However, other governments appreciate the hands-on approach of NGOs, who offer immediate assistance as well as financial aid where it is needed. In terms of disaster relief, NGOs have proved especially useful. "NGOs are the rapid respond unit of humanitarian disasters all over the world. Members of these unique organizations put their lives on the line to operate in volatile areas during conflicts, and providing unconditional services to poverty stricken people. While the UN is rambling about the pros and cons of moving into trouble spots, the NGOs are always the first to deploy," wrote one Liberian in response to a BBC article on NGOs in Africa ("NGOs," BBC, 2009). In some provinces of Africa that are torn apart by civil strife and can provide few social services to the people, NGOs like UNICEF can provide immediate assistance to address specific concerns such as health care. Foreign aid from a government to an area of the world where there is a total breakdown of civil order would not be as effective, as it would need to proceed through more conventional government channels and might ne met with suspicion.

A nation seeking to create a bond with a more powerful nation, which desires to reconstruct its economy and government to make it more internationally desirable as a trading partner might prefer foreign aid from the U.S. A nation in need of help with a certain problem, such as a lack of sanitation in rural areas or a national disaster might prefer an NGO's direct methods of aid. A nation that has been harmed by colonialism in the past might also appreciate NGO's more disinterested perspective although a nation with questionable human rights practices might fear the humanitarian orientation of most NGOs.
Works Cited

Barry, Tom & Jason Oringer. "Foreign Aid." The Foreign Policy Institute: In Focus.

July 6, 2009. 1997. 2. 24. http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol2/v2n24for.html

"NGOs: Achievers or deceivers?" BBC News. February 20, 2004. July 6, 2009.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3502733.stm