NGO? Woah…
Being introduced to the idea of nongovernmental organizations and their roles in society while critically thinking about the idea through prep work assigned by the NGO educator, Piper Lowinger.
Personally, going into the subject, I have never heard of the acronym “NGO” or the term “nongovernmental organization”. However, after getting a glimpse and introduction to NGO’s from this video, I respect these organizations for holding true to their values and rules. From what I understood from the video is that NGO’s are self-reliant organizations that are independent from the government. In Afghanistan, there are around 3000 NGO’s. NGO’s tend to focus on social issues, issues that directly impact the population, such as education, women’s rights, and children’s rights to name a few. To put it simply, these organizations do not work with the government or military and would prefer not to be called partners with them. They function under what is considered the “principle of humanity” where the purpose is to “alleviate human suffering” no matter who it is. I learned that they reach this by relying on neutrality as it creates public acceptance, keeps people safe, and allows more access to things. Some organizations may receive government aid in funding, but they do not work for them and do not use the money to promote agendas. Overall, people come from all different types of backgrounds and come together as a community to help the greater community.
Now that we have established that NGO’s are a great way to address issues that directly impact the community without any intervention from the government or military, what issues directly affect the worldly community and what issues directly affect the community I live in?
List 1 (Society Problems, Big Problems)
- Unemployment
- War
- Climate Change
- Poverty
- Inequality in Wealth
List 2 (Everyday Problems, Small Problems)
- Theft
- Parking/Traffic
- Procrastination
- Losing personal belongings
