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Introduction to NGOs
From NGOPedia
| What is an NGO? |
In order to understand what an NGO is, we have created a set of resources to help you navigate through the complex and variable environments that define these organisations. The objective is to provide a concise and functional introduction to NGOs that operate within South Africa.
Here you’ll find various presentations that you can engage with at whatever level you choose. This document forms part of a white paper, a Power Point presentation and an online presentation.
Background
In the global development context the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2000 adopted eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015.
They are:
- Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
- Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
- Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- Goal 5: Improve maternal health
- Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Global Partnership for Development-MDG 8, is essential for the attainment of the other seven MDGs. Recommended partners include: Governments, UN Agencies, international financial institutions, bi-lateral agencies, private and civil society. The UNDP uses its global presence to bring together partners from many different backgrounds to share expertise, launch joint ventures, and develop long term solutions.
In 2008 the MDG Gap Task Force reported that while there has been progress on several counts, important gaps remain in delivering on the global commitments in the areas of aid, trade, debt relief, access to new technologies and affordable essential medicines, especially in developing countries. The weakening of the world economy and the steep rises in food and energy prices threaten to reverse some of the progress made in the various dimensions of human development. Strengthened global partnerships are needed to avoid any reversal of progress made thus far. A further detail is that in Sub Saharan countries the gap is the biggest and to achieve the 2015 targets it has been recommended that stronger partnerships are created; between developed and developing countries, among developing countries themselves, and with the active involvement of the private sector.
| “ | Social Entrepreneurship is also on the rise in the form of consultancies and individuals who work within this developmental agenda. Frequently helping unfamiliar
partners manage projects, programmes and helping them get to know each other better. | ” |
growth. Social entrepreneurship is on the rise in the form of consultancies and individuals who work within this developmental agenda. Frequently helping unfamiliar partners manage projects, programmes and helping them get to know each other better. In this context NGOs have been identified as an important grouping within civil society whose collective agency is responsible for significant development. NGOs provide the link to the communities and the people who may not have a voice. They provide mechanisms to test new ways of doing things without placing the whole system at risk. Their flexibility and innovation act to support and encourage pluralism and diversity which in turn challenge stasis and inflexibility which are often reactive responses by overburdened state structures. Therefore it is fast becoming an imperative to get to know them better. However, for the uninitiated, NGOs exist in an intricate and sometimes confusing matrix, we hope with this document to provide insight and understanding of how these organisations exist and operate in South Africa.
Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 South Africa License.