What is the difference between an intergovernmental organization and non-governmental organization?

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Guest asked 2 years ago
What is the difference between an intergovernmental organization and non-governmental organization, and how does either or both contribute to cause of human rights?
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Ahmed SouaiaiaProf. Souaiaia answered 2 years ago
From a point of view of concern for human rights, it is imperative that we know and understand all the main actors that contribute promoting or demoting human rights and remediating past abuses. Considering the most egregious human rights abuses that took place in the past and/or continue to take place in the present, governments must be seen as the main party responsibility for the occurrence of atrocities either through direct action or through failure to act. Therefore, Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs), by virtue of them representing governments, are not in a position to promote or address human rights abuses without pressure coming from outside the entity. The outside pressure can come from individuals who were subjected to human rights abuses, their surviving relatives, or advocacy organizations. The latter are part of what is generally known as non-governmental organization (NGO). The meaning and functions of each of the above categories will help further emphasize the importance of properly identifying entities that are connected to human rights matters. An Intergovernmental Organization (IGO) is an entity whose membership is limited recognized governments of sovereign states. In some instances, representatives of different IGOs may have some form of membership in another IGO. For example, the representative of IGOs X and Y may have observer status in IGO Z. Members of an IGO are bound together by some form of an agreement, a treaty or a charter. A good example of an IGO is the entity known as the United Nations (UN), which is, basically, the largest club of sovereign nation-states. In contrast, a non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legal entity created by private persons and whose membership often consist of other private persons or other NOGs.  An NGO ceases to be an NGO if it falls under the control or influence of a government. Moreover, an NGO, though recognized in many jurisdictions as a “business”, generally, however, the name refers to entities that are not designed as a for-profit business. Lastly, NGOs may be created locally but can operate nationally, regionally, or internationally—the latter is often referred to as iNGO. As one may be ablet to guess, given the membership limitations, there are far more NGOs around the world than IGOs—in the range of 50,000 to 500. As far as advocacy for human rights causes are concerned, both IGOs and NGOs could be involved in human rights advocacy work. For example, the Human Rights Council (HRC) is a body within the United Nations. Members of the HRC are sovereign nation-states. The representatives of these nation-states represented in the HRC are government appointed officers and they will promote and vote up the position of the government they represent. If one considers that human rights abuses are often done at the hands of governments, one can then easily see the uselessness of such body. Since HRC members are elected by UN member states, it is common that some of abusers of human rights are elected to serve on the HRC, making it impossible to hold such states responsible for their actions. In contrast, the Human Rights Watch is an NGO committed to investigating and reporting “on abuses happening in all corners of the world.” Leaders of the NGO are private persons and funding for such entity is, mostly, from private persons. They do not answer to any government, and they are fully committed to protecting “the most at risk, from vulnerable minorities and civilians in wartime, to refugees and children in need.” The difference between IGO and NGO, in relations to HUQUQ matters, is clear. Therefore, our recommendation for those who wish to advocate for human rights causes is to support NGOs. There are thousands of human rights organizations. With that said, it should be noted also that some IGOs, especially those binding together Global South nation-states, do perform good work that can bring some balance to the hording of the resources and the destructive, abusive exploitation of natural and human resources. Because the list of all IGOs is large and keeps changing, here is a durable list--IGOs that have some formal standing with the UN (e. g., observer status, etc.)  
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