ABSTRACT
The term nongovernmental organization, or NGO, originated with the passing of a United Nations resolution in February 1950 to officially recognize certain “organizations with no governmental affiliation that had consultative status” within the U.N. system (Vakil, 1997, p. 2068). They evolved rapidly. Since the 1970s and the growth of the neoliberal state, NGOs and governments have shifted roles, with governments decentralizing and devolving their powers to nongovernmental organizations (Edwards & Hulme, 1996; Reimann, 2006; Steiner-Khamsi, 1998). NGOs, in turn, have grown and assumed many responsibilities (education, health care) that were managed formerly by the state. The end of the Cold War magnified this trend. Support to NGOs grew again both to distribute and manage much of this aid and to support an emerging civil society.
