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ISLAMABAD: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has notified rules for , approval and appointment of certification agencies for performance evaluation of  non-profit organizations for the purpose of granting income tax exemptions.

The amendments were made in income tax rules 2002 said an income tax notification SRO748 issued here on Thursday.

According to the rules, the chairman CBR shall constitute a committee for approval and appointment of certification agencies, comprising of not less than three members. The CBR  chairman shall also designate a  member of the committee to serve as its chairman. All nominations to the committee shall be ex-officio. One third of the membership or two members of the committee, whichever is larger, shall constitute the quorum for meetings of the committee.

An application for approval and appointment as a certification agency shall be placed, before the committee, which shall consider the application on its own merit and decide through a majority vote; the chairman of the committee shall caste a vote only in case of a tie.

The committee shall consider the following criteria, for approval and appointment of certification agency, namely: Demonstrated and established eminence, credibility and stature of governing body of such organization that brings respect and credibility to the organiza­tion and its work; understanding of organization, essentially the senior management and programme staff, of the parameters of evaluation as approved by the Central Board of Revenue; human resource, quantity as well as quality, available with the organization to conduct profes­sional, objective and transparent evaluations of non-profit organi­zations; financial resources avail­able with the organization for meeting the costs incurred on such evaluations; organizational Understanding and experience of working with the non-profit organizations; experience of evaluating non-profit organiza­tions or social programmes; sys­tems put in place by the organization to conduct evaluation and award of certification; and moni­toring mechanisms to ensure transparency and objectivity.

The committee may call for any document, report and state­ment from the organization concerned to assess the capacity of the organization to undertake professional, objective and transparent evaluation as per the criteria specified in sub-rule; the committee may also interview  the managerial and programme staff of the organization to assess their level of experience, understanding and professionalism.

An application received by the committee might be decided upon within a period of three months from the date of receipt of such application. An applicant  adversely affected by any deci­sion of the committee may file an appeal before the Member (Direct Taxes), CBR, within 30 days of the service of the decision upon the application.

An approval and appointment granted under this rule shall be for a period of three years and thereafter the committee shall re-assess the capacity and evaluate the performance of such organization to function as a certification agency. The committee shall complete such re-evaluation and 1 its decision within three months, during which the certification, agency shall continue to function as a legitimate certification agen­cy.

In case of any change in the sta­tus of an approved and appointed certification agency that may adversely affect it’s functioning as such an agency or/In case of any violation of the standards of professionalism, transparency, integrity or objectivity coming to the knowledge of the committee. It may, after due inquiry and after providing proper opportuni­ty of being heard to the agency, withdraw such approval and appointment at any time.

The News

ISLAMABAD: Partnership among the government, corporate sector and the non-profit organisations is essential for effective governance and sustainable development.

This was the consensus that emerged during a stakeholders dialogue on philanthropy. The dia­logue was organised by Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy.

Fayyaz Baqir, programme coor­dinator of the UN's Global Envi­ronment Facility, said that NPOs should regularise themselves. They should be open to registration with organisations like PCP to make themselves transparent. A better governance structure would help them forge good ties with the gov­ernment and corporate sector.

Pakistan Centre for Philan­thropy Head Shahnaz Wazir Ali said that the government was an important partner in the develop­ment. "But unfortunately, the government is not taking sufficient in­terest in the work of NPOs. At some stage, the government will have to enhance its involvement since it is a powerful policy making entity."

She pointed out that the corpo­rate sector was aware of the crisis that the country was facing. "The corporate sector is concerned about what's happening in Pak­istan. It is conscious of social in­justice, poor education, poor work­force quality, etc. But unfortunately, the connection be­tween their 'concerns' and NPOs' working is very weak. The corpo­rate sector is unable to find a nexus between the NPOs and itself. The corporate sector undermines the work of NPOs. There is no link between the local chamber of com­merce and the local NPOs. The two important players are working in isolation. The ability of NGOs and corporate sector to 'meet' does not exist."

A representative from the Fed­eration of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry did not agree with Shahnaz Wazir Ali's ob­servations. "My presence here shows the corporate sector's inter­ests in NPOs' work. But companies don't know what NPOs are doing and in what areas; which NPOs are credible, etc." The representative proposed that there should be an authentic database of NPOs that could help companies identify the true recipients of charity for devel­opment purpose.

Arshad Bhatti, an active civil so­ciety member, pointed out that there is an urban bias in philan­thropy. The rural landlords give a lot for charity causes. Their role should also be taken into consider­ation.

Nida Asad, external affairs man­ager of the Shell Pakistan, posed a question to the participants. She wanted to know what were the ex­pectations of the NPOs from the corporate sector as well as from which corporate sector - local or international.

Sadiqa Salahuddin, head of the Indus Resource Centre and Board of Governors of Leadership for En­vironment and Sustainable Devel­opment, said that the role of civil society is to protect the rights of consumers. A partnership between the civil society organisations and the corporate sector should not be at the expense of such role.

Qadeer Baig, head of NGORC, said that there was a tremendous potential among the government, NPO and corporate sector to work but the real question is: "Are we se­rious in working with each other?" 

Baig had tacitly pointed out the wide gulf between the three actors of development. The biggest challenge for the development organi­sations is to reduce this gulf.

The participants were unani­mous on the role of media in fos­tering relationship among the gov­ernment, corporate sector and NPOs. Chris Wardle, head of the World Population Foundation" urged the media to file more good stories related to development. The media should explore how civil so­cieties, corporate sector and gov­ernment work; where are they in­teracting and how such interaction could be enhanced. "Media has an important role and it provides ex­ternal evidence through its stories that we could take to various stake­holders to convince them to forge greater unity among the actors of development. "

Faiz Shah, another active civil society member, was of view that Pakistan does not more research on development issues. "Already there is enough research. The re­search works when it is read and implemented. People don't give after reading research papers. We have yet to develop a consensus on the actual figures of NGOs. How could our research be authentic in such circumstances when we don't know the exact number of NGOs in Pakistan?"

Shah disagreed with the notions that one should give while thinking with brain and without becoming emotional. "We cannot survive without being emotional. We should not finalize the split of 'emo­tions' and 'brain'. Sometimes, it is good to give through emotions and other times through brain."

The participants agreed to meet again to deliberate on the issue in a more focused way.

The News

ISLAMABAD: Major international aid agencies at a status briefing by the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) reaffirmed their commitment and support to the promotion of philanthropy for social development in Pakistan. According to a press release senior representatives of almost all major international development agencies attended the conference hosted by UNDP. The Swiss Ambassador  H.E Christian Dunant, Head of Department for International Development, Gareth Aicken, Munir Merali, CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation and senior advisor of the World Bank, Ms. Tahseen Syed were among the prominent participants who spoke at the conference. Dr. Shamsh Kassim Lakha, Chairman PCP Board of Directors briefed the participants about the context and the genesis of the establishment of the Centre, its activities and progress so far. He emphasised that Pakistan needed to move away from foreign aid dependency and exploit the phenomenal potential of indigenous philanthropy for social development.

Dawn

ISLAMABAD: The government will make sure that in the proposed "Nonprofit Organisations
(Governance and Support) Ordinance 2002", civil society organizations would work in the 
interest of the people. This was decided at a meeting attended by the Minister for women development, Dr Attyia Inayatullah, Finance Minister, Shaukat Aziz, Minister for Law Dr. Khalid Ranjha and provincial ministers for social welfare, on Thursday. In a press release issued by the Ministry of Women Development, it was decided that the new law, which would replace Voluntary, Social Welfare Agencies Ordinance 1960, was being assessed with a view to provide enabling environment to the civil society organizations.

The federal and provincial departments concerned have been asked for their comments to help prepare a comprehensive draft of the law. Presiding over the meeting, Dr. Attyia said the civil society organisations were a partner in the overall development of the country, hence they should be actively involved in the conclusion of the draft. Accepting the role of NGOs, the Finance Minister, Shaukat Aziz said accountability, transparency and disclosure must be stressed in the new regulatory regime while making sure that the nonprofit sector was not stifled. The Minister for Law Dr. Khalid Ranjha said people's perception should be taken into account when deciding the new regulatory authority regime, which must attempt to harness indigenous tradition of philanthropy. 

The government would further decide the administrative authority for the implementation of the new law through the restructured National Council for Social Welfare at the federal level and social welfare councils or boards in provinces.  

The News

ISLAMABAD: There is a need to get away from the common per­ception of elitism in Non-govern­mental organisations (NGOs) and non-profit organisations (NPOs), said Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz here on Thursday. 

"The policies of NGOs should be Pakistan-driven, rather than donors-driven," the minister made this observation while co-chairing the inaugural session of the fed­eral and provincial governments consultations on Reforms for the Non-Profit Sector here with Minister for Women Development and Social Welfare Dr. Attiya InayatuIlah.  

The consultative process is aimed at promoting a consensus based legislation for civil society organisation operating in public and provide for a regulatory role, of the state without compromising their autonomy and independence. 

The consultative meeting par­ticipated by stakeholders from government and civil society representatives discussed in detail the Draft Non-Profit Organisations Ordinance 2002 to provide for the governance and support of non-profit organisations. 

The finance minister said as the government alone cannot do everything, "we have to mobilise the civil society, which has a great role to play in the socio-economic development of the country." 

Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali, chief executive of PCP, made a presentation on the draft recommendations and rationale for" legal, regulatory and fiscal re­forms for the non-profit sector. 

The consultative process meeting was attended by the fed­eral minister for law and justice, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, provincial minister for social welfare from Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan, Sindh minister for finance, secretary EAD and chairman of the Central Board of Revenue: - APP  

The News

Shafqat Munlr

ISLAMABAD: Civil society organisations across the country gave a cold shoulder to the pro­posed draft law to regulate the non-government organisations under a powerful commission, saying it would be an attempt to bring NGOs under the control of the government.

The government has put for consultation a draft law based on a document prepared by the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, suggesting some legal, regulatory and fiscal reforms for the non-profit organisations. A large number of civil society organisations including Joint Ac­tion Committee (JAC) of civil society groups have expressed serious reservations on this draft law on various pretexts.

Speaking at a recently held consultation here, Khawar Mumtaz, the coordinator of Pak­istan NGO Forum (PNF), said that such laws should not be promulgated in hurry, and there should be consensus after having more discus­sions and debate on the draft. Pointing out some flaws in the draft, she said, the heavy fi­nancial penalty on grass root level small citizen groups by the proposed commission upon con­viction of an individual committing a crime would render the development and public wel­fare plans in jeopardy and these welfare plans might face liquidation Khawar said it would be unfair if for a fault of an individual, the NGO with limited resources would be dissolved as proposed in the draft law.

The civil society groups have apprehended that like selective implementation of such other specific laws, the proposed law would also-be used selectively to victimise some NGOs out of total 45,000 that are working on various issue of public interest. They urged the need for a complete review of the law by all civil society groups instead of putting under undue pressure the rapidly growing development sector which provided jobs to hundreds of thousands of peo­ple and benefiting millions of stakeholders, par­ticularly the vulnerable groups like women, children, farmers and minorities. The UNDP in its Human Development Report 2002 on 'Deep­ening democracy in a Fragmented World' has highlighted the role of civil society in capacity building of, communities for promotion of de­velopment and democracy.

The international donor NGOs, countries and organisations after having experience of working with certain governments across the globe with their "corruption and bad gover­nance" have divided their funds and grants in two categories, i.e. government and non-gov­ernment sectors. If under the proposed law the government takes over the control of the NGOs as well in the name of a Commission for Non­profit Organisations, huge sums provided by the donors for development sector in Pakistan through NGOs would be in jeopardy being against their mandate and the people of Pak­istan would be deprived of the benefits of these public interest funds. That is why it is a delicate issue and any hasty legislation in arbitrary man­ner would damage our national interests.

One would appreciate the workable solution presented by the former Punjab Finance Minis­ter Shahid Kardar at a seminar in Lahore that the government should not interfere with the NGOs funding because this is not the govern­ment or public's money rather international grants for development. However, the govern­ment could check that these funds were not used for anti-social or anti-state activities like terrorism. Apart from this no NGO should be proved for its sources of funding after all through international bidding for proposals for development projects they bring this money into the country and they spend these funds for communities."

Responding to certain fears, the Federal Secretary for Social Welfare Perveen Qadir Agha said the government has no intentions of taking over the control of NGOs, rather it was interested in the growth and development of civil society in the context of devolution of power and poverty alleviation.

Interestingly the Pakistan Centre of Philan­thropy, which has put forward the draft docu­ment in this regard, has not been reportedly registered under the prevalent laws of registra­tion of such welfare groups while over 4,000 big or small NGOs are duly registered with fed­eral or provincial governments. For undergoing registration process, the civil society groups have to be cleared by the state agencies and for getting a bank account opened, again they have to go though a touch and stringent banking procedures.  

QUETTA: A consultative semi­nar discussed the Non-Profit Or­ganization Ordinance 2002 here at a local hotel here on Thurs­day.

Pakistan Centre for Philan­thropy (PCP) held the consulta­tive seminar with the coopera­tion of European Union and Agha Khan Foundation.

The Ordinance, it may be mentioned here, was formulated by PCP for creating a conducive environment for the growth of civil society organizations in the country for public interest.

Addressing the seminar, Executive Director PCP, Mrs. Shahnaz Wazir Ali said, at present, 45,000 NGOs were working all over the country out of which 90% were registered with the Government of Paki­stan.

She said PCP was holding consultations at district and tehsil levels with regard to its Non-profit Organization (Gover­nance and Support) Ordinance 2002 so that a better relationship could be established between the government and non-government groups including NGOs, work­ing for the welfare of the people.

The former Federal Minister for Social Welfare and Women Development, and Executive Director of PCP Mrs. Shahnaz Wazir Ali spoke at length over the need for formulation of the Ordinance.

She also highlighted the role of NGOs in the, socio-economic uplift of the country.

She said that NGOs role in the socio-economic develop­ment is all the most necessary, and it should not be undermined for the sake of vested interests.

Participants also took part in the lively debate, later held over the role of social organizations in the society, and urged the gov­ernment to recognize their ser­vices for the cause of national in­terest.

The seminar sought the gov­ernment moral support for con­tinuing the social services in be­fitting manner.

The representatives of lead­ing NGOs, working in different sectors in Balochistan province, participated in the seminar.

Prominent among the par­ticipants were: Dr. Shahida Jamali (Balochistan Rural Sup­port Programme), Kamal Hasan Siddique (Society for Commu­nity Support for Primary Educa­tion in Balochistan), Tahir Rasheed (Taraqee Trust), Zafar Zeeshan (Strengthening Partici­patory Organization), Muham­mad Ahmed Gondal, Sved Babar Shah, Fareeda Nausherwani, Qadir Lehri, and others.  

Daily Dawn

ISLAMABAD: Some 100 civil society activists shared their views at a consultative meeting to promote an enabling regulatory and fiscal framework for non-governmental organiza­tions (NGOs) in the public inter­est here on Saturday.

The meeting was organized by Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP), Ministry of Women Development, European Union and Aga Khan Foundation, which sponsored the event.

The participants discussed in detail the provisions of the law, particularly the role, capacity, powers and functions of the pro­posed oversight mechanism pro­vided by 15 member National Non-profit Organizations Commission.

Expressing her concern over certain lacunas in the draft law, Ms. Khawar, the coordinator of Pakistan NGO Forum (PNF) said more debate was needed to arrive at a consensus. "The grass roots level small citizens-led wel­fare plans might face liquidation as a result of their inability to withstand heavy financial penal­ty imposed by commission upon conviction of an individual com­mitting a crime," she said.

Her reservation was about an individual act which, she said, should not be cited a plausible reason for the compulsory disso­lution of all the NGOs with limit­ed resources. She added what was needed was a viable social policy identifying intentions of society for progress and not a hasty legislation making and that too in an arbitrary manner.

Pointing to the lack of will to uphold law in other spheres, she said "The NGOs too will be sub­ject to selective application of law given the culture of misusing, politicizing and subverting law that is deep-rooted in the socie­ty". "Implementation part should await enactment and proper approval of tile post October parliament," she main­tained.

Dispelling the apprehensions of the NGO activists, Mrs. Perveen Qadir, the federal secre­tary for social welfare said, "The government is not interested in undue control or formulation adverse legislation, instead it is only interested in the growth and development of the civil society particularly in the context of devolution of power and poverty alleviation."

Calling for reappraisal of dra­conian aspects of the draft law, participants commented on clauses that might be used as a tool to victimize select NGOs out of 45,000 ones presently working on different issues of public wel­fare. They agreed "If part of the law that falls short of expectations of civil society leaders goes ahead without adequate review in the light of input from NGO sector, the official steps might inaugurate a more strict policy and stifling working environ­ment for the civil society sector. "The law should not be imple­mented without taking into account needs and compulsions of the NGOs" they added.

Mr Imran, the member executive board of the PNF remarked, "The statutory autonomous body should itself be self-accountable and more transparent before making sure that NGOs practice good governance in terms of reg­ular auditing, financial accounting, annual reporting about the : sources of foreign funding, via­bility of development projects, registration and reporting".

Ms Shahnaz Wazir Ali of PCP briefed the audience about the legal, fiscal and institutional reforms and the possible impli­cations of these measures while Dr Shamsh Kassim Lakha, chair­man PCP thanked the Govt. for sounding serious in listening to the needs of civil society and welcomed the law that had addressed many of the concerns that PNF had expressed. - Ziaur Rehman Hasluni  

The Nation

ISLAMABAD - The govern­ment is going to introduce a new law, which would provide auton­omy to Non Governmental Or­ganisations (NGOs) and register them with the government. 

The law has been presented to civil society leaders for consensus in the National Consultation or­ganised by Ministry of Women Development, Social Welfare and Special Education at Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy here on Saturday. 

The consultation was attended by the representatives of over one hundred NGOs from allover the country.

Speaking on the occasion Sec­retary Social Welfare Parveen Qadir Aga said that the govern­ment was not interested in" exer­cising undue control or formulat­ing adverse legislation. 

"The government is only inter­ested in the growth and develop­ment of civil society particularly in the context of devolution of power and poverty alleviation", she said. 

Opening the consultation, Dr Shams Kasim Lakha, Chairman, Board of Directors, PCP, said that the government had shown its commitment towards the issue by legislating the demands of civil society in the country. 

The participants discussed in detail the provisions of the law, particularly the role, capacity, powers and functions of the newly proposed commission. 

The Coordinator, Pakistan NGO Forum, Khawar Mumtaz, wel­comed the law that had addressed many of the concerns that PNF had expressed, and pointed out that more debate was needed to arrive at a consensus. 

The new draft titled "Non-Prof­it Organizations (Governance and Support) Ordinance 2002" envis­ages setting up of a 15-member national Non-Profit Organisations Commission, a statutory autono­mous body with representation of all the major stakeholders, that would administer the law. 

The Commission would oper­ate a public registry of citizen or­ganizations in the country that would be accessible to all citizens. 

The draft law stipulates com­pulsory registration for all public benefit organisations that apply for or receive any government funds; apply for or receive any foreign fund in excess of Rs. 300,000 in a single financial year; solicit or receive any funds from non-members, where the funds received in anyone fiscal year exceed Rs. 300,000. National com­mission would develop standards for independent verification of public benefit organisations au­thorise an agency to conduct that verification for accreditation for tax benefit eligibility. 

According to new law verifica­tions would be conducted for only those organisations that would apply for it. 

The draft ordinance makes it obligatory for all organizations to file with the national commission at the end of each fiscal year, de­tails of foreign funds received in excess of Rs. 100,000. 

The details regarding identity of the donor, and the amount and the purposes for which the funds were received would have to by provided under the proposed law. 

The Commission may initiate audit against any office-bearer or  member of the organisation involved in serious financial irregularities. 

This audit could result in civil or criminal proceedings where the entire organization is found involved in defined criminal activities, it may be liquidated after a due process of law in the district courts. 

The draft ordinance includes provisions for deregistration and eventual dissolution of an organisation on account of failure to comply with its charter or the pro­visions of the ordinance. 

The liquidation process will be managed by the District Courts. Some 100 opinion leaders from civil society from all over the coun­try including Abbottabad, Pesha­war, Karachi, Khairpur, Quetta, Lahore, Gujranwala and other towns attended the consultation.  

Daily Dawn

ISLAMABAD: The gov­ernment has decided to regulate the working and funding sources of non-profit organisations by establishing national and provin­cial commissions through an ordi­nance.

The non-profit organisations would be regulated through a law, titled, "The Non-Profit Organisations (Governance and Support) Ordinance 2002."

Acording to the draft ordinance available with Dawn, the National Commission for Non­Profit Organisations would oper­ate a public registry of organisations in the country, including ini­tial registration information and all organisational reports.

Official documents indicate that Pakistan's 45,000 citizen organisations employ about 300,000 persons and utilize 200,000 full-time volunteers.

The new law, if implemented, would be applicable to NGOs, non-profit voluntary organisations, citizen organisations, civil society organisations, private vol­untary organisations etc.

The powers and functions of the proposed national commission would include development of a system of independent verifica­tion of public benefit organisations and their accreditation With appropriate agency for independ­ent verification, including certifi­cation of tax benefit eligibility.

The draft law stipulates com­pulsory registration for all organisations that apply for or receive any government funds; apply for or receive any foreign fund in excess of Rs300,000 in a single financial year; solicit or receive any funds from non-members, where the funds received in any one fiscal year exceed Rs300,000.

Regarding foreign funds, the draft ordinance makes it obligato­ry for all organisations to file With the national commission at the end of each fiscal year, details of foreign funds received in excess of Rsl00,000. The details regard­ing identity of the donor, and the amount and the purposes, for which the funds were received, would have to be provided under the proposed law.

Regarding financial irregulari­ties, the draft ordinance empow­ers the national commission to ini­tiate civil as well as criminal pro­ceedings against any office bearer or member of the organisation involved in serious financial irreg­ularities.

Moreover, in instances where the entire organisation is found involved in criminal activity, it may be closed and liquidated after a due process of law in the district courts.

The draft ordinance includes provisions for dissolution of an organisation on account of failure to comply with its charter or the provisions of the ordinance, when it come into force.

The draft ordinance has a provi­sion of public disclosure, where by any person may inspect and obtain certified copies of any doc­ument filed by an organisation, by depositing a requisite fee.

It is further provided that any person may inspect and obtain certified copies of the annual reports of the commission, the copies of finalized inquiry reports and any other document deemed to be a public one by the commis­sion for the purposes of the pro­posed ordinance.

Sources said, an attempt was made during the second tenure of the Pakistan People's Party's government in mid-1990s to regulate the working of the NGOs, but it was stifled in view of opposition received from the civil society organisations.  

The News

ISLAMABAD: There is an utmost need to become self-reliant through instituting indigenous philanthropy as a social practice instead of depending on foreign aid, Dr Shams Kassim Lakha, chairman of the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP), has said.

He was addressing a select group of international develop­ment partners concerning the pre­sent regulatory framework gov­erning civil society organisations.

The PCP, governed by a board of directors, is an autonomous, in­dependent, not for profit support organisation aiming to undertake a range of activities including research, training, advocacy, policy analysis, publications and technical support with the major objective of enhancing philanthropy in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Centre for Phi­lanthropy has been commissioned by the government to review all the laws governing civil society organisations to propose recom­mendations in the form of draft law in July 2002 with a view to create an enabling environment for the civil society sector.

The PCP has developed the en­abling environment initiative (EEl) which includes a range of activities aimed at strengthening the role of civil society in pur­suance of a memorandum of un­derstanding between PCP and Ministry of Social Welfare to under take a study and consulta­tion process to produce an enabling regulatory and fiscal framework for civil society organizations organisations operating in public interest.

Ms Shahnaz Wazir Ali, execu­tive director of PCP, elaborated the exercise of EEl held in the four provinces and in the capital as well. Recommendations will be formally made available to a na­tional audience of key opinion leaders in Islamabad early next month and will be presented to the government in July.

Among the participants of the international development part­ners meeting were Ambassador European Union Kurt Juul, Resi­dent Representative of the World Bank John Wall, Chairman of NRSP Shoaib Sultan Khan, David Eminson of Voluntary Support Organisation, representative of ADB and other relevant members of the civil society.

Daily Dawn

KARACHI: Former Sindh governor Justice (retd) Fakbruddin G. Ebrahim has stressed the need for establishing an autonomous body to register, monitor and regulate the civil society organisations in the coun­try.

He was speaking as a chief guest at a lecture on "Regulating Civil Society: Balancing integrity and Independence - Persp­ective from Commonwealth", organized by the NGO Resource Centre of the Aga Khan Foundation on Thursday.

He said though there were laws governing the working of civil society organisations, they were rarely implemented. He said all the charity organisations had to submit their audited records, but very few submitted and that also the audit was not done properly.

He suggested that it was high time that an autonomous body was set up to register, monitor and regulate the civil society organisations.

He said that with effective screening, the few black sheep would be exposed and only the good organisations would remain in the field doing the good work.

He said that there was no shortage of charity money in the country the only requirement was a good cause, sincerity and transparent working. Once the credibility was established, people come themselves to donate money.

He said there were a large number of people who were doing good work individually that was helping individuals and it was necessary that good work be done collectively so that more and more people could benefit from it permanently.

He said that during his tenure as governorship, he came across a beautiful building, which was a home for the poor where inmates were provided free food and clothing besides skill devel­opment facilities so that they could earn a respectable liveli­hood.

But the home remained vacant for a long time and even when the beggars were picked up from streets and lodged in it, they ran away. The simple reason was that they made more money begging on streets than they could after getting the skills at the poor home.

Earlier, the former Chief Commissioner of the Charity Commission of England and Wales, Richard Fries, gave a detailed lecture about the work­ing of the Charity Commission that was autonomous, its chief was selected by the home minis­ter through a long transparent process, and who submitted its report through the minister to the parliament.

He said the commission, despite being a government department, was a non-ministerial entity that received its finances from the treasury yet enjoyed the powers bestowed upon by the Charities Act. The Charities Commission in the UK was answerable only to the courts and not to the govern­ment.

He said commission registered the civil society organizations, monitored their working and if suspected any irregularities, carried out investigations, and in extreme cases even could remove the trustees, and appoint a manager for the interim period till the new trustees took over.

He said sometimes people sus­pected of malpractice but, in fact, these could be incompe­tence, so a clear distinction needs to be made.

He said one of the main func­tions of the commission was also to do capacity building of the civil society organisations so that they could carry out their good work efficiently.

Mr. Fries said with the holding of consultative meetings at dif­ferent level, a mechanism could be developed to ensure trans­parency and efficiency.

Director of NGO Enhancement Programme of the Aga Khan Foundation David Bonbright, and Qadeer Baig also spoke. A question answer session followed the lectures.  

The News

ISLAMABAD: Existing laws are being reviewed to effectively regu­late the network of NGOs and pro­vide enabling environment to en­hance indigenous philanthropy in the country.

“Pakistan Centre for Philan­thropy [PCP] is preparing recom­mendations through transparent consultative process at provincial and federal level for new legislation or amendments in the existing laws to foster the role of Civil Society Organisations in the social struc­ture development," Shahnaz Wazir Ali, executive director of the Cen­tre, said here Monday.

 An earnest. endeavor of the centre along with the government is to mobilise additional resources  indigenously to trim the depen­dence on the foreign assistance to rope in the objectives of the social sector development.

According to a study conducted in 1998, she said around Rs. 72 bil­lion donation and charity are dished out every year in cash and kind including Rs. 34 billion alone in cash, adding this amount comes to two per cent of the GDP which if properly directed and chan­nelised, major objectives of the so­cial sector could be realised sans any foreign assistance.

A meeting on the consultative process at the federal level is being held on Wednesday while National Consultative Process meeting is scheduled to be held in May next. The legal drill will be completed by July next to submit the recommen­dations to the government for fur­ther action, she added.

The consultative process, she said will help produce consensus based enabling regulatory framework for Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and NGOs operating in the public interest. All the stakeholders from grassroots level to the top are being consulted and involved in carving out such mechanism, which would provide impetus to the role of these organisations the social structure development. She stated, adding, it was one of the top priorities of the present government.

The recommendations of the centre, she said will help the government to come up With new regime and mechanism to improve the role of NGOs and CSOa through supportive and facilitating environment. This organised move she hoped would also  enhance the efficiency and contribution of the organisations to the welfare of the people through social sector development programme.

The centre being non-funding organisation, she clarified would neither raise any fund nor provide funding to any organization the donations and charity are needed to be channelised in the right direction. Certain modifications are required in the legal frame work to channelise the social sector investment in the right directions

A memorandum of Understanding was inked between Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy and Ministry of  Women Development and Social Welfare in September last to check the anomalies in the existing laws governing the NGOs 'and CSOs and enhances their role in the society.- APP

Daily Balochistan Times

QUETTA: A consultative work­shop was held on Enabling Envi­ronment Initiative (EEl) under the aegis of Pakistan Centre for Phi­lanthropy (PCP) here at a local hotel on Wednesday.

It was aimed at facilitating policy makers and stakeholders to come up with consensus based legislation that helps create an en­abling environment for autonomy and growth of CSOs while pro­viding for a regulatory role of the state.

Objective behind holding the workshop was also to promote a consensus-based legislation for civil society organizations (CSOs) in the public interest and provide for a regulatory role of the state without compromising autonomy and independence of CSOs.

Participants of the workshop discussed certain issues pertaining to the registration of the CSOs, their financial aspects, be­sides making legislation for them, so that they could be used in better way for t