What is a ‘Nonprofit Organization’?

In practice, an NGO (non-governmental organization/nonprofit) is an organization that is neither a part of a government nor a conventional for-profit business. Therefore, “NGO” is a broad term that encompasses traditional private nonprofits as well as many other types of mission oriented organizations. That said, in our experience the term NGO is most commonly used to refer to internationally dispersed organizations that are engaged in specific issues such as the environment, public health, disaster relief, relief of poverty and human rights.

According to the 1989 Decree, Article1, NGOs are non-political, non-profit, pursuing development goals at the national, departmental and municipal and with resources to implement them.They are domestic and foreign. A national NGO is the one established in Haiti and having its registered office in the country. Article 2, It is considered an international NGOs any subsidiary of NGOs based abroad and having its registered office outside the territory of Haiti.

The code of ethics and conduct for nonprofit organization

“Information used in preparing this code of ethics was provided by the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO), however, WANGO has not reviewed the final code nor has it certified the compliance of the organization with the code.”

Alan Fowler, in his book Striking a Balance, utilized a collection of NGO acronyms to identify various NGO “pretenders,” such as BRINGO (Briefcase NGO), CONGO (Commercial NGO), FANGO (Fake NGO), CRINGO (Criminal NGO), GONGO (Government-owned NGO), MANGO (Mafia NGO), and PANGO (Party NGO). Other NGOs may have started with the highest ideals, but now tolerate practices that were previously unacceptable. Many NGOs do not even understand the standards that they should be applying to their activities and governance.

Responsibility, Service, and Public Mindedness

Sustainable progress, peace, and justice require that all organizations contribute to the common good. Thus, an NGO should integrate self-development and service to others, balancing individual and public concerns, focusing on higher, broader, and more public levels of service.

Cooperation Beyond Boundaries

Significant progress toward world peace and global well-being can be fostered through inter-religious, intercultural, and interracial work, and across artificial barriers of politics and ethnicity that tend to separate people and their institutions. NGOs should maintain ethical, cooperative relationships with other NGOs, and should partner where possible and appropriate for the sake of the greater public good.

Human Rights and Dignity

As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, are endowed with reason and conscience, and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. ”(Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1) The family is the fundamental natural group unit of society promoting human rights and human dignity. (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 16)

NGO Resource Directory

Find nonprofits operating in Haiti. Both community-based organizations as well as international organizations.