Ngo

nongovernmental organization (NGO)

Organization that is not part of any government. A key distinction is between not-for-profit groups and for-profit corporations; the vast majority of NGOs are not-for-profit. In some countries, particularly socialist ones, some NGOs are government-organized. The purposes of NGOs cover the entire range of human interests and may be domestic or international in scope. Many NGOs are key sources of information for governments on issues such as human rights abuses and environmental degradation. Some NGOs fulfill quasi-governmental functions for ethnic groups that lack a state of their own. NGOs may be financed by private donations, international organizations, governments, or a combination of these. In Britain, quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organizations, or “quangos,” are organizations that have nonelected boards and receive public funds which they also disburse. See also Amnesty International; Greenpeace; World Wildlife Fund.

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Ngo 

a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled from A.D. 939 to 965, founded by Ngo Quyen. To bolster the country’s recently won independence from China, the Ngos reorganized the feudal-bureaucratic state apparatus. Overcoming the constant resistance of the great feudal lords, or xu quans, the Ngos strove to reinforce centralized authority. They restored original Vietnamese traditions in culture and ideology. However, weakened by the struggle against the feudal nobles, the Ngos were reduced to the status of xu quans. With the death of Ngo Xuong Van, the last representative of the Ngos, the country entered a period of feudal fragmentation, the “era of the 12 xu quans.”