A Brief History and Definition of NGO's

I thought it might be helpful to provide some background information for our discussion tomorrow on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's.) NGO's are classified as organizations not affiliated with the state or specific political institutions. NGO's are mainly non-profit organizations, and they rely heavily on donations, which can come from sources such as thee United Nations, government organizations, private trusts, individual donors, religious institutions, other NGO's, etc. NGO's span a wide range of topics and causes, but must act in accordance with bye laws and trust deeds. Because they are unrelated to governments, NGO's have little democratic accountability despite their desire to promote democracy in corrupt governments. NGO's are development oriented, ideologically driven, and exhibit altruistic values. In addition to this basic definition, here is a brief overview of the history of NGO's and how they came to play such crucial part in international development, and human rights.