The term, "non-governmental organization" or NGO, came into use in 1945 because of the need

for the UN to differentiate in its Charter between participation rights for intergovernmental

specialized agencies and those for international private organizations. At the UN, virtually all

types of private bodies can be recognized as NGOs. They only have to be independent from

government control, not seeking to challenge governments either as a political party or by a

narrow focus on human rights, non-profit-making and non-criminal. As of 2003, there were

reportedly over 20,000 NGOs active in Iran. The majority of these organizations are charity

organizations, and thus would not fall under the category of development-oriented NGOs. In this

document the term NGO is primarily used for organizations other than charitable organizations.

The structures of NGOs vary considerably. With the improvement in communications, more

locally-based groups, referred to as grass-roots organizations or community based organizations,

have become active at the national or even the global level. Increasingly this occurs through the

formation of coalitions with other NGOs for particular goals, such as was the case in the case of

the Bam earthquake for example.

A civil society is composed of three sectors: government, the private sector and civil society,

excluding businesses. NGOs are components of social movements within a civil society. In the

case of Iran, where civil society is not yet mature, NGOs can have an important role in

strengthening the foundations of an emergent civil society. The issue of independence is an

important one in the credibility of an NGO. It is hard for NGOs not to come under any

governmental influence. Individual governments do at times try to influence the NGO

community in a particular field, by establishing NGOs that promote their policies. This has been

recognized by quite common use of the acronym GONGO, to label a government-organized

NGO. Also, in more authoritarian societies, NGOs may find it very difficult to act independently

and they may not receive acknowledgment from other political actors even when they are acting

independently. On the other hand, development and humanitarian relief NGOs need substantial

resources, to run their operational programs, so most of them readily accept official funds. It is

thus important for the NGO to have transparency in its operations and goals so that its

relationship

What is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)?What is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)?