Jul
29

“Opinion: NGOs — here’s how to strengthen your engagement with governments By Tim Hanstad “

Editor’s Note: devex posted the above-titled article, which reads in part as follows:

“Large-scale social change rarely occurs without government playing a key role in policy change, policy implementation, or both. Consider China’s rural legal reforms in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, which helped hundreds of millions of farmers lift themselves from poverty; the 19th amendment in the United States, which allowed women to vote and fueled wider gains for women’s rights; or India’s launch of a unique digital identification system, which has allowed tens of millions of families to access government poverty alleviation programs and services.

Jul
22

“Listing of NGOs in social stock exchange will promote transparency: Sudha Murty”

Editor’s note: The Hindu posted the above-titled article, which reads in part as follows:

“The Union Budget proposal to set up a social stock exchange may do good to the country’s social entrepreneurship and social innovation landscape as public listings usually promote reliability, accountability and transparency, says Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty.

In a conversation with The Hindu, she said that though the country has been witnessing a mushrooming of NGOs and social enterprises, especially after the government made a 2% corporate social responsibility spend mandatory in 2014, there are no proper statistics available on who is doing what, the size of fund allocations, and actual deliveries on the ground.

Jul
15

“The strengths and failings of NGOs”

 

Editor’s note: Arun Maira wrote and The Hindu Business Line posted the above-titled article, which reads in part as follows:

“Citizen-led upsurges bring about change, but the gains are lost in sheer organisational dynamics. These need to be examined

Objections to Greenpeace’s strategies by Extinction Rebellion (XR), the environmental movement whose supporters occupied Greenpeace’s offices last year, as well as its own successes, highlight contrasts between the strategies of organisations and citizens’ movements. Loose citizens’ movements are often more effective as advocates for change.

Jul
04

“Switzerland spreads NGO funding to ‘increase competition’”

            Editor’s note: Swissinfo published the above-titled article, which reads as follows:

“The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) says it will spread its financial contributions to NGOs and umbrella groups to a wider array of organisations. Funding will be capped for individual NGOs to ‘help increase competition and boost innovation.’

In future the SDC external link will limit funding of individual NGO and umbrella group projects to CHF8 million ($8.1 million). This means that from 2021 ‘contributions to the international programmes of individual NGOs will be limited to 30%, while federal contributions to the international budgets of umbrella organisations, cantonal federations and NGO alliances will be capped at 40%,’ read an SDC statement external link on Tuesday.