The number of internationally operating NGOs is estimated at 40,000. National numbers are even higher: Russia has 277,000 NGOs.^[2] India is estimated to have between 1 million and 2 million NGOs.

Apart from "NGO", often alternative terms are used as for example: independent sector, volunteer sector, civil society, grassroots organizations, transnational social movement organizations, private voluntary organizations, self-help organizations and non-state actors (NSA's).

There are also numerous classifications of NGOs. The typology the World Bank uses divides them into Operational and Advocacy:

The primary purpose of an operational NGO is the design and implementation of development-related projects. One frequently used categorization is the division into relief-oriented versus development-oriented organizations; they can also be classified according to whether they stress service delivery or participation; or whether they are religious or secular; and whether they are more public or private-oriented. Operational NGOs can be community-based, national or international.

The primary purpose of an Advocacy NGO is to defend or promote a specific cause. As opposed to operational project management, these organizations typically try to raise awareness, acceptance and knowledge by lobbying, press work and activist events.

USAID refers to NGOs as private voluntary organisations. However many scholars have argued that this definition is highly problematic as many NGOs are in fact state and corporate funded and managed projects with professional staff.

NGOs exist for a variety of reasons, usually to further the political or social goals of their members or funders. Examples include improving the state of the natural environment, encouraging the observance of human rights, improving the welfare of the disadvantaged, or representing a corporate agenda. However, there are a huge number of such organizations and their goals cover a broad range of political and philosophical positions. This can also easily be applied to private schools and athletic organizations.

Cerebral palsy refers to neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood which then permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination but do not get worse over time.  Cerebral refers to the two halves or hemispheres of the brain, the cerebral cortex, and palsy refers to the impairment of motor function.    

Cerebral palsy is due to abnormalities inside the brain that affect the brain’s ability to control movement and posture.

In some cases of cerebral palsy, the cerebral motor cortex has not been able to develop normally during fetal growth.  In other cases, the damage is brought about as a result of injury to the brain before, during, or after birth.  This damage is not repairable.      

Children with cerebral palsy exhibit symptoms like lack of muscle coordination when performing voluntary movements; stiff or tight muscles and exaggerated reflexes; walking with one foot or leg dragging; variations in muscle tone, it being either too stiff or too floppy; excessive drooling or difficulties swallowing or speaking; shaking (tremor) or random involuntary movements. 

The symptoms of cerebral palsy vary in type as well as severity from one person to the next, and may even change in an individual with time.  Some people with cerebral palsy may also have other medical disorders such as mental retardation, seizures, impaired vision or hearing, and abnormal physical sensations or perceptions.   

Cerebral palsy does not always bring about huge disabilities. While one child with acute cerebral palsy may not be able to walk and need extensive, lifelong care, another with mild cerebral palsy might be only slightly awkward and require no special help.

Cerebral Palsy

Kolkatta, India

Cerebral palsy is neither a disease nor an illness. It is a disability due to damage to the brain that can take place before, during, or in the early days after birth. There can be several causes of cerebral palsy which include an infection while still in the womb, such as the pregnant mother contracting German measles, a difficult birth, a genetic disorder, a bleed in the baby's brain, or the baby's brain forms abnormally for no apparent reason.

Research has not yet been able to give an adequate account of the causes of the condition, which is seen as a disturbance of the central nervous system due to injury to the brain at some time. Damage to the brain may affect the child physically, and may also result in visual, perceptual, auditory and learning disabilities as well as seizures or epilepsy. The physical disability affects the child's interaction with and exploration of the world about him. It can also affect the child's ability to learn and develop intellectually, although this can often be reduced considerably if the appropriate management is given. 

Most children with cerebral palsy have either spasticity or athetosis or a combination of both. Children with spasticity (hypertonus) feel stiff and may have trouble in

moving, although their muscles are not paralysed. Some movement is possible but the variety with normal people is not seen. If the child looses balance, it is often difficult or impossible for him or her to stop from falling. On the other hand, children with athetosis move too much and may find it difficult to control their movements or maintain their posture.