, not that I necessarily agree with them all the time, but I don't feel you have to attack others for their views.

Check out Randy's thread and he basically sees it the same way.....I hope you don't attack him as well.

Swalker

32

WT celebrates the birthday of the World Health Organization and NGOs

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

celebrating a birthday with who!

jehovah's witnesses participated in celebrating the birthday of world health day 2000, with representatives of the world health organization, ngos, and other high ranking government officials.

what is world health day?

SWALKER

Sorry I missed this post...I started one under "Scandals & Cover-ups"...

Swalker

23

WTS STILL HAS NGO ASSOCIATE STATUS!

by SWALKER in

this information is posted at www.freeminds.org under watchtower news:.

http://www.randytv.com/secret/wtandwho.htm.

scroll half-way down until you see the heading "watchtower still has 2 ngos!.

SWALKER

Apparently Randy had already posted this info under friends. For any further discussion go to:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/110963/1.ashx

Swalker