NGO Forum

In apparent criticism of the Indian government’s crackdown on certain NGOs, US President Barack Obama said on Sunday that civil society groups that strengthen communities need to be supported and not “stifled”.

The US has been critical of the Indian government’s action against NGOs particularly Greenpeace which was barred from receiving foreign funds and whose registration was cancelled in September last. Washington had expressed worries about the “potentially chilling effects of such actions”. Obama made a reference to the civil society groups in the course of an interview to PTI while answering a question on his goals for the India-US relationship in the last year of his presidency.

By Toby Porter, Devex

For a sector that prides itself on innovation and change, is it time that we international nongovernmental organizations fundamentally revisited what it means — and what it takes —  to deliver our programs in the countries where we want to operate?

I became CEO of HelpAge International in late 2013. I joined from Save the Children, where my last major project had been to assist with the takeover of MERLIN. The decision of the MERLIN Board to call time on their organizational independence and seek a merger had a rather personal resonance for me — my first mission as a humanitarian worker had also been MERLIN’s first mission, a vaccination program in Nagorno Karabakh in 1993.

The World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations is an international organization uniting NGOs worldwide in the cause of advancing peace and global well-being. WANGO helps to provide the mechanism and support needed for NGOs to connect, partner, share, inspire, and multiply their contributions to solve humanity’s basic problems.

WANGO has posted an online NGO world wide directory, which is available here.  You can click on the region on the map, or click on the region name below the map, to list organizations.

NEW DELHI: Recent changes to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRA) empower the government to get details instantly about the accounts of non-governmental organisations whenever they receive foreign contributions or utilise the money. According to the home ministry: “All FCRA designated bank accounts and utilisation accounts will have to be brought on the online platforms of Public Finance Management Services ( PFMS) of the Ministry of Finance.”

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By Gareth Willmer, DevexImpact

Global tech players such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft are touting a plethora of options to break down the digital divide, from a new wave of higher-throughput satellites to Internet balloons and drones.

An array of initiatives in individual countries means there is some uncertainty among the global development community on how the mix of technologies will ultimately look in developing regions.

How this all pans out is of crucial importance for nongovernmental organizations and the donors that support them — and there are a number of ways they can give themselves a voice and help drive a desirable outcome.