Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES FOR …

1 Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES . FOR good POLICY. AND PRACTICE. Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES FOR good POLICY AND PRACTICE. Prepared for the Commonwealth Foundation by Colin Ball and Leith Dunn Biographical notes on the authors Colin Ball is a consultant/researcher and writer with experience of working in both North and South . countries. He has worked in Non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) and for government agencies in Britain, and as a teacher in Malaysia, Ghana and Nigeria. As a consultant and researcher he has specialised in work for and with NGOs in countries as various as Britain, Australia, the Sudan, the Gambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, India and the Philippines.

2 He is the current Chairperson of the Commonwealth Association for Local Action and Economic Development (COMMACT). He acted as rapporteur-general at both the first and second Commonwealth NGO Forums, held in Zimbabwe in 1991 and in Aotearoa/New Zealand in 1995, and was a member of the Task Forces which planned both events. Leith Dunn is a sociologist with a PhD from the London School of Economics. She has worked with NGOs at national, regional and international levels and has also worked as a development consultant, specialising in gender and labour issues. She is currently Regional Director of CUSO Caribbean and a Research Associate of the Centre for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.

3 She has also worked in the past with Christian Aid in London, the Association of Development Agencies in Jamaica, and the Caribbean Conference of Churches. Leith was also a member of the Task Forces which planned the 1991. and 1995 Commonwealth NGO Forums. Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES FOR good POLICY AND PRACTICE i CONTENTS. Page Preface v Introductory Note by Authors vii Summary 1. Part I: NGOs: what they are and what they do 1. The rationale and purpose of this 6. report The origins and scope of this report 6. An overview of the report 6. The purpose of this report 7. The importance of NGOs 8. The global dimension 8. The local dimension 9.

4 NGOs, government and civil society 11. Illustration 1: The actions and place of NGOs in civil society (I) 12. 2. The historical context 14. Summary 14. Care and welfare 14. Change and development 14. The historical evolution of 15. NGO/government relationships Welfare pluralism 15. The emergence of alternatives 16. New concerns 16. 3. NGOs defined 18. Summary 18. Diverse current ways off defining 18. NGOs Defining NGO for the purposes of 18/20. this report Illustration 2: Key defining 19. characteristics of NGOs Is NGO the right term? 20. 4. NGO activities described 22. Summary 22. The spectrum of NGO activities 22. Who and what 22. Illustration 3: The spectrum of NGO.

5 Activities 23. How 24. The diversity of NGO activities 24. Illustration 4: The who, what and how of the work of NGOs 25. Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES FOR good POLICY AND PRACTICE ii forward 44. Page Relationships with funders: key issues 46. Relationships with funders: ways 48. 5. A typology of NGOs 26 forward Summary 26 Other strategies to strengthen 48. Why a typology is needed 26 relationships Component 1: A descriptive typology Illustration 5: A descriptive typology of 9. The international dimension 50. NGOs 26 Summary 50. Organisational terms 27 Forms of international linkage 50. Main forms of control 27 Funding links 50. Location between government and civil Operational links 51.

6 Society 27 Partnerships 52. Illustration 6: The place of NGOs in civil society (11) 28 10. Conclusion and introduction to the 54. Level of operation 29 GUIDELINES Legal forms 29 A common basis of understanding 54. Links with parent and subsidiary bodies 29 From understanding to GUIDELINES 54. Links between NGOs 30 References in Part I 55. Component 2: An organisational 31. typology Part II: GUIDELINES for good Policy and Practice Illustration 7: An organisational typology of NGOs 31 11. GUIDELINES for good policy and 58. Organisations in civil society which practice on the part of engage in NGO-type activities 31 Governments Fraudulent NGOs 31. 12.

7 GUIDELINES for good policy and 62. 6. The governance and operation of 32 practice on the part of NGOs NGOs Summary 32 13. GUIDELINES for good policy and 66. The accountability of NGOs 32 practice on the part of funders Improving NGO governance and 33. operations 14. GUIDELINES for good policy and 70. Management 33 practice on the part of North . Human resource development (HRD) and international agencies and training 33. Reviewing, monitoring and evaluating 34 15. Implementing the GUIDELINES : A 72. Information 35 plan of action Networking and alliance-building 36. Part III: Bibliography 74. 7. The legal and institutional frameworks within which NGOs 38 Annex 1: The process of research and 82.

8 Operate consultation Summary 38. Freedom to associate 38 Annex 2: List of those submitting 84. The political dimension 38 information, consulted, or The law 35 responding Regulation 41. Collective, external and self-regulation 42. 8. The framework of relationships within which NGOs operate 44. Summary 44. A complex pattern of relationships 44. Relationships with government: key 44. issues Relationships with government: ways Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES FOR good POLICY AND PRACTICE iii Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES FOR good POLICY AND PRACTICE iv PREFACE. By Dr Humayun Khan, Director, The Commonwealth Foundation Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES for good Policy and Practice has been produced by the Commonwealth Foundation in response to proposals made at the First Commonwealth NGO Forum held in Zimbabwe in 1991.

9 It is the result of a process of research and extensive consultation which commenced in late 1992 and continued until 1995. The process of consultation ended in June 1995, when a draft of this document was presented to and endorsed by the Second Commonwealth NGO Forum, held in Aotearoa/New Zealand. NGOs, governments and other agencies are strongly encouraged to use this document as a basis for the development of policies and practices which promote and assist NGOs. The Commonwealth Foundation regards the practical development and implementation of these GUIDELINES as a high priority for the future and will, as a first step, be presenting this document to the 1995.

10 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The Foundation would naturally welcome the chance of being associated with any development and implementation of these GUIDELINES . The Commonwealth Foundation Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HY. Tel: (44) 171 930 3783. Fax: (44) 171 839 8157. Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES FOR good POLICY AND PRACTICE v Non-Governmental Organisations: GUIDELINES FOR good POLICY AND PRACTICE vi Introductory note by the authors In carrying out the research that has led to this report, This report is not blind to the need to make distinctions we encountered a view that held that the so-called between all the many different types of NGO.