Regional development should be considered an economic, social an institutional process as well as ultimately a political activity. This means that it is not and that it should not be steered only by the State in spite of the fact that public intervention is undoubtedly one of the most important factors in the allocation and, thus, in the spatial and interpersonal distribution of resources within the society. It is in this sense that non government organizations play a key role on the distribution of resources in space (inter as well as intraregionally) and among social groups. The relation is much more visible when the non government organization is an agent of local or regional development such as in the case of colonization. Their activity is basically aimed at influencing on the decision making process of public agents and, as such, their role is usually imbedded with a politically explicit role. Assuming the role, among others, of socially mobilizing the population in associations (unions, neighborhood organizations, politicall parties, etc.) towards the achievement of specific goals. They aim is at opinion building through information in diverse local and regional topics. The number, nature and ways of non government organizations in a particular region at a particular moment depend on several factors such as "political climate", economic opportunity, historical rootage of the groups in the region and others. It is in this perspective that the paper analizes the concrete experiences of non government organizations in the Northeast of Brazil, one of the largest poor region in Latin America today.