About WANGO

The World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO) is one of the world’s preeminent membership organizations for NGOs, with members in over 120 countries. The Association’s membership encompasses the vast spectrum of the NGO world, ranging from small non-profits focused on their local communities to major, international organizations with global agendas, from the least developed nations to the richest countries.

The Association’s mission is to serve its member organizations, strengthen and encourage the non-governmental sector as a whole, increase public understanding of the non-governmental community, and provide the mechanism and support needed for NGOs to connect, partner, and multiply their contributions to solve humanity’s basic problems.

WANGO strives to provide the infrastructure for good NGOs to network worldwide, and to assist member organizations in accomplishing their tasks relative to creating a better world. It does this through a very active agenda of programs and services. These include conducting an annual conference as well as regional conferences and symposia; sponsoring training workshops; publication of a quarterly newsletter (Beyond Boundaries), monthly E-news, conference proceedings and special publications; dissemination of information on such topics as fundraising and getting grants, new technologies for NGOs, strategic planning, board development and other practical issues; and advancing networking through its Global NGO directory, Membership Directory, and neural network. Its Code of Ethics Initiative began in September of 2002, and culminated in the development of a Code of Ethics and Conduct for NGOs. Formulated by an international committee of over 44 NGO leaders from 23 nations, it is a set of 7 fundamental principles, 9 operational principles, and 133 standards to guide the actions and management of non-governmental organizations. It is designed to be broadly applicable to the worldwide NGO community

WANGO also has an Awards program, which honors NGOs from throughout the world that demonstrate exceptional effort, service, innovation and excellence. These are presented not only to large, well-known NGOs, but also to smaller NGOs in less developed regions, whose valuable work may have slipped wider visibility. Among those who have been honored with WANGO Awards are Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress, Inuit Circumpolar Conference ( Canada ), Green Belt Movement, and Bahrain Women’s Society. Prof. Dr. Federico Mayor, former Secretary General of UNESCO, was a 2002 recipient of the Universal Peace Award, WANGO’s highest award to individuals. The 2003 recipient was Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand . The 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate, Dr. Wangari Maathai, received the 2003 Environment Award on behalf of the Green Belt Movement.
WANGO is recognized as a 501(C)(3) tax-exempt organization by the United States Internal Revenue Service. Additional information on WANGO, its history and accomplishments, is presented in the Appendix. visit www.wango.org