ONG Info
- These non-governmental organizations are generally either humanitarian agencies or human rights groups, usually started up by individual initiatives. They have the following features in common: they are international in both remit and membership; they are private associative movements; they operate on a voluntary basis. Their activities range from the social, political and legal domains to the fields of science, religion and sport. The influence of human rights organizations (Amnesty International), environmental bodies (WWF), humanitarian aid concerns (Médecins Sans Frontières) and third-world development agencies (Oxfam) is indicative of the significant role of the ONG worldwide. Another major factor is the strong political independence of such international movements whose primary motivating force is the desire for world justice rather than the more localized interests of the state.