Last November, senior Government officials from a range of Ministries involved in charity regulation from the six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) state gathered in Abu Dhabi for three days to attend a regional workshop entitled: "Effective Charity Regulation: for the Benefit of All". The workshop, organised by the Charity Commission's International Programme, in partnership with the UAE's Ministry of Social Affairs and hosted by the UAE's Central Bank, was the first of its kind to take place and received much positive feedback from delegates. Appreciation was expressed for the opportunity to share good practice ideas with colleagues as well as to hear about developments in domestic and international charitable work from around the world. Participants emphasised their commitment to meeting their international obligations on effective regulation (as set out in Special Recommendation VIII by the Financial Action Task Force) whilst expressing their desire for greater understanding in the West of the local, Islamic context for charitable giving. The final session of the workshop - looking to the future - was particularly rich, with a detailed proposal for a GCC/UK steering group to carry out follow-up work on the issue of charity regulation in the Gulf region and both Qatar and UAE offering to host the next regional event. Further news of developments to follow via this Newsletter.
English and Arabic versions of the workshop report are will be available on this website shortly.
A Regional Workshop on Terrorist Financing was held in Kuala Lumpur from 27-30 November 2006 co-hosted by the British High Commission, Kuala Lumpur and the South East Asian Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT). The workshop highlighted the role that NGO regulation plays in combatting terrorist financing. The workshop included two representatives from the Chairty Commission, and was attended by financial regulators from across South and South East Asia.
SEARCCT are also co-organising another event with AUSTRAC (the Australian Financial Transaction Authority) in Kuala Lumpur in the coming months. This will be a two-part workshop under the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) umbrella, and is planned for 11th - 13th April and 17 - 19th July. The workshop will raise issues relating to NPOs and alternative remittence systems and will include financial regulators from 24 countries across the Asia Pacific region.
Recognising the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association and the vital work of NGOs , the US State Department has pledged commitment to follow 10 guiding principles for NGOs and to work for their full implementation throughout the world. The principles, which were published in December 2006, seek to ensure that NGOs have a clear operating space within which to work and are regulated by governments in an apolitical, fair, transparent and consistent manner. The Principles are published online.
As the international debate on NGO Accountability continues, there is a growing recognition that in order to be truly effective NGOs need to be accountable not only "upwards" to their Governments but also to the people they work with and for, their members, donors and supporters, and to each other. A growing number of NGO sectors around the world have consequently sought to improve their accountability and performance through the adoption of codes of conduct. Just last year, eleven international NGOs, including some leading British charities, adopted the first global INGO Accountability Charter. For further details, visit the Charter website.
Clearly any such code needs to be tailored to reflect the needs and circumstances of the NGOs involved. However, a new study by Dr Jem Bendell, a world renowned expert on the subject, usefully draws together a list of voluntary NGO Accountability mechanisms, set out Chapter 4 of his recently launched "Debating NGO Accountability" NGLS Development Dossier, which can be downloaded.
Interested to learn more about how the NGO/charity sector is regulated in other countries? Information on systems in the Gulf states - including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE - is now available in English and Arabic.
The Charity Commission's International Programme is still looking to collate brief summaries of legal and regulatory systems and contact details for regulators in a wide range of countries for the website. If you can provide information on the system in your country for the website, please have a go at completing the template on the website.
This e-newsletter and associated website www.NGOregnet.org are produced by the Charity Commission's International Programme. The Programme is supporting the development of a healthy, accountable and independent NGO sector worldwide by facilitating the exchange of good ideas for NGO regulation nationally, regionally and internationally.