Non-Governmental Agencies Involved in Global Issues
The world is becoming smaller and more interconnected. Global connectedness is essential for advancing healthcare in communities, populations, and countries. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and governmental organizations have been at the forefront of aligning global well-being and confronting global health concerns. NGOs and governmental organizations have demonstrated the capacity to solve a community’s difficulty with sickness and health.
NURS FPX 8014 Assessment 1 Nongovernmental Agency Involved in Global Issues
The distribution of healthcare resources and services and the population’s level of health are critical indicators of society’s progress, regardless of wealth. (WHO, 2022). Governmental agencies and NGOs have been formed to work with healthcare to alleviate health disparities worldwide. (Grant Space, n.d.). Nurses need to become aware of the alliances of these entities and how they impact global health conditions. This paper will discuss the role of NGOs and governmental organizations in this realm, the advantages of NGOs in comparison to government-run agencies, the challenges faced by both organizations, the selection criteria of an NGO to focus on a concern, funding, and with insight from a public health officer gain insight to recent problems and how it was handled by the organization they are affiliated with.
Comparison of an NGO and a Public Health Organization
There is a distinct difference between an NGO and a governmental public health organization. An NGO is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote health equity and access to care for everyone. This is achieved through advocacy, health literacy, prevention of disease by improving health outcomes, by promoting social justice. (Sisaye et al., 2021). NGOs are not directed, controlled, or affiliated with a specific government. (GrantSpace, n.d.). NGOs typically are organizations that have been established to focus on a particular issue or concern. (Sisage, 2021). NGOs have been formed to affect health disparities worldwide positively. (Sisaye et al., 2021). Often, NGOs are non-profit entities, though they can be for profit. NGOs can apply for and solicit government funding, though the government does not direct their activities and operations. One particular person does not own NGOs.
NGOs can be classified as one of two types: operational or campaigning. Operational NGOs aim is t facilitate change directly through the development and implementation of the projects the organization deems worthy. (Sisaye, 2021). Operational NGO’s focus is directed towards public service applications directly to meet needs and objectives.(Sandagol et al., 2021). Operation NGOs engage in poverty remission, health, and welfare programs, education, and environmental concerns. Operational NGOs exist to focus on a particular cause. Operational NGOs are organizations that provide direct service to those in need. Campaigning NGOs’ focus is to influence change in a political system. (Sanadgol et al., 2021). This is done by helping to improve the infrastructures in some communities, more so in healthcare. Campaigning NGOs have been reinvented due to the fierce criticism they have fallen under for is previous tactics of highlighting the plights and vulnerabilities of the people they wanted to serve. This was considered a scare tactic and emphasized the poverty-stricken areas as counterproductive. These are called Humanitarian NGOs with the spirit of helping and empowering those it wishes to serve. (GrantSpace,n.d). NGOs receive their financial support through membership.
Governmental Public Health Organizations, in turn, are part of the government they have been created to serve. The core functions of a government publish health organization are assessment and policy development assurance. They monitor health status, solve community health problems, and diagnose and investigate health problems; Policy development is attained through education and empowerment of communities about health issues. Plans are developed that promote individual and community groups to protect the health of communities. , Governmental agencies enforce laws and regulations designed to protect health and ensure safety. Governmental public health organizations evaluate the effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of public health programs with continuous monitoring.
NGOs working in public health do not directly compete with non-profit organizations. Even though they may receive government financing, they are non-profit organizations not subject to governmental control. These organizations function globally and provide advantages to public health (Sisaye et al., 2021). Governmental public health organizations, on the other hand, are state-run institutions primarily in charge of setting health care policy, providing regulatory monitoring, implementing public health initiatives, and gathering authorized government health statistics.
Donations to NGOs are sought and handled by private parties not part of the government. They help give financial support for programs like economic growth, medical research, educational advancements, and other things by being received through grants, annual membership fees, income from selling services and commodities, cooperative agreements, and government contracts. At the same time, state cash prizes are sought by government-sponsored programs to finance helpful projects (Sisaye et al.,2021). Based on the type of project and the fund’s rules, the legislation determines and distributes the government cash. The process of applying to a government-sponsored fund is extremely difficult and competitive. Before funding is granted, applicants must explain how the public and the local community will benefit. Aid requests from NGOs are more straightforward. These groups ensure the procedure is simple to reach those in need and help them.
Advantages of NGOs over Governmental Public Health Organizations
Public Health NGOs Have been considered alternative healthcare providers worldwide. (Sandagol et al., 2021), Furthering the same goals as governmental organizations. (Sayaiford et al.,2022). NGOs have been found to have fewer financial constraints and less backlog than governmental agencies. NGOs have been found to deliver healthcare services in populations and areas within a country faster and more efficiently than governmental agencies. NGOs’ missions and outreach can quickly impact low-income countries, providing a valuable resource for those suffering from financial challenges, food insecurities, and inequities in resource distribution. NGOs can focus on a local area without concentrating on the entire nation. Public health NGO activities can be based on the immediate needs of specific global populations.
Government-sponsored public health programs depend entirely on the country’s resources and revenue. Financial constraints in the government can lead to cuts in government programs, with declining funding of the programs. In addition, these agencies often need help under the weight of monumental regulatory practices that lead to reduced productivity. Although these organizations’ existence is based on need and compliance, outcomes weigh heavily in determining their effectiveness. Government agencies are forced to distribute funds to attack multiple areas and concerns at once, thus can contribute to unequal funding and various pockets of failed programs. Many governmental programs have robust data collection tools, which are used to measure program success and effectiveness.
NURS FPX 8014 Assessment 1 Nongovernmental Agency Involved in Global Issues
Compared to government-sponsored initiatives, public health NGOs offer several benefits. Public health NGOs have the advantage of frequently being more agile and capable of reacting swiftly to emergent public health issues. Public NGOs are also advantageous since they may focus on specific areas of public health. Public health NGOs typically only focus on particular public health-related concerns, while government ones have various duties (Sisaye, 2021). As a result, they can better concentrate on specific problems and provide specialized solutions without worrying about more fundamental public health challenges. They can also be more creative in handling public health risks and test new strategies before applying them to official initiatives. Furthermore, public health NGOs frequently have stronger connections with communities and may more successfully involve communities in public health initiatives (Sisaye, 2021). Another benefit is that public health NGOs frequently have greater creative latitude than government-sponsored initiatives. Additionally, philanthropy, which may augment government financing, is a source of funding that public health NGOs can often better access.
Challenges faced by Public Health NGOs
In contrast to government-sponsored public health initiatives, several hurdles must be overcome in a public health NGO. The main difficulty is obtaining finance. While taxes fund government-sponsored initiatives, public health NGOs must establish financing sources and answer to those bodies. NGOs, unlike government-sponsored programs, need the more legal capacity to enact rules and regulations requiring citizens to participate in the program, which presents another challenge for NGOs (Sisaye, 2021). Governments are often more stable than individual NGOs, which can be vulnerable to changeable donors or individuals who want to exploit their money for political purposes. As a result, NGOs frequently find themselves at the mercy of politics and political whim. Public health NGOs often have fewer staff members and fewer financial resources than government-sponsored initiatives. The ability of public health NGOs to successfully contact the populations they serve may need to be improved as a result (Sisaye, 2021). Public health NGOs frequently work in challenging and perhaps hostile conditions. It could be difficult for them to do their jobs well. Finally, many NGOs struggle to preserve openness and stop the misappropriation of funding because they lack monitoring and accountability.
Sufficiency of Data to Meet Criteria
Some NGOs specialize in a particular issue or concern, such as health, education, or women’s rights. Others focus on an area or population. An NGO’s determining need to concentrate and focus is determined by the identified needs of the community they choose to serve. (WHO, 2021). Other factors used to determine the NGO’s activity are often based on the cause, disease, or population they wish to support. Once the NGO decides to get involved, it will determine where the money and resources would benefit most. (Sanadgol et al., 2021). In developing or low-income countries, where most people don’t have access to healthcare, this to maybe a determining criterion for activity. (Sanadgol et al., 2021). The engagement of an NGO in a healthcare issue will vary depending on the nature of the concern. (Sandgol et al., 2021). How donations to the NGO are obtained and sought may also be a consideration in the data needed to get involved. Donations of funds to an affected population can be a vital element in the determination to affect change in that population. (Sisaye et al., 2021). NGOs can specifically apply for assistance serving as the entity representing the affected population. (GranSpace, n.d). This is a formal request by the specific NGO to the government or another NGO on behalf of the affected community for assistance. (Sisaye et al., 2021). This, too, can be affected by how the application was made and who is affected by the disease or condition. ( Sisaye et al., 2021). Most NGOs’ criteria to answer healthcare needs to depend on the global concern and its impact on the lives of the people they want to serve. An NGO’s main goal and aspiration are to help the needy and improve their quality of life.
Interviewing Experience
Dung my attempts to interview an NGO leader or other public health official, I was met with many challenges and obstacles. My initial plan was to organize and solicit assistance from an NGO leader or public health official, tailor my interview to elicit firsthand information about an NGO, its challenges, finances(if known), most popular cause or current concern the organization was engaged in and obtain suggestions of a recommended area that the organization could utilize for use in whatever capacity it was deemed needed. After the initial teaser, the two particular agents I considered using did not make themselves available for an interview. One determined they could meet me in two weeks via WhatsApp. I was intent on securing a successful encounter: with an NGO spokesperson working and servicing a remote population with health challenges. Unfortunately, my ideal experience did not fit the cookie-cutter mold I had envisioned. What I thought were exciting leads did not materialize. I had already started reading and exploring the potential concerns of the areas I knew they specialized in; I was prepared to get helpful insight into the counties they worked in and how successful these campaigns were. And what they considered would be a useful project to augment the organization’s activities. This also contributed to gaps in my research, as I could not discuss specific details of finances and their impact on the organization.
The outcome of my interview with a Baltimore County Public health leader was invaluable. He outlined the importance of collaboration from both entities, Public Health NGOs and Public Health Governmental Organizations. He underscored that public healthcare budgets are dwindling. He further reiterated the reemergence of the value of Public Health and its contributions. The COVID-19 Pandemic again shifted the focus of state, local, and federal public health organizations and the importance of these areas in population health.
NURS FPX 8014 Assessment 1 Nongovernmental Agency Involved in Global Issues
References
About the Non-Governmental Organization Constituency. (2021). WHO. https//punch.who.int/about-punch/constituencies/non-governmental-organizations/about-the-non-govenrmental-organizations-constituency
Sanadgol, A., Dashmangir, L., Majdzadeh, R., & Gordeev, V. (2021). Engagement of non-governmental organization in moving towards universal health coverage: a scoping review. Global Health, 17(129). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-021007781-1
Sayaiford, A., Nazari, M., Rajabif, M., Ghadirian, L., & Sajadi, H. (2022). Identifying the non-governmental organization’s activities and challenges in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. BMC Public Health, 22(704). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-1380-5
Sisaye, S. (2021). The influence of non-governmental organizations on the development of voluntary sustainability accounting rules. Journal of Business and Socio-Economic Development, 1(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsed-0-2021-0017
What is an NGO? What role does it play in civil society? (n.d.). GrantSpace. https://grantspace.org/resources/knowledge-base/ngo-definition-and-role
