Research Guides
International Inter-Governmental & Non-Governmental Organizations: Non-Governmental Organizations
Introduction
What is an NGO?
- An NGO, or Non-governmental Organization, is an organization focused on humanitarian issues, often social problems with a political aspect (eg. human rights, relief services, women's rights).
- NGOs may recieve partial or full funding from governments (including Inter-Governmental Organizations) but are not directly part of the structure of any government. NGOs also generally exclude government representatives from membership.
What kind of information do international NGOs produce?
- Publications describing their work
- Publications describing and evaluating problems
- Policy suggestions (eg. green papers)
- Conference papers and publications
- Case studies
- International statistics concerning humanitarian issues
NGO Search
- Policy Commons: Global Think Tanks This link opens in a new windowResearch from the worlds leading policy experts, think tanks, IGOs and NGOs.
- Yearbook of International Organizations This link opens in a new windowDetailed descriptions of non-governmental (NGO), inter-governmental, non-profit, and other international organizations.
- Non-governmental Organizations SearchSearch [at least 1026] Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) websites. By James R. Jacobs, International Documents Librarian, Stanford University.
- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)Provided by University of California Berkeley Library; find links to guides and directories for International NGOs, Regional NGOs, as well as NGOs & the UN.
- WANGO - World Association of Non-Governmental OrganizationsWANGO is "an international organization uniting NGOs worldwide in the cause of advancing peace and global well being." The NGO Handbook, and Worldwide NGO Directory are recommended.
- WANGO - Worldwide NGO DirectoryLocate NGOs either by using the search feature or the interactive map feature. Find NGOs by region, then choose the countries and/or areas of activity that interest you.
Additional NGO Resources
- Development GatewayDevelopment Gateway "is a portal website on development issues, from which users can access information, resources, and tools, and into which they can contribute their own knowledge and experience."
- AidDataInternational development research lab housed at William & Mary. "We use rigorous methods, cutting-edge tools, and granular data on international development to answer the question: who is doing what, where, for whom, and to what effect?"
- Directory of Development Organizations"The purpose of this web site is to provide free information and resources to the development community. All directories can be downloaded for free, at no cost. Users may download, copy and reprint information from the site for non-commercial purposes so long as the source is cited."
- InterAction"InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international development and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations. With more than 160 members operating in every developing country, we work to overcome poverty, exclusion and suffering by advancing social justice and basic dignity for all."
- ReliefWebHumanitarian information service. "ReliefWeb's editorial team monitors and collects information from more than 4,000 key sources, including humanitarian agencies at the international and local levels, governments, think-tanks and research institutions, and the media. Our editors select, classify, curate and deliver the content that is most relevant to global humanitarian workers and decision-makers on a 24/7 basis, enabling them to make informed decisions and to plan effective response."
- The WWW Virtual Library - Nongovernmental OrganizationsBy Wayne A. Selcher, Elizabethtown College; an annotated list of links to English-language NGO sites.
NGOs
A small sampling of environmental NGO logos.
More Focus
...try using one of these topic-specific pages: