From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnon-governmentalˌnon-governˈmental adjective [only before noun] a non-governmental organization is independent and not controlled by a government Emergency aid is being provided by non-governmental relief organizations.
Examples from the Corpus
non-governmental• And thirdly, international funding through international, governmental and non-governmental agencies.• It was the first non-governmental body to be honoured in this way.• A certain number of days are set aside throughout the session for non-governmental business.• In contrast, a non-governmental organisation has no such access to the International Court of Justice.• So this is the time when some Governments are having to rethink their position and many non-governmental organisations to rethink their strategies.• A meager number of non-governmental organizations have time for health and safety issues in Nogales' maquilas.• Rio hosted simultaneously a Global Forum of some 2,000 non-governmental organizations, together with representatives from some of the world's tribal peoples.• And the same is true of non-governmental records. 