The importance of NGOs in our life

The emergence of civil society organizations as the main engines of development after the 2nd World War and the establishment of the United Nations with its various bodies and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in Article 20; "Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association."

Organizations have acted as active groups in promoting international development and improving the standard of living of hundreds of millions of families in all regions of the world; they have further built many effective ways and means to reach the most in-need groups in all areas.

It is a common practice in many countries and in different development literature for the state to compose of three main sectors:

• Sector I: The government with all its agencies and institutions at the central and local level.
• Sector II: The private sector.
• Sector III: Civil society with its organizations, associations, initiatives, and professional foundations at the national level or community based organizations that operate on a limited scale within the community itself.

According to the Global Journal, there are more than 10 million civil society organizations around the world. Many sources confirm that civil society organizations in many countries contribute to 5-10% of their gross national product. 

Organizations in developed countries are active in providing many community services to various sectors of society, such as health, education, protection, capacity building, and others; furthermore, they employ a large number of young men and women in these countries.
UK alone has 170,000 active charitable organizations that manage more than $ 50 billion per year. The annual spending of the top 1,000 organizations is equivalent to 25 billion dollars a year. More than 129,000 organizations in EU countries spend more than $ 63 billion a year in developing countries.

There are more than 1.4 million non-governmental organizations in the United States that employ more than 11.4 million people and manage more than $ 1.7 trillion in funds and donations.
There are 600,000 organizations in Australia that employ 8 percent of Australia's workforce.

This rapid growth in the number of NGOs established is not only in developed Western countries but also evident in the middle and low-developed countries.
In India alone, there are more than 3.3 million organizations, equivalent to one organization for every 400 citizens. China has 440,000 organizations and Russia has 277,000. There are 68 new organizations established every day in South Africa, with a total of 163,000 organizations. In Kenya, more than 290,000 men and women work in civil society organizations.