Standardization of non-profit sector stressed by Pakistan Center of Philanthropy for NPO's credibility and good governance

Islamabad (December 21, 2007): Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Welfare today hosted an orientation workshop exclusively for the federal government officers on nonprofit organizations (NPO) Certification system. The center is headed by the Chair of UNESCO's special committee, Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali.

PCP was established in 2001 and is an independent nonprofit support organization. The Centre does not engage in direct philanthropy, instead it seeks to help others in their altruistic philanthropic efforts through encouragement and provision of systematic meaningful support services. PCP is the first and so far the only Government of Pakistan authorized NPO Certification agency.

Minister for Health, Government of Pakistan, Mr. Ejaz Rahim attended as chief guest and appreciated PCP’s unique role in promoting a system of evaluating NPOs on standardized parameters based on international best practices.

Executive Director of the Centre Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali highlighted the role of nonprofits in development and need for synergistic partnership between government and civil society. She termed certification as an institutional support mechanism for supplementing and promoting government’s agenda of good governance, transparency and accountability. Tax exemption by the government is a key incentive.

Explaining the unique and first ever NPO Certification system in South Asia, Mr. Eazaz Dar, Senior Programme Manager at Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, said “The Certification regime has met much acceptance and proved its efficacy and now is recognised as the single system that reinforces and promotes internal governance, financial transparency and programme delivery standards in nonprofit sector of Pakistan.” NPO certification not only creates sector wide standards but also promotes government agenda of strengthening civil society in terms of good governance, documentation, disclosure, financial transparency, accountability and effective service delivery. Till date, the Centre has granted 139 certificates of good NPO practices against 196 applications. This list is available on http://www.pcp.org.pk.

By
Saleem Toor
For
Pakistan Center of Philanthropy