NGOs without borders: Changing role in global health and need for greater collaboration

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work in various aspects of global health such as, disaster relief, education, improving health status and nutrition of communities, social and cultural development, human rights, and improving status of women across the world. While they may be serving the same participant groups locally or regionally, often sharing of ideas, strategies, and resources among them is limited. This often leads to duplication of efforts, inadequate coverage of needs, uncoordinated mobilization of community assets, and limited cooperation among different sectors. While bringing about coordination among NGOs working in different sectors may seem to be a daunting challenge, the need for such coordination in the reality of limited resources is evident. While each NGO has its own mission, structure, core values, and services, fostering opportunities for collaboration among them within the health sector to maximize their efforts individually and collectively will be addressed. Effects of such collaboration (in domestic or transnational settings) in sharing of resources and impact on service delivery will be specified. Anticipated challenges when such cooperative endeavors are pursued as well as strategies to overcome them will be discussed. Panelists will draw upon their experiences and from the published literature to identify the benefits of such collaboration and will make recommendations for modifications in existing policies and procedures. This presentation is part of the panel entitled “NGOs without borders: Reducing inequalities in global health” organized by the “NGO Connections Committee” of the International Health Section.