ABSTRACT
This chapter considers religious Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to be a result of functional differentiation, whereby religiously motivated social work is differentiated from other religious activities and organized as more or less autonomous institutions. Religious NGOs usually identify with one of the so-called world religions – Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, or Judaism – and usually have more or less formal links to particular congregations or faith communities. However, there are exceptions, such as the American Center for Law and Justice, an Evangelical NGO, which is organized as a law firm specializing in pro bono cases. A formal system of accreditation for NGOs to participate in the UN system was put in place in 1950. Because of concerns about Western dominance, the criteria were revised in 1996, when, in an effort to strengthen the presence of NGOs from developing countries, national NGOs were granted access.
