A non-governmental organisation (NGO) is an organisation, which operates on a local, national or international level to address specific issues in support of the public good.

• NGOs are not part of a government, or any other regional/local authority, de facto authority, faction, clan or administrative group and should be independent thereof.
• NGOs are non-profit organisations and are self-governing
• Task/process oriented and made up of people with common interests; NGOs perform a variety of services and humanitarian functions.
• NGOs bring citizens’ concerns to governments, monitor policy and programme implementation, implement their own programmes and encourage participation of civil society stakeholders at the community level.
• NGOs owe their existence to moral authority – meaning that they provide much needed services, are relevant to the communities, and thus enjoy popular support.