It is easier said than done, so the saying goes. Most Civil Society Organisations are in the forefront engaging Government to be transparent and accountable as well as expecting to be exemplary in adhering to good standards of Good Governance. But the question which remains unanswered and hanging is whether these CSOs observe Good Governance in their Organisations or just mere rhetoric and finger pointing at others without checking themselves first.

In trying to address this, members of Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi CONGOMA decided to come up with a self-regulation tool for them to adhere to Good Governance values and practices. This tool, called the NGO Governance Charter was adopted in 2015 during CONGOMA Annual General Assembly with an aim of providing a framework and system of assessing where NGOs stand as regards to good Governance issues at the same time putting the NGOs’ house in order before pointing fingers at others.

Although the NGO Governance Charter was adopted, implementing it has been a challenge as there was a need for a baseline to establish the starting level at which NGOs are in relation to the Charter. For instance, existence of a Board of Trustees, how often they meet, separation of powers between the Board and Management among others.

In achieving this, IM Swedish Development Partner intervened with support to enable CONGOMA reach out to its members to collect information and use it in the development of the baseline report. Successfully, CONGOMA managed to collect the information as 35 out of 600 NGOs had responded to the survey questionnaire. Going through the responses, it was noted that there are more gaps among NGOs in complying with good Governance standards. In most scenarios, NGOs lack functional Boards as founders of the Organisations just take over in driving day to day operations resulting in running the Organisations as personal entities.

When results for the Baseline report were shared to NGOs, more anxiety and enthusiasm were created among NGOs as many are now calling CONGOMA secretariat to request for necessary steps on how they can align themselves to good governance systems. In addition, a lot of NGOs are now requesting to fill the NGO Governance questionnaire so that they are not left behind.

With feedback obtained from the baseline report, CONGOMA is pleased that even before training some NGOs to address the gaps found, other NGOs are already on track as they already have good governance systems in place ,  following the NGO Governance Charter framework,  which makes it easier for CONGOMA to have less challenges in facilitating the adoption of the Charter.

CONGOMA also noted that it would be easier when facilitating training to the NGOs that are performing poorly as those that are doing better will be identified to train, coach and mentor others.

It is very pleasing to note that some NGOs are adhering to good practices. This goes beyond the normal paper work that they submit reports to regulating and coordinating bodies but rather practicing and conforming to Good Governance practices. One such notable organisation doing this is Good Neighbours International (GNI). The organisation implements Community Development Programmes on Child Sponsorship, Health, Education, Water & Sanitation and income generating activities in Lilongwe and Kasungu districts.

CONGOMA managed to touch base with officials from the organisation to shed more light on how they manage to comply with good Governance. This is what the Human Resources Officer, Halima Iddie said; “leadership style which we use is very different, we are democratic, we delegate tasks, issues are open for discussion and at the end of the day we come up with concrete solutions.  In addition, we constantly consult our Board of Trustees who meet once every quarter and are usually available when the organisation needs them”, clarified Iddie.

Iddie also added that GNI has functional Board where trustees are elected every four years who only serve for a term. According to Iddie, her organisation does not renew trustee’s tenure in office because they believe in incorporating new ideas for them to adapt with external forces.

Highlighting further, Iddie said GNI is Transparent enough not only to its members of staff but also to stakeholders working with on the ground who are aware of what the organisation is implementing.

Good Neighbours International was spotted to be one of the best Organisations performing well in issues of Good Governance after CONGOMA had sent a questionnaire to its members rating themselves how they are fairing on Governance issues. Having noted that GNI performed well, CONGOMA team had to verify by physically visiting the Institution and probe further.

Among the areas on Good Governance where GNI is performing better are; up to date strategic plan, organisation functional structure comprising of 5 Board of Trustees members which has 1 female, Separation of powers where the Board members are not officials working at the Secretariat and a functional Secretariat where managers are rotated to different departments as one way of promoting multi-tasking and be well conversant with activities taking place within the organisation.

CONGOMA is able to generate this knowledge and lessons because of financial support from IM Swedish Development Partner. In the long run when the Charter is fully implemented, best practices are shared, a lot of CONGOMA members will be complying with good Governance practices and enhance their people centred development results.