World NGO Day 2024: Theme, Significance, History

Each year World NGO Day is celebrated on February 27th by people all over the world. It is an international day dedicated to recognizing, acknowledging and celebrating non-governmental and nonprofit organizations.

This special day also honors the people behind these organizations who contribute immensely to society all around the globe.

NGO Day was adopted by the United Nations on February 27, 2014, and has been celebrated with great enthusiasm ever since.

World NGO Day 2024 Date

You can check below the schedule of upcoming events of world NGO day:

Event Date Day

World NGO Day 2024 27 February 2024 Tuesday

World NGO Day 2025 27 February 2025 Thursday

World NGO Day 2026 27 February 2026 Friday

World NGO Day 2027 27 February 2027 Saturday

World NGO Day 2024 Overview

Event World NGO Day 2024

Date 27 February 2024

Day Tuesday

Declared by United Nations, European Union

Observed by Worldwide

Purpose of celebration To recognize, celebrate and honor all non-governmental and nonprofit organizations and those working with these organizations selflessly.

World NGO Day Significance

The objective of World NGO Day is to create awareness about all such organizations around the world, to honor people working in this sector and encourage others to join in this good cause.

Every year on this day, supporters and volunteers express their gratitude to individuals working in the Non-Government Organizations.

Many organizations on this day are presented with prestigious awards and accolades in order to motivate them to work harder.

What is an NGO?

Any organization that is independent of government influence and is not-for-profit is termed as a non-governmental organization.

The term was first coined in Article 71 of the Charter of the newly formed United Nations in 1945.

Also known as Non-Profit Organization (NPO), Civil Society Organization (CSO), Charitable Organization, Membership Organization, Charity or third sector, NGOs play an important role within the landscapes of development, human rights, humanitarian action, gender equality, environment and many other spheres of public action.

The current estimated number of NGOs in the world is around 10 million.

The current estimated number of NGO workers in the world is around 50 million.

It is estimated that the numbers will reach 20 million NGOs worldwide and 100 million NGO workers by 2030.

80% people in the world agree that NGOs make it easy to be involved in positive social change.

History of World NGO Day

World NGO Day was established initially by the Baltic Sea NGO Forum of the Council of the Baltic Sea State on April 27, 2010. The Baltic Sea NGO Forum has countries like Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Norway and Sweden as its members.

The NGO day was then adopted in the forum’s Final Statement Resolution two years later. However, the first time World NGO day got marked officially by the UN, EU leaders and international organizations was in 2014.

The Global Inaugural event of World NGO day were hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland on 27 February 2014 in Helsinki, Finland. The first World NGO Day was observed on 27 February and is currently celebrated around 89 countries and 6 continents.

Celebration of World NGO Day

Every year on February 27th large number of supporters and volunteers worldwide come together to celebrate World NGO day and recognize the missions and contributions of non-government organizations.

On the occasion of this day, the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe organizes a high-level conference in Europe that brings together a variety of stakeholders, Civil Society representatives, Human Rights activists, members of the Secretariat of the Council of Europe and others. As an individual, you can also volunteer for different NGOs and help them in their good deed.

You can either donate your time or your money or both to these organizations.