Who are NGOs
accountable to? This is a question often asked by many along
with the allegation that NGOs are self-appointed advocates
and unelected bodies claiming more space in the policy
discourse than what is rightfully due to them.
NGOs are
accountable to their membership; to their development
partners; to their auditors and government auditors where
their moneys come from government sources and so on. Most
importantly, they are accountable to the constituency which
they serve.
In order to
benchmark NGOs for good practices and norms Credibility
Alliance has been accrediting NGOs for many years through a
vigorous exercise. Credibility Alliance is a consortium of
voluntary organisations committed towards enhancing
accountability and transparency in the voluntary sector
through good governance.
Some of the NGOs
which have been accredited by Credibility Alliance include:
GiveIndia (Mumbai); HelpAge India (New Delhi); Partners in
Change (New Delhi); DISHA (New Delhi); Blind People's
Association (Ahmedabad).
The Jaipur-based
Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS International) has just
been granted accreditation by Credibility Alliance’s
Desirable Norms. The accreditation is valid for five years,
i.e. April 29, 2011 to April 28, 2016.
Established in
1983, CUTS International is an international NGO working out
of Jaipur, Chittorgarh, Kolkata in India; with affiliates in
Lusaka, Zambia; Nairobi, Kenya; Hanoi, Vietnam and Geneva,
Switzerland. Broadly, it works on trade, regulatory and
governance issues through the tools of research, advocacy
and networking.
Since its
establishment CUTS International has practiced a high
standard of transparency and accountability, which includes
putting all its financial statements and ‘projects under a
glance’ on its website at:
www.cuts-international.org.
Such transparency is a rare practice, even among NGOs.
For more details, please contact:
Rajeev D Mathur, Executive Director, CUTS
International,
+91(0)9829366116,
rdm@cuts.org |