2011 AGNA Regional Meeting of Asia
Montreal, 7-8 September 2011

Meeting ReportCopyrightc2010 CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
CIVICUS House
24 Gwigwi Mrwebi Street, Newtown 2001
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel: +27 (0) 11 833 5959 Fax: +27 (0) 11 833 7997
Website: http://civicus.org
Secretariat of AGNA Asia regional group
The Japan Association of Charitable Organizations
2-27-15, Hon-komagome, Bunkyo
Tokyo, 113-0021, Japan
Tel: +81 (3) 3945-1017 Fax: +81 (3) 3945-1267
Website: http://www.kohokyo.or.jp/english/eng_index.html
1Reflections on AGNA Asia Regional Meeting
7-8 September 2011, Montreal Canada
The AGNA Asia Regional Group held its Second regional meeting for 2011 at the Delta
Hotel Montreal, Canada, from September 7 to 8. Participants were Mr. Mohammad Alamfrom Afghan NGO Coordination Bureau, Afghanistan; Mr. Dala Rawal from NGO-Federation,
Nepal; Mr. Harsh Jaitli from VANI, India; Mr. Sixto Donato C. Macasaet from the CODE-NGO,
the Philippines; and Mr. Yoshiharu Shiraishi from JACO, Japan. We also invited Mr. David
Robinson and Mr. David Henderson from ANGOA, New Zealand; Mr. Oli Henman from NCVO,
UK as an observer and a presenter.
The aim of the meeting was to exchange and discuss about the importance of forming
network with partners across the world, the necessity of strengthening LTA and governanceand membership system of national umbrella organizations. On September 8, Mr. Oli
Henman from NCVO made a 30 minute presentation on membership system and all theparticipants felt that the idea and concept of NCVO regarding membership system was quite
interesting and useful for national umbrella organizations.
In 2011, Mr. Dala Rawal from NGO Federation of Nepal assumed the one-year presidencyof Asia regional meeting, and Mr. Mohammad Alam from Afghan NGO Coordination Bureau
was elected to be a chair of next 3rd regional meeting of Asia at the 2nd regional meeting.
On September 8 and 9, 2012, the Asia regional group is planning to hold a 3rd regional
meeting in Toronto, Canada. Main themes of this meeting will be as follows.
1. Advocacy campaign by national umbrella organizations
2. Fundraising done by national umbrella organizations
3. A role of national umbrella organizations
For more information on the Asia regional group, please get in touch with Yoshiharu
Shiraishi on shiraishi@kohokyo.or.jp.
This time, we prepared a meeting report to share information what presentation wemade at the 2nd regional meeting held in Montreal last year. I appreciate very much thesupport from AGNA members and AGNA itself.

Yoshiharu Shiraishi
Research associate of the Japan Association of Charitable Organizations
Secretariat of AGNA Asia regional group2

Programme of Activities for 2011 AGNA Regional Meeting of Asia
7-8 September 2011: Montreal, Canada
Day 1: Tuesday 6 September (Montreal)
Place: Delta Hotel Montreal (475 Avenue du Président Kennedy, Montreal)
10:00-10:05 Opening, agenda, logistical announcement (Mr. Yoshiharu Shiraishi, JACO)
10:05-10:10 Welcome speech (Mr. Dala Rawal, a chair of 2nd AGNA regional meeting of Asia)
10:10-11:00 About Open Regional Meeting of Asia operated by CIVICUS
11:10-12:00 Session 1: Forming network with partners across the world
11:10-11:20 P1 Mr. Harsh Jaitli (India)
11:20-11:30 P2 Mr. Yoshiharu Shiraishi (Japan)
11:30-11:40 P3 Mr. Dala Rawal (Nepal)
11:40-11:50 P4 Mr. Sixto Donato C Macasaet (Philippines)
11:50-12:00 P5 Mr. Mohammad Alam (Afghanistan)
12:00-13:30 Lunch
13:30-15:15 Session 1: Forming network with partners across the world (Continue)
13:30-14:30 Q&A from presentations
14:30-14:40 Using CSO database portal as a tool to make regional network active
14:40-15:30 Strategies of AGNA-Asia network
15:30-15:45 Coffee Break
15:45-17:25 Session 1: Forming network with partners across the world (Continue)
15:45-17:25 Discussion
17:25-17:30 Logistical announcement (Mr. Yoshiharu Shiraishi, JACO)

Delegates are presenting on their membership system(Delta Hotel Montreal)3Day 2: Thursday 8 September (Montreal)
Place: Meeting room at Delta Hotel
10:00-10:10 Minutes of yesterday’s meeting by Mr. Dala
10:10-11:00 Asia Regional Group General Meeting
10:10-10:40 3rd Asia Regional Meeting
10:40-11:10 Open Regional Group – Themes of Small Group Working
11:10-11:20 Coffee Break
11:20-12:30 Session 2: The situation of CSO legal environment in Asia
11:20-11:30 Orientation of joint meeting (Mr. David Robinson)
11:30-11:40 P1 Mr. Harsh Jaitli (India)
11:40-11:50 P2 Mr. Yoshiharu Shiraishi (Japan)
11:50-12:00 P3 Mr. Dala Rawal (Nepal)
12:00-12:10 P4 Mr. Sixto Donato C Macasaet (Philippines)
12:10-12:20 P5 Mr. Mohammad Nasib (Afghanistan)
12:20-13:00 Legal environment in other Asian countries (Mr. David Robinson)
13:00-14:30 Lunch
14:30-15:30 Session 2: Current situation of CSO legal environment in Asia (Continue)
14:30-15:20 Discussion
15:20-15:30 Concluding
15:30-15:40 Coffee Break
15:40-17:55 Session 3: Membership system
15:40-15:50 P1 Mr. Harsh Jaitli (India)
15:50-16:00 P2 Mr. Yoshiharu Shiraishi (Japan)
16:00-16:10 P3 Mr. Dala Rawal (Nepal)
16:10-16:20 P4 Mr. Sixto Donato C Macasaet (Philippines)
16:20-12:30 P5 Mr. Mohammad Nasib (Afghanistan)
16:30-17:00 NCVO membership system (Mr. Oli Henman, NCVO)
17:00-17:20 Q&A
17:20-17:25 Closing (Mr. Dala Rawal, a chair of 2nd AGNA regional meeting of Asia)
17:25-17:30 Logistical announcement (Mr. Yoshiharu Shiraishi, JACO)

4

2nd Asia Regional Meeting ParticipantsParticipants from Asia Regional Group
1. Afghanistan
Afghan NGO Coordination Bureau
Mr. Mohammad Alam <mohdalam2@yahoo.com>
2. India
Voluntary Action Network India
Mr. Harsh Jaitli <harsh@vaniindia.org>
3. Japan
The Japan Association of Charitable Organisations
Mr. Yoshiharu Shiraishi <shiraishi@kohokyo.or.jp>
4. Nepal
NGO Federation of Nepal
Mr. Dala Rawal <dalarawal@gmail.com>
5. Philippines
Caucus of Development NGO Networks
Mr. Sixto Donato C Macasaet <scmacasaet@code-ngo.org>
Guest Speaker & Observer
6. New Zealand ANGOA - the Association of NGOs of Aotearoa
Mr. Dave Henderson <dave.henderson@angoa.org.nz>
7. New Zealand International Center for Not-for Profit Law (ICNL)
Mr. David Robinson <davidjrobinson@xtra.co.nz>
8. United Kingdom National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Mr. Oli Henman < Oliver.Henman@ncvo-vol.org.uk >2nd Asia Regional Meeting Participants(Delta Hotel Montreal)5

Table of Contents
1. The Philippines
1-1 International networking experience of CODE-NGO
1-2 Legal environment for CSOs in the Philippines
1-3 Membership system of CODE-NGO – Philippines

7
11
17

2. Japan
2-1 Forming network with partners across the world
2-2 Current situation of CSO legal environment in Japan
2-3 JACO membership system

22
26
38

3. India
3-1 Networking for enabling environment: VANI’s experience
3-2 Current issues: regulatory environment in India
3-3 Membership of VANI

40
43
45

4. Nepal
4-1 Forming network with partners across the world: NFN’s experience
4-2 The situation of CSO legal environment in Nepal
4-3 Membership system of NGO Federation of Nepal

49
50
51

5. Presentation by NCVO

54

6

1. The Philippines
By Sixto Donato C. Macasaet
Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO)

1-1 International Networking Experience of CODE-NGO
The four parts of this presentation on the international networking experience of
CODE-NGO are:1) International CSO Networks in the Country2) Importance of International Networking3) International Networks of CODE-NGO
4) Challenges for International Networking.
1) International Networks in the Philippines (Slide 3-4)
The Philippines is a center for many Southeast Asian regional networks. Bangkok
and Manila are the usual locations of the secretariats of SE Asian and even Asian
regional networks of civil society organizations (CSOs). Some examples of CSO networks
based in Manila are the Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in
Rural Areas (AsiaDHRRA), Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development(AFA), Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC), NGO
Forum on the Asian Development Bank and Asian Women in Cooperative Development
Forum (AWCF).
It is often said that the many regional networks choose Manila for its central officebecause of the vibrant, experienced and skilled CSO sector plus its geographical locationin the center of SE Asia and East Asia, its English speaking population and the ease ofregistering CSO in the country.
2) Importance of International Networking for CODE-NGO (Slide 5)
In the current strategic plan of CODE-NGO (2007-2012), we have included theimportant role of international networking for the twin roles of CODE-NGO – thecapacity building of its member networks and their base organizations and its advocacy
work. CODE-NGO acknowledges that international CSO networks are important venues
for learning from other CSOs in other countries and also for sharing with theseorganizations the experiences, tools, materials and lessons learned from development
work of CSOs in the country.
CODE-NGO also sees the crucial roles of international CSO networks in advocacy
work on many issues and concerns that affect various countries or even the whole world.
These international concerns include, among others, aid and development effectiveness,7

climate change and other environmental concerns, trade and development, andmulti-lateral bodies like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), United
Nations, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
3) International Networks of CODE-NGO (Slide 6-9)
CODE-NGO is currently a member of the Affinity Group of National Associations(AGNA) and the Civicus World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the National Platforms
Coalition of Asia (NPC Asia) and the Philippines – Japan NGO Partnership (PJP).
While both capacity building and advocacy are concerns of all these international
networks, CODE-NGO’s involvement in AGNA and Civicus has so far focused on capacity
building. In the past, CODE-NGO has actively engaged in various discussions andworkshops within AGNA aimed at improving CSO legitimacy, transparency andaccountability (LTA) and CSO network governance and management, including the LTA
Guide of Civicus and the Resource Manual for National Associations of AGNA.
CODE-NGO was also the national coordinating organization for the implementation of
the Civil Society Index (CSI) for the Philippines in 2009-2010.
On the other hand, CODE-NGO’s participation in NPC Asia has so far focused on
advocacy, particularly on international civil society diplomacy and on aid anddevelopment effectiveness.
The Philippines – Japan NGO Partnership (PJP) is actually a Philippine-based network,
but its membership is composed both of Philippine CSOs and Japanese CSOs with officeand operations in the country. PJP also works closely with the Japan Philippine NGO
Network (JPN), a Japan-based network of CSOs with operations in the Philippines orsupporting Philippine CSOs. PJP is focused on promoting Philippine – Japan NGO
partnerships and advocacy for reforms in Japan’s official development aid to thePhilippines.
4) Challenges for International Networking of CODE-NGO (Slide 10)
As already discussed, CODE-NGO appreciates the importance of international
networking for its goals and roles as a national CSO network. However, it is also very
aware that international networking comes with difficulties. The two most important
challenges for CODE-NGO’s international networking are Limited time and resources
As with most CSOs, CODE-NGO has limited human and financial resources and isalready heavily burdened by the demands from its sub-national and national concerns in
the country. This leaves very limited time and other resources to attend tointernational networking.
Disconnect between the work of regional/international networks and local CSOs andnational networks
In many instances, the connection between the regional and international CSO
8

networks, especially in their advocacy, and the day-to-day concerns of most local CSOs
and national CSO networks is not readily apparent. While there may be an intellectual
appreciation of the links between such international advocacy and the on-the-groundconcerns of the local and national CSOs, these links are usually not easily translated into
the everyday work of the local CSOs and national CSO networks. The situation is nothelped by the fact that many international CSO networks also suffer from limited
resources and can focus only on their international concerns (e.g. advocacy withmulti-lateral bodies) to the detriment of ensuring that their work at the international
level is informed and strengthened by and benefits the local CSOs and national
networks.
These challenges are not insurmountable. International and national CSO networks
working together and mutually supporting each other can certainly overcome theseconcerns and make development work more effective both at the national andinternational levels.
Outline of presentation
International
Networking

1) International Networks in theCountry2) Importance of Int’l Networking3) Int’l Networks of CODE-NGO
4) Challenges for International
Networking

By: Sixdon C. Macasaet
CODE-NGO, Philippines
AGNA Asia Regional Meeting
7-8 September 2011, Montreal

Slide 1

Slide 2

Philippines: A Center for SE
Asian Regional Networks

Philippines: A Center for SE
Asian Regional Networks-Bangkok and Manila are the usualbase of SE Asian and even AsianRegional CSO Networks-In Manila, some examples:

Some Reasons for this:-geographical location-English speakers-Philippine CSOs: vibrant,
experienced, skilled-ease of registering CSOs

-AsiaDHRRA-AFA-ANGOC-NGO Forum on the ADB-AWCF

Slide 3Slide 49

Importance of International
Networking

International Networks of
CODE-NGOFor CODE-NGO
1) AGNA and Civicusa) Capacity building: learning fromothers, and also sharing withothers2) National Platforms Coalition of Asia
(NPC Asia)
3) Japan-Philippine NGO Partnerships– JPN and PJPb) Advocacy: shared advocacy oninternational concerns (e.g.
Aid/Development Effectiveness)

Slide 5Slide 6

International Networks of
CODE-NGOInternational Networks of
CODE-NGO

1) AGNA and Civicus

2) National Platforms Coalition of Asia
(NPC Asia)-focused on capacity building(LTA Guide, Resource Manual for
National Associations, Civil
Society Index, etc.)-focused on advocacy: international
civil society diplomacy/ aid anddevelopment effectiveness

Slide 7

Slide 8
Challenges for International
Networking of CODE-NGO

International Networks of
CODE-NGO
3) Philippines – Japan NGO
Partnership Network (PJP) andJapan Philippine NGO Network(JPN)a) Limited time and resources – heavy
workload/ demands fromlocal/national concerns-focused on promoting Philippine –Japan NGO partnerships andadvocacy for reforms in Japanese
ODA to the Philippinesb) “Disconnect” between the work ofregional/international networks andlocal CSOs /national networks(esp. on advocacy)Slide 9Slide 1010

1-2 Legal Environment for CSOs in the Philippines
This presentation on the legal environment for civil society organizations (CSOs) in
the Philippines will have four main parts:
1) Major Laws on CSOs
2) Registration and Regulation of CSOs
3) Support for CSOs
4) Problem Areas for CSOs
1) Major Laws on CSOs (Slide 3-5)
There are many laws in the Philippines that affect civil society organizations (CSOs),
defined as non-government and non-profit organizations, and which includes what in
the country are called people’s organizations (membership organizations that are often
based on sectoral groupings, geographical area, common causes or issues), development
non-government organizations or NGOs which provide services to non-members, often
to POs, cooperatives, and coalitions, federations, alliances or networks of such POs,
NGOs and cooperatives.
These laws regulate CSOs and/or support and recognize these organizations,
including their participation in governance and decision-making by government bodies.
The country’s Constitution was ratified in 1987 and born out of the 1986 “People
Power Revolution” which ousted President Ferdinand Marcos and ended his martial law
regime. It is thus not surprising that this “People Power Constitution” provides that theState shall encourage CSOs and respect their role to enable the people to pursue theirlegitimate and collective interests and shall not abridge the right of the people and theirorganizations to participate in decision making at all levels. (See in particular Article II,
Section 23 and Article III, Sections 15 and 16.)
In line with this Constitutional mandate, there are various laws that recognize CSOs
and their participation in governance and decision making. Among the most importantones are the Local Government Code of 1991 and the Social Reform and Poverty
Alleviation Act of 1997.
The Local Government Code (LGC), which governs the local governments units in the
country (provinces, municipalities, cities and barangays or villages), provides for theparticipation of CSOs in local government planning and in the delivery of social services.
The LGC created the local development councils, which play a role in local planning, andprovides that while it is composed of various government officials including thegovernors and mayors, not less than 25% of the membership of each council must comefrom CSOs. The LGC also provides for the formation of other local special bodies,including local health boards and local school boards, all of which must also have CSO
members.
The Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act created the National Anti-Poverty
11

Commission (NAPC). The NAPC is a coordinating and oversight body headed by the
President and composed of the heads of 14 major government agencies, the presidents
of local government leagues, and 14 “basic sector representatives”. These 14 sector
representatives, which include, among others, farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples,labor and migrant workers, informal sector workers, urban poor, youth, women,cooperatives and persons with disabilities, are elected by and accountable to assemblies
of sectoral CSOs and their elected sectoral councils.
Then there are laws that provide for the registration and regulation of civil society
organizations. There are four major laws providing for the registration and regulationof various types of organizations. These are the (a) Corporation Code for non-stock andnon-profit corporations (and also stock and for-profit corporations), (b) Labor Code forworkers’ associations and trade unions and federations, (c) Cooperative Code for various
types of cooperatives, and d) Magna Carta of Homeowners and Homeowners’
Associations for homeowners’ associations.
2) Registration and Regulation of CSOs (Slide 6-9)
Registration is not required for all CSOs, and many organizations exist for a long time
without ever being registered at any government agency. However, registration isrequired for a CSO to gain legal personality and to be able to enter into contracts andopen bank accounts in its own name.
Corresponding to the four laws mentioned above, there are four government
agencies that register and regulate various types of CSOs – the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) for non-stock and non-profit corporations, the Bureau of Labor
Relations – Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for workers’ associations andtrade unions and federations, Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) for
cooperatives and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) for homeowners’
associations (HOAs). Many people’s organizations and development NGOs registerwith the SEC as non-stock and non-profit corporations. On the other hand, many urban
poor organizations register as HOAs with the HLURB.
As of the latest figures from these government agencies, there are around 172,000
registered CSOs in the country, broken down as follows a) non-stock and non-profits registered with the SEC: 125,000 (2011)b) workers’ associations and trade unions/federations registered with DOLE: 17,000(2008)c) cooperatives registered with CDA: 25,000 (2011)d) HOAs registered with HLURB: 5,000 (2008)
Registered CSOs are required to submit annual reports, including audited financial
statements, to their registration agency. These agencies may also investigate CSOs
which violate any law or regulation and impose penalties or revoke the registration oferring CSOs.
12

In addition to the primary registration and regulation by these government agencies,
most other major government agencies require secondary registration and/or licensingof CSOs that perform specialized functions. Thus, for example, CSOs that operateschools need to be also licensed by the Department of Education, those that have clinics
or hospitals need to be licensed by the Department of Health and those that operateorphanages and residences abused women and children must get a license from the
Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Moreover, CSOs that wish to participate in governance bodies and/or partner withgovernment’s programs/projects musk seek “accreditation” with the concerned
government agencies or local government units.
It must also be mentioned here that, in the Philippines, aside from government
regulation of CSOs, there is also a self-regulatory body of the CSO sector that isrecognized by the government - the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC).
PCNC was established in 1998 by CODE-NGO and 5 other major NGO coalitions in the
country. The Bureau of Internal Revenue, the government’s tax collection agency, hassince 1998 required CSOs applying for “donee institution” status (which entitles a CSO to
exemption from the donor’s tax)) to first obtain a certification from the PCNC. Thispartnership between the government and the civil society sector was done to preventthe abuse of this tax incentive given to CSOs and also to promote accountability andgood governance among CSOs.
3) Support for CSOs (Slide 10)
As may be seen from the discussion above, the legal environment for CSOs in the
country is supportive of CSOs. The Constitution and various laws recognize, respect andsupport CSOs and their role in society. There are also many mechanisms for CSO
participation in governance, including membership or representation in governancebodies, government consultations with CSOs and others.
The registration of CSOs is also relatively easy, especially for urban centers, with the
SEC even providing pro-forma Articles of Incorporation and Organizational By-laws andan “express lane” for organizations registering which use these.
Since the 1986 People Power Revolution ended the martial law regime, thegovernment has always maintained some openness to civil society. However, beliefs
and practices of those in power, the prevailing political conditions, and the positioning of
CSOs viz the incumbent political leaders and other factors influence how big or small the
opening for CSOs is. The administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
had been quite antagonistic to CSOs, especially after allegations that she employedelectoral fraud to win in the presidential election surfaced in 2005, and many CSOs
joined calls for her to resign. The government under the new President Benigno S.
Aquino, who was elected in May 20102, has become more transparent and open to CSO
participation.
134) Problem Areas for CSOs (Slide 11-12)
While the legal environment is supportive of CSOs, there remain many problem
areas. Many of the legally mandated mechanisms and processes for CSO participation
are not fully implemented by government. There is often merely token compliance,lacking in substantive fulfilment of the intent of the laws. For example, many of therequired local development councils do not meet regularly and/or are composed only of
CSOs which are friendly to the local chief executives.
Also, many officials in the bureaucracy and police/ military remain suspicious of andantagonistic towards CSOs, accusing them of being linked to insurgents or, at best, being
nuisances who always complain and make their work harder for them.
Finally, government regulators of CSOs, except for the Cooperative Development
Authority, are not able to regulate and oversee CSOs appropriately and effectively andself-regulation by CSOs (e.g. PCNC) does not cover a substantial number of organizations.
The government regulators lack the human and financial resources, especially the SEC
which is also responsible for the stock and for-profit corporations, which it prioritizes
based on the larger assets and greater effect on the economy and society of these
corporations. This weak regulation of CSOs leads to intermittent “CSO scandals” such asa much publicized scandal a few years back involving a government fertilizer distribution
project where overpriced fertilizers were allegedly given by the Department ofAgriculture through several NGOs. This regulatory weakness, if not addressed, could
erode public trust in CSOs.
There are efforts by both the CSO sector and the government to address these
problem areas, and these need to be continued and strengthened in the coming years.

14

Outline of the Presentation

Legal Environment for CSOs Philippines

1) Major Laws on CSOs
2) Registration and Regulation of CSOs

-S. C. Macasaet
CODE-NGO

3) Support for CSOs

AGNA Asia Regional Meeting
7-8 Sept 2011, Montreal

4) Problem Areas for CSOs

Slide 1

Slide 2Major Laws on CSOs

Major Laws on CSOs
2) Laws that Recognize CSOs and their
Participation in Governance/ Decision Making

1) 1987 (People Power) Constitution:-the State shall encourage CSOs
-the State shall respect the role of CSOs toenable the people to pursue their legitimate
and collective interests-Local Government Code (1991): CSO
membership in Local Development Council andSpecial Bodies (e.g. Local School Boards, Local
Health Boards, etc)-the right of the people and theirorganizations to participate in decision making
at all levels shall not be abridged-Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act(1997): 14 basic sectoral councils/ National Anti
Poverty Council

Slide 3Slide 4

Major Laws on CSOs

Registration and Regulation of CSOsa) Registration – not required for all CSOs; butneeded to gain legal personality

3) Laws that Regulate CSOsa) Corporation Code – non-stock and non-profit
corporationsb) Agencies that Register and Regulate CSOs
-Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)b) Labor Code – workers’ associations and tradeunions/federations-Bureau of Labor Relations – Department ofLabor and Employment (DOLE)c) Cooperative Code – cooperatives-Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)d) Magna Carta of Homeowners andHomeowners’ Associations – homeowners’
associations-Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board(HLURB)

Slide 5Slide 615

Registration and Regulation of CSOs

Registration and Regulation of CSOsc) Agencies that accredit/license CSOs** Number of Registered CSOs

-CDA: 25,000 (2011)-nearly all departments (Social Welfare andDevelopment, Agriculture, Agrarian Reform,
Education, Health, Environment and Natural
Resources, Public Works and Highways, Interiorand Local Government, etc)

-HLURB: 5,000 (2008)-Central Bank

-SEC:125,000 (2011)-DOLE: 17,000 (2008)-local government units (LGUs)

Slide 7

Slide 8

Registration and Regulation of CSOs

Support for CSOs
1) The Constitution and various laws are supportive of
CSOs and their role in societyd) CSO Certification

2) There are many mechanisms for CSO participationin governance – representation in governancebodies, consultations, etc-Philippine Council for NGO Certification(PCNC): self-regulation by the NGO/CSO sector
that is recognized by the government3) The registration of CSOs is relatively easy (esp. forurban centers)4) Since July 2010, with the new President, thegovernment has become more transparent and open
to CSO participation

Slide 9Slide 10

Problem Areas for CSOs

Problem Areas for CSOs

1) Many legally required mechanisms/processes
for CSO participation are not fully
implemented by government – “forcompliance only”, not substantive3) Government Regulators of CSOs, except for
CDA, are not able to regulate and oversee
CSOs appropriately and effectively and selfregulation by CSOs do not cover a substantial
number of organizations

2) Many officials in the bureaucracy and police/
military remain suspicious of and antagonistic
towards CSOs

-leads to intermittent “CSO scandals” which
erode public trust in CSOs

Slide 11

Slide 1216

1-3 Membership System of CODE-NGO – Philippines
This presentation on the membership system of the Caucus of Development NGO
Networks (CODE-NGO) will discuss these four topics 1) Profile of CODE-NGO Membership
2) Requirements for Membership
3) Rights and Responsibilities of Members
4) Strengths and Weaknesses of our Membership System
1) Membership Profile of CODE-NGO (Slide 3-5)The
directmembersof
CODE-NGO are 6 national and 6
sub-national CSO networks. These
12 networks have 1,600 affiliatedNGOs, people’s organizations andcooperatives.
The national networks havetheir particular types of member
CSOs and/or thematic concern.
The Philippine Partnership for theDevelopment of Human Resourcesin Rural Areas (PHILDHRRA) is
focused on agrarian reform,
sustainable and rural development,
the Partnership of Philippine
Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA)
is works on housing, urban land
reform and urban development,
and health, legal and other support
services for communities andsectors.
The National Council on Social
Development (NCSD) is a networkof CSOs with programs and services for children, women and families. The National
Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) is a federation of financial service and othertypes of cooperatives. The Association of Foundations (AF) brings together community,
family and corporate foundations. Finally, the Philippine Business for Social Progress(PBSP) is a business-based NGO with officers and partners in various partes of thecountry.
The 6 sub-national networks which are members of CODE-NGO are located in the17different parts of the country and their unity is based on their development agenda forand development work in that region of area.. Two networks are in Luzon, thenorthern part of the country – one near the northern tip of Luzon island and the other at
the Southern end). Then, there are three networks in the Visayas, the central part of
the Philippines , one each for the western, central and eastern part. There is also one
regional network for Mindanao, the Southern end of the Philippines.
2) Requirements for Membership in CODE-NGO (Slide 6)
In order to be accepted as a member of CODE-NGO, an organization must be aregional (multi-province) or national CSO network, whicha) is endorsed by at least one member networkb) agrees with and will support/abide by CODE-NGO’s vision-mission-goals, development
agenda for the Philippines and Code of Conduct.
3) Members’ Rights and Responsibilities (Slide 8-11)
The rights of member organizations of CODE-NGO are:1) To participate in the decision making/ governance of CODE-NGO
2) To benefit from the programs/ services of the network
3) To participate in the decision making/ governance (as a representative/s in the Board/
Sanggunian, and as representatives at the annual GAs and in the National Congress of
CODE-NGO, which is convened only once every 5years.
4) To benefit from the programs/ services of the network (e.g. training/capacity building,research, advocacy and occasional and modest financial support.
On the other hand, the basic responsibilities of CODE-NGO’s member include
1) To attend/ be active in CODE-NGO meetings/ activities, and
2) To support and abide by Board, GA and National Congress decisions.
4) Strengths and Weaknesses of our Membership System (Slide 12-13)
The weakness of having CSO networks as its members is that the “double layers”
between CODE-NGO and the CSOs on the ground means that CODE-NGO sometimes has
a “muted effect” on base organizations which are not its direct members. Also, on
occasion, we encounter “inefficiencies”/delays because we work thru and with ourmember networks.
The strengths or advantages of this organizational set-up include having clear lines ofrepresentation and communication. Also, with “subsidiarity” and mutual support
among the member networks, CODE-NGO as a “network of networks” is able to havegreater impact.

18

Outline of presentation
Membership System
of CODE-NGO

1) Profile of CODE-NGO
Membership
2) Requirements for Membership
3) Rights and Responsibilities ofMembers4) Strengths and Weaknesses of
our Membership System

By: Sixdon C. Macasaet
CODE-NGO, Philippines
AGNA Asia Regional Meeting
7-8 September 2011, Montreal

Slide 1

Slide 2

Membership Profile of
CODE-NGO

Membership Profile of
CODE-NGO-national networks have their
particular types of CSOs/ themes-direct members are 6 national and 6
sub-national CSO networks>agrarian reform and rural development>housing, urban land reform and urban
development-base organizations: 1,600 NGOs,
people’s organizations andcooperatives>children (and women)>financial service co-ops>community/family/corporate foundations>a business-based NGO

Slide 3Slide 4

Membership Profile of
CODE-NGO

Requirements for
Membership in CODE-NGO-sub-national
networks are in
the different partsof the country-must be a regional (multi-province) or
national CSO network-endorsed by at least one member
network-agrees and will support/abide by
CODE-NGO’s vision-missiongoals, development agenda for thePhilippines and Code of Conduct>2 in Luzon (Northernand Southern end)
>3 in Central
Philippines (Visayas)>1 in Southern
Philippines(Mindanao)

Slide 5Slide 619

Focus: Strengthening
Existing Member Networks

Members’ Rights andResponsibilities

In the past 10 years, we have notexpanded our membership.
The focus has been on consolidation/
strengthening.

BASIC RIGHTS
1) To participate in the decision
making/ governance of CODENGO

BUT we have worked in partnershipwith other CSO networks(environmental, human rights,
peace and development, etc)

2) To benefit from the programs/
services of the network

Slide 7

Slide 8

Members’ Rights andResponsibilities

Members’ Rights andResponsibilities

BASIC RIGHTSBASIC RIGHTS

1) To participate in the decision
making/ governance-representative/s in the Board-representatives in the annual GAs
and in the National Congress-required approval for major
positions/stands2) To benefit from the programs/
services of the network-training/capacity building-research-advocacy-(modest) financial support

Slide 9Slide 10

Members’ Rights andResponsibilities

Strengths and Weaknessesof our Membership System

BASIC RESPONSIBILITIESSTRENGTHS

1) To attend/ be active in CODE-NGO
meetings/ activities-as a “network of networks”, clear linesof representation andcommunication

2) To support and abide by Board, GA
and National Congress decisions-also, with “subsidiarity” and mutual
support among the member
networks, able to have greater
impactSlide 11

Slide 1220

Strengths and Weaknessesof our Membership System
WEAKNESSES

Salamat!
-sometimes, have “muted effect” onbase organizations and encounter“inefficiencies”/delays because wework thru and with our member
networks

Thank You!

Slide 13

Slide 1421

2. Japan
By Yoshiharu Shiraishi
The Japan Association of Charitable Organizations (JACO)

2-1 Forming network with partners across the world1) Major CSO groups in JapanThe aim of this presentation is to illustrate the basic outline of the current situationof umbrella organizations in Japan, how they form network at domestic and global level
and to introduce how JACO as an umbrella organization is carrying on the network
operation.
More than 10 types of CSO legal entities exist in Japan and major ones are indicatedon the slide 2. Recognition authority basically promotes the autonomy of CSO groups
and checks their operations by monitoring annual report to be filed every year. For those
CSO groups, a role of national umbrella organizations is important for their stable
operation. Some groups including religious corporation, private school corporation,
medical corporation and so on, recognition authorities support them directory to bewell-disciplined because the social influence of medical, education and religiousorganizations is quite large. From that reason, recognition authorities support thembecause national umbrella organizations of those legal entities have limitations to
support for their stable operation.
In case of Public Interest Corporation (PIC), General Non-profit Corporation (GNC),
Specified Non-profit Corporation (SNPC) and Approved SNPC, they are protected their
independency by law, and they are not regulated and controlled their day-to-day
business by governmental agencies that is a good sign. In fact it will be necessary tocreate umbrella organizations to take the role of protecting and supporting organizations,developing their governance, LTA (legitimacy, transparency and accountability), self
regulation and so on. If the CSO group has an environment to operate with free of
regulations, the needs of umbrella organizations always increase comparatively.
2) Major National umbrella organization in Japan
As you can see the slide 3, several umbrella organizations exist in Japan. JACO basicallysupport PICs and GNCs by providing many kinds of resources and also do advocacy
campaign, research and so on just like NCVO in the UK. Japan Foundation Center (JFC),
JACO’s sister organization, became independent from JACO a few decades ago andsupports mostly grant making foundations. Japan Philanthropic Association has a PIC
status and supporting and promoting philanthropic and CSR activities is their mission.
22

There are more umbrella organizations specializing in SNPC and the role of eachorganization is different. Japan NPO center provides comprehensive support to SNPCs,
Public Resource Center provides the knowledge of operation, best practice, governanceto SNPCs and operates the online donation system to the general public. Coalition for
Legislation to Support Citizen’s Organizations so called C’s is a professional body oncollecting voices from SNPCs and advocacy campaign is their main activity. Japan
Association of NGO International Corporation (JANIC) is a national umbrella organization
specializing in international cooperation.
Japan National Council of Social Welfare, a member of Office of the HighCommissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, supports social welfare
corporations at national level, and its subsidiary umbrella organizations also exist in 47
prefectures.
In Japan, however, the most of umbrella organizations have been slower to join global
network. However JACO, JANIC and Japan NPO Center have partnerships with othernetwork organizations outside Japan.
3) Partners in Japan and around the world
In case of JACO, we have several networks and partnerships at national andinternational level. At present, JACO has 1,650 organization members and most of them
are national associations or large organizations based in Japan. It will be more than
8,500 organizations in total if we take into consideration the fact that many members of
JACO, also are national umbrella organizations covering specified field of activities. PIC
commission in Cabinet Office is also our important partner due to operating joint
activities.
Regarding global network, CIVICUS-AGNA consisting of more than 70 countries is oneof the most important network for JACO to share variety of resources such as
information, experience, knowledge and skills with national umbrella organizations
around the world. GuideStar International consisting of more than 20 countries is also
important for JACO to have knowledge of several CSO database systems. NCVO locatedin London and Independent Sector located in Washington DC stand the most importantpartners to JACO. Additionally, CODE-NGO in the Philippines, CANGO in China, Imagine
Canada, The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organizations in Scotland, Council on
Foundations in the US, ANGOA in New Zealand, NGO Federation of Nepal, Voluntary
Action Network India, Nigeria Network of Non-governmental Organization, BoardSource
and ICNL in the US are also important partners for JACO in terms of information sharing.
We also have friendship with Canada Helps and GuideStar Korea and share information
regarding database system.
4) Partners in Japan
With partners and members in Japan, JACO does some activities such as information
23

exchange, joint research, advocacy campaign, legal/taxation/compliance/financial
committees and so on. At the same time, JACO provides several resources to members
such as information, knowledge and skills of operation, advices via consultation and soon.
With PIC Commission, JACO does joint seminar for PICs twice a month and research
activities based on their request. JACO also often advise them in terms of policy making
because JACO is the only one organization that can collect voices from PICs and GNCs.
From here onwards, it is clear that JACO is an important partner for PIC commission.
To create better CSO systematic environment and civil society sector, forming
partnerships with PICs, GNCs and PIC commission is not good enough. Therefore, JACO
also has several partnerships with other government agencies, various organizations
specialized in various fields and research institutions.
5) Network around the world
We have very strong relationship with NCVO and Independent Sector and we often
exchange information. Last March our guest researcher visited NCVO to attend annual
conference and had information exchange with NCVO. End of November 2011, JACO
invited president and CEO of Independent Sector, Ms Diana Aviv and had symposium andworkshop to discuss about the role of CSOs after the natural disaster occurred, and also
recent important issues on CSOs in the US and Japan.
At international level, JACO is an alliance member of AGNA. The alliance of AGNA isvery useful network for JACO to share many resources, information and experience on
LTA, capacity building, advocacy and other issues umbrella organizations facing atpresent. Regional groups and working groups operated by AGNA have direct and indirect
influence on civil society globally.
JACO is also enjoying information exchange on developing and operating CSO
database system with GuideStar partners. JACO also does information sharing with othernational umbrella organizations and research institutions abroad.
Domestic and global network is part of essential indispensable infrastructure oforganization and it could be a tool to exchange many kinds of resources. No informationis coming in if the network infrastructure is not prepared.

24

1

2nd Regional Meeting of Asia
Montreal, Canada
7th-8th September 2011

Major CSO groups in Japan
1. Public Interest Corporation (under the old civil code article 34)
2. Public Interest Corporation (that newly created on Dec. 2008)
3. General Non-profit Corporation (that newly created on Dec.
2008)
4. Approved Specified Non-profit Corporation
5. Medical Services Corporation
6. Private School Corporation
7. Religious Corporation
8. Social Welfare Corporation
9. The Relief and Rehabilitation Corporation

Forming network with partners
across the world- In case of Japan Yoshiharu Shiraishi
The Japan Association of Charitable Organizations

Slide 1

Slide 222

Major National umbrella organization in Japan

32

Partners in Japan and around the world■ Public Interest Corporation & General Non-profit Corporation- The Japan Association of Charitable Organizations (JACO)- Japan Foundation Center- Japan Philanthropic Association■ Qualified SNPC & Specified Non-profit Corporation- Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation- Japan NPO Center- NPO Support Center for Program Development- Public Resource Center- Support Citizen’s Organizations- NPO Support Centerand more national and regional umbrella organizations for SNPC exist■ Social Welfare Corporation- Japan National Council of Social Welfare
and 47 prefectural councils of social welfare exist

Network around the worldPartners in Japan

CIVICUS-AGNA

1,650 Members

GuideStar Network

7,000 PICs

Core Net: IS, NCVO

Other 16,000 PICs

OthersPIC Commission
JACO

Slide 3Slide 442

Partners in Japan

JACO

52

Network around the world

1,650 Members
7,000PICs-Information exchange-Joint research-advocacy campaign-operate 4 in-house committees, Etc…

JACO

AGNA
NOPODAS Asia

Information sharing on all kinds
CSO database operation

Other 18,000 PICs

Providing services

GuideStar Network

PIC Commission-joint seminar-Joint researchCore Network

business partner (NCVO, IS)

BoardSource

Information source

OthersInformation source

Slide 5

Information sharing on DB system

Slide 625

2-2 Current situation of CSO legal environment in Japan
Regarding CSO legal issues in Japan, several points can probably be raised. This time,
I will focus on one issue that the CSO legal system is quite confused due to the existenceof too many different types of legal entities.
Application procedures for initial registration and annual reporting form are also toomuch complicated and difficult for ordinary people who work for charitable andvoluntary organizations which I will mention at the end of this slide briefly.
1) Main legislation under which CSOs operate
CSOs in Japan are broadly-divided into more than 10 legal entities and each of themis regulated by different laws.
6 major legislations under which CSOs operate are indicated on slide number 1 and 2.
Public Interest Corporation (PIC) had been newly reformed in 2008 and PIC under the old
Article 34 of Civil Code is now under the transitional period. PICs must make decisions
about how they will shift their legal status by December 2013.
According to the questionnaire survey which JACO conducts every year, most of PICs
shift their legal status to new General Nonprofit Corporation (GNC) under the “Act onGeneral Incorporated Associations and General Incorporated Foundations” or new PIC
under the “Act on Authorization of Public Interest Incorporated Associations and Public
Interest Incorporated Foundations”. Very few PICs exceptionally dissolve itself and apply
for the other legal entities such as Social welfare Corporation, Specified Non-Profit
Corporation (SNPC) and so on.
GNC has been established in 2008 at the same time PIC reformed. Becoming GNC is
the first step towards applying for PIC authorization to enjoy the best tax treatment of all
the CSO sectors in Japan. To become GNC is the easiest way to receive CSO legal statuscompared with other CSO groups. Only registration at registry office is required.
Public Charitable Trust permitted by competent government agency is with theobjectives of worship, religion, charity, education, arts and crafts, and other purposes in
the public interest.
Specified Non-profit Corporation certificated by prefectural Government is
Not-for-profit entities whose activities include those in promotion of health, education,community development, arts, culture, sports, disaster relief, international cooperation,
administration of organizations engaging in these activities, etc. To receive better tax
treatment, it will be necessary for SNPC to apply for the authorization of prefectural
government for the approved SNPC status.
In addition to the legal entities as previously indicated, there are Special PICs that areorganized and registered pursuant to special laws developed after the world war secondin connection with the Article 34 of Civil Code. These CSO groups were independent
from PIC.
26

Social Welfare Corporation approved by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare wasestablished in 1951 with the objective of social welfare business.
Private School Corporation approved by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology was established in 1949 for the purpose of establishing a private
university, high school, junior high school, elementary school, Kindergarten and othereducational institution.
Religious Corporation certificated by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology was established in 1951 for the purpose of evangelizing, conducting
religious rites, and educating and nurturing believers.
Medical Business Corporation approved by the Ministry of Health, Labour andWelfare is an association or a foundation whose objectives are to establish a hospital or
clinic where doctors and dentists are regularly in attendance, or a facility for the healthand welfare for the elderly.
The Relief and Rehabilitation Corporation approved by the Ministry of Justice wasdesigned to address the rehabilitation of imprisoned criminals.
2) Japanese CSOs Basic Institutional Structure
The chart indicated on slide 4 shows you the basic institutional structure of Japanese
CSOs.
According to the chart on slide 4, more legal entities exist other than the legal
entities as mentioned before. Also, there are incorporated administrative agency,
government-affiliated public corporation, etc which are not on the chart but they are
more like governmental agencies.
This situation is probably a rare case comparing with legal systems in other countries.
JACO believes the structure of CSOs should be as simple as possible for the benefit of thegeneral public and the legal system also should be easy to understand for citizens like in
the UK, the US and so force.
3) The number of organizations
According to the table as indicated slide 5, the total number of CSO groups ofregistered organizations on the list, more than 337 thousand exist and of which religious
corporation accounts for more than a half of total registered CSOs.
Regarding growth rate of CSO groups, GNC is increasing rapidly and the number of
GNC increased by 4,030, comparing that of a year ago.
On the other hand, the number of PIC established under the Article 34 of Civil Codeis decreasing because they are now under the transitional period.
In CSO groups, there are such legal entities similar characteristically as PIC and SNPC.
I will introduce how similar their regulatory mechanisms, activities, characteristic oforganization, etc are from slide 7.
274) Registration process of PIC and SNPCIn case of PIC, organizations initially need to register at the registry office forestablishing GNC and they need to apply for the authorization of PIC commission for PIC
status. In case of Approved SNPC, organizations first need to be certified by prefectural
government and it will be required to apply for the authorization of prefectural
government for approved SNPC legal status. From here onwards, we can say that theregistration process for both PIC and SNPC are quite similar.
Charity category for PIC and non-profit category for SNPC as indicated on slide 8
through 11 are quite similar as well.
Here are the regulations and taxation system of PIC, Approved SNPC, and GNC andSNPC (see table 1 through 8). In case of PIC and approved SNPC, it shows you theevidence of some miner differences between them in terms of regulation and taxation
system but most of the items are similar. According to the table below, the regulatory
mechanisms and taxation system of GNC and SNPC are also similar.
Both GNC and SNPC are the first step to get CSO legal entity towards applying PIC
authorization and Approved SNPC authorization to receive better tax treatment.
Table 1 Regulation & taxation for PIC & Approved SNPC

Governing law

Public Interest Corporation

Approved SNPCAct on Authorization of Public Interest

Act

Incorporated Associations and Public

Non-profit Activities

on

PromotionofSpecifiedInterest Incorporated Foundations
Authority

PIC Commission

Prefectural Governor

Type

Association & Foundation

Prefectural Governor

Necessity of extending

Indefinite duration

Once every 5 years

Activities

22 indicated

20 indicated

Political activities

Prohibited

Prohibited

Profit making activities

Permitted to some extent

Permitted to some extent

Residuary

statusCy-pres doctrine (It must be used for

Cy-pres doctrine (It must be used for

distribution

assetsthe charitable activities)

the charitable activities)

The least number of

2 or more

10 or more

Qualification of(Association)(Association)members

Unfair qualification constraint

Unfair qualification constraint

Amount of endowment(Foundation)

Not applicable

members

3 million yen or more28

Decision-making body

Association：General Meeting

Association：General Meeting

Board of trustees

Board of trustees

Auditors (more than1)

Auditors (more than1)

Foundation: Board of Councilors
Board of trustees
Auditors (more than1)
Disclosure

Required

Required

Corporation income tax

No tax on earning from business for

No tax but impose a tax on 34 types ofpublic interest purposes.

profit earning business, related or not
related to charitable activities.

Withholding income tax

No taxTax imposition

1) 50% of gross income

50%* of gross income or 2million yen,

2) Total expenses for public interest

chose either larger one of the two.

activities*20% before 2011.

of interest etc.
DeemedContributions

would be capped at…

*chose either larger one of the two
Income/dividends

Not levied.

Not levied.

revenue Tax
Inheritance tax

No taxDonation Tax Benefit for

Donors

No taxdonors (private person)

deduction,canchooseieeither“deduction

tax
from

Donorscandeduction,chooseieeither“deduction

tax
from

income”, or tax credit, ie “deduction

income”, or tax credit, ie “deduction

from income tax”. If donors choose tax

from income tax”. If donors choose tax

deduction, they can deduct theirdeduction, they can deduct theirtaxable income up to 40% of total

taxable income up to 40% of total

income. If they choose tax credit, they

income. If they choose tax credit, they

can save their payable tax up to 25% of

can save their payable tax up to 25% ofincome tax and up to 10% ofincome tax and up to 10% ofprefectural and municipal tax.

prefectural and municipal tax.

Donation Tax Benefit forBedonors (Corporation)

treatment

given

preferential

taxation

Be

given

preferential

taxationtreatment to some extent

Table 2 Regulation for PIC (Association)
Public Interest Incorporated Association
PurposeTo promote and ensure suitable implementation of such activity conducted by the public
interest corporations and thereby to contribute to the promotion of the public interestand the realization of a vibrant society.

Accounting

Accounting for the Profit-Making Activities shall be separated from the accounting for theactivity for public interest purposes and shall be settled as a special account by the29respective Profit-Making Activities.
Establishment

General incorporated Association that operates the activity for public interest purposes
may be authorized for PIC legal status by PIC commission.
In the event that PIC commission approves that general incorporated association that hasapplied for the authorization under the preceding article conform to the Standards
attached herewith, that PIC commission shall grant public interest authorization for suchjuridical person.

Administration

The board of directors and auditor shall be requested. The board of directors shall becomposed of 3 or more directors. Accounting auditor shall or may be prepared conforming
to the laws.
The business of a specified nonprofit corporation shall be determined by majority vote ofthe directors, unless otherwise specified in the articles of incorporation. Supervisors shallperform the duties specified in each of the items attached herewith.
Director should hold the general meeting composed of the members at least one time
every year. Business operations should be decided by the general meeting except theitems entrusted to directors or the other organizations stipulated by the laws or thearticles of incorporation.

Table 3 Regulation for PIC (Foundation)
Public Interest Incorporated Foundation
PurposeTo promote and ensure suitable implementation of such activity conducted by the public
interest corporations and thereby to contribute to the promotion of the public interestand the realization of a vibrant society.

Accounting

Accounting for the Profit-Making Activities shall be separated from the accounting for thebusiness for public interest purposes and shall be settled as a special account by therespective Profit-Making Activities. Value of property to be contributed at theincorporation should be at least 3million yen or the equivalent.

Establishment

General incorporated Foundation that operates the activity for public interest purposes
may be authorized by PIC commission. In the event that PIC commission approves thatgeneral incorporated foundation that has applied for the authorization under thepreceding article conform to the standards attached herewith, that PIC commission shall
grant public interest authorization for such juridical person.

Administration

Public Interest Incorporated Foundation are requested to have the board of directors ,auditor and the board of councilors.
The board of directors and the board of councilors shall be composed of 3 or more
directors and councilors respectively.
Accounting auditor shall or may be prepared conforming to the laws.
The items decided by the board of councilors are restricted to the items stipulated in thislaw and the articles of incorporation .

30

The above items cannot be entrusted to the board of directors or the other organizations
stipulated by the articles of incorporation .
Table 4 Regulation for Approved SNPCApproved Specified Non-profit Corporation
PurposeTo promote the sound development of specified nonprofit activities(20 items including
promotion of human rights or promotion of peace in the form of volunteer and otheractivities freely performed by citizens to benefit societies.

Accounting

The account for other operations must be separated from the account for operations
relating to specified nonprofit activities.

Establishment

Specified Non-profit Corporation that operates the business for nonprofit purposes maybe
approved by prefectural government. In the event that the prefectural government
approves that specified nonprofit corporation that has applied for the authorization under
the preceding article conform to the standards that prefectural government shall grant
approved SNPC authorization for such juridical person.

Administration3

or more directors and 1 or more auditors as its officers. The directors shall represent a

specified nonprofit corporation in all the business thereof, with the proviso that theirpower of representation may be restricted by the articles of incorporation.
The business of a specified nonprofit corporation shall be determined by majority vote ofthe directors, unless otherwise specified in the articles of incorporation. Supervisors shallperform the duties specified in each of the items attached herewith.
Director should hold the general meeting composed of the members at least one time
every year. Business operations should be decided by the general meeting except theitems entrusted to directors or the other organizations stipulated by the articles ofincorporation.
Table 5 Regulation & taxation for GNC and SNPC
Governing law

General Non-profit Corp.

Specified Non-profit Corp.

Act

Act

on

General

Associations

Incorporated

andGeneralon

PromotionofSpecified

Non-profit Activities

Incorporated Foundations
Authority

Registry office

Prefectural Governor

Type

Association & Foundation

Association

Necessity of extending

Indefinite duration

Indefinite duration

Activities

unregulated

20 indicated

Political activities

Prohibited

Prohibited

Profit making activities

Unregulated

Permitted to some extent

Residuary

Cy-pres doctrine (It must be used for

Cy-pres doctrine (It must be used forstatusassets31

distribution

the charitable activities)

the charitable activities)

The least number

2 or more

10 or more

Special qualification to be permitted

Unfair qualification constraint

3 million yen or more

Not applicable

impose a tax on 34 types of profit

impose a tax on 34 types of profit

earning business, related or notearning business, related or not

related to charitable activities

related to charitable activities

No taxNo taxTax imposition

Tax imposition

Not levied.

Not levied.

Inheritance tax

Tax imposition

Tax imposition

Donation Tax deducted

Not available.

Theof members
Qualification ofmembers(association)
Amount of endowment(foundation)
Corporation income tax

Withholding income tax
of interest etc.
Deemedcontributions

would be capped at…
Income/dividends
revenue Tax

amountused

nonprofit

activities

obtained

from

for

specifiedfrom

assetsrevenue-generating

operations shall be deemed to be
donations and the percentage limit oftax

deductible

amountfor

said

donations shall be 20% of the profit.
Donation tax benefit for

Not available

Not available

donorsTable 6 Regulation for GNC (Association)
General Incorporated Association
PurposeNot stipulated, so that the relevant articles are not included, so that both profit and non
profit activities are allowed.

Accounting

The accounting for a General Incorporated Association shall be subject to the businessaccounting practice generally accepted as fair and appropriate.

Establishment

General Incorporated Association shall be established through registration of
establishment at the location of its main office. The relevant application for registrationof establishment conforms with the documents requested by the laws.

Administration

1 or more directors shall be requested. The board of directors, auditor and accounting
auditor may be prepared in accordance with the articles of incorporation.

32

The business of a specified nonprofit corporation shall be determined by majority vote ofthe directors, unless otherwise specified in the articles of incorporation. Supervisors shallperform the duties specified in each of the items attached herewith.
Director should hold the general meeting composed of the members at least one time
every year. Business operations should be decided by the general meeting except theitems entrusted to directors or the other organizations stipulated by the laws or thearticles of incorporation.
Table 7 Regulation for GNC (Foundation)
General Incorporated Foundation
PurposeNot stipulated, so that the relevant articles are not included, so that both profit and non
profit activities are allowed.

Accounting

The accounting for a General Incorporated Foundation shall be subject to the businessaccounting practice generally accepted as fair and appropriate. Value of property to becontributed at the incorporation should be at least 3million yen or the equivalent.

Establishment

General Incorporated Foundation shall be established through registration of
establishment at the location of its main office. The relevant application for registrationof establishment conforms with the documents requested by the laws.

Administration

General Incorporated Foundation are requested to have the board of directors, auditor
and the board of councilors. The board of directors and the board of councilors shall becomposed of 3 or more directors and councilors respectively.
Accounting auditor shall or may be prepared conforming to the laws. The items decided
by the board of councilors are restricted to the items stipulated in this law and thearticles of incorporation.
The above items can’t be entrusted to the board of directors or the other organizations
stipulated by the articles of incorporation .

Table 8 Regulation for SNPCSpecified Non-profit Corporation
PurposeTo promote the sound development of specified nonprofit activities(20 items including
promotion of human rights or promotion of peace in the form of volunteer and otheractivities freely performed by citizens to benefit societies.

Accounting

The account for other operations must be separated from the account for operations
relating to specified nonprofit activities.

Establishment

The authentication by the government agency is requested.
The relevant application for authentication conforms with the attached paper. SNPC shallbe established through registration of establishment at the location of its main office.

33

Administration

3 or more directors and 1 or more auditors as its officers. The directors shall represent a
specified nonprofit corporation in all the business thereof, with the proviso that theirpower of representation may be restricted by the articles of incorporation.
The business of a specified non-profit corporation shall be determined by majority voteof the directors, unless otherwise specified in the articles of incorporation. Supervisors
shall perform the duties specified in each of the items attached herewith.
Director should hold the general meeting composed of the members at least one time
every year. Business operations should be decided by the general meeting except theitems entrusted to directors or the other organizations stipulated by the articles ofincorporation.

According to the list of regulation and taxation of PIC, Approved SNPC and GNC,
SNPC, we can see some differences. For example PIC does not need to extend theirstatus but Approved SNPC need to extend their status every 5 years. Also, in case of PIC,
activities authorized as those for public interest purposes are exempt from taxation even
if they correspond to for-profit activities on a pro forma basis under the Corporate Tax
Law. In case of Approved SNPC, there is no tax, excepting a tax imposed on profit earningbusiness even it is related to charitable activities.
Although, as I mentioned before, SNPC is very similar to PIC in terms of regulatory
mechanisms, legal and taxation system as well as the activity what they do because theobjectives for both legal entities could do any activities for charitable purposes.
Therefore, the national government started to realize that it is necessary to put SNPC to
be involved with PIC systematic reform. But some sector professionals from SNPC were
not happy about the national government attitude because the position of PIC was moreclose to the national government (PIC is perfectly independent after the reform),
therefore they did some advocacy campaign regarding this matter. In fact theGovernment decided not to integrate SNPC in the PIC systematic reform even they look
like the same characteristically.
5) The size of expense and employees salary
It is also true that there are some differences between them in terms of the size oforganizations (Slide12). According to the average of their size of expenditure andnumber of employees, larger charitable and voluntary organizations tend to choose PIC
status but grass-root type of citizen groups and smaller associations tend to choose
SNPC status which is very interesting phenomenon.
6) The issues on CSO legal environment
In this presentation, I focused on one issue that we have in general but there are
more and more issues in each CSO group as you can see from the slide 13 and 14.
For example, it is too much complicated and rather difficult such as application34

procedures for initial registration and annual reporting form thereafter. In case ofgeneral registration procedures for PICs as shown on the slide 13, it is very hard for smallorganizations to prepare the written registration form. JACO pointed out such problems
not only the registration form but also the other legal issues and suggested PIC
Commission to improve procedures more speedy and flexible. In fact, the Commission
started to improve the process of authorization. Therefore the situation of PIC is getting
better.

1

2nd Regional Meeting of Asia
Montreal, Canada
7th-8th September 2011

Main legislation under which CSOs operate - 1
1. Public Interest Corporation = Civil Code Article 34 (Establishedin 1896), (Before the legal reform in 2008)
2. Public Interest Corporation = Act on Authorization of Public
Interest Incorporated Association and Public Interest
Incorporated Foundation (After the legal reform in 2008)
3. General Non-profit Corporation=Act on General Incorporated
Associations and General Incorporated Foundations(Established in 2008)
4. Public Charitable Trust=Trust Law (Established in 1923)
5. Specified Non-profit Corporation* = Act on Promotion ofSpecified Non-profit Activities (Established in 1998)

Current situation of CSO legal
environment in Japan

Yoshiharu Shiraishi
The Japan Association of Charitable Organizations* Specified Non-profit Corporation captures a better tax benefit if they areauthorized by Prefectural Government.

Slide 1

Slide 232

2Main legislation under which CSOs operate - 2

Non profit

Japanese CSOs Basic Institutional Structure

6. Special Public Interest Corporation*-Social Welfare Corporation = Social Welfare Business Law(Established in 1951)-Private School Corporation = Private School Law (Establishedin 1949)-Religious Corporation = Religious Corporation Law(Established in 1951)-Medical Services Corporation = Medical Corporation Law(Established in 1950)-Relief and Rehabilitation Corporation = Relief andRehabilitation Enterprise Law (Established in 1995)

Cooperative
Societies

General Non-profit
Corporation

Public Interest
Corporation

Small businesscooperative

Specified Non-profit
Corporation

Approved
SNPC

Consumers‘
cooperative

For profit

Management Unionsof Condominium*These legal entities are Special Public Interest Corporation organized andregistered pursuant to special laws developed in connection with Civil
Code 34.

Low

Private School Corp.
Social Welfare Corp.
Religious Corp. etc.
Medical Services Corporation

PUBLIC

Company Limited
Limited Liability Company

Source: Ministry of Finance (website), National Tax Agency (2009)

Slide 3Slide 4

35

High

4

5

The number of organizations

The changes in organization number

Status of legal entities

Number ofexisting entities

Growth Increase in3)
3)
rate(%) organizations

Public Interest Corporation1)
Public Interest Corporation2)
General Non-profit Corp.
Specified Non-profit Corp.
Approved SNPC
Medical Services Corp.
Private School Corporation
Religious Corporation
Social Welfare Corporation
The Relief andRehabilitation Corporation

22,783(2010) - 0.95
2,281(2011)
3.45
14,921(2011)
1.43
44,291(2011)
1.06
243(2011)
n.a.
46,510(2010)
n.a.
7,884(2007 )n.a.
182,601(2008 )n.a.
18,537(2008 )n.a.

-1,199
1,619
4,500
2,427
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.

1896*
2008
2008
1998
2002
1948
1949
1951
1951

163(2009 )

n.a.

1995

1) PIC under the old civil code article 343) period: year-to-date2) PIC that newly created on December 1st, 2008.
4) The year of implementation of the relative law

A

50,0004)

公益法人
Public Interest Corporation under newly created act on Dec. 2008
特例法人
Public Interest Corporation under the old civil code 34
一般法人
General Non-profit Corporation under the newly created act on Dec. 2008
NPO法人
Specified Non-profit Corporation & Approved SNPC

45,00040,00035,00030,00025,00020,00015,00010,0005,000

Nov-10May-11

Nov-09

May-10

Nov-08May-09

Nov-07

May-08Nov-06

May-07

Nov-05

May-06

Nov-04

May-05

Nov-03Slide 5

May-04

Nov-02

May-03

Nov-01

May-02

Nov-00

May-01

Nov-99

May-00Nov-980
May-99n.a.

Slide 6
6

7

Registration process of PIC and SNPC
Public Interest Corporation

Approved Specified Nonprofit Corporation

Authorized by
PIC Commission

Authorized by
Prefectural Government1)

General Non-profit
Corporation(Foundation, Association)

Specified Non-profit
Corporation(Association)

Registered at Registry Office

Certified by
Prefectural Government

Charity category for PIC - 1
1. Activities to promote academism and scientific technology
2. Activities to promote culture and arts
3. Activities to support persons with disability or needy persons or victims of accident,
disaster or crime
4. Activities to promote welfare of senior citizens
5. Activities to support persons having will to work for seeking the opportunity of employment
6. Activities to enhance public health7. Activities to seek sound nurturing of children and youths
8. Activities to enhance welfare of workers
9. Activities to contribute to sound development of mind and body of the citizen or tocultivate abundant human nature through education and sports, etc.
10.Activities to prevent crimes or to maintain security
11.Activities to prevent accident or disaster12.Activities to prevent and eliminate unreasonable discrimination and prejudice by reasonof race, gender or others
13.Activities to pay respect or protect the freedom of ideology and conscience, the freedomof religion or of expression

1) Up until 2012 March, qualified by National Tax Agency

Slide 7

Slide 889Charity category for PIC - 2

Non-profit category for Approved SNPC and SNPC - 1

14.Activities to promote the creation of gender-equal society or other better society
15.Activities to promote international mutual understanding and for economic cooperation
to overseas developing regions
16.Activities to preserve global environment or protect and maintain natural environment
17.Activities to utilize, maintain or preserve the national land
18.Activities to contribute to sound operation of the national politics
19.Activities to develop sound local community
20.Activities to secure and promote fair and free opportunity for economic activity and tostabilize and enhance the lives of the citizenry by way of activating the economy
21.Activities to secure stable supply of goods and energy indispensable for the lives of thecitizenry
22.Activities to protect and promote the interest of general consumers

Slide 9

1. Promotion of health, medical treatment, or welfare
2. Promotion of social education
3. Promotion of community development
4. Promotion of tourism
5. Promotion of rural and intermountain region
6. Promotion of science, culture, the arts, or sports
7. Conservation of the environment
8. Disaster relief
9. Promotion of community safety
10. Protection of human rights or promotion of peace
11. International cooperation
12. Promotion of a society with equal gender participation
13. Sound nurturing of youth
14. Development of information technology
15. Promotion of science and technology
16. Promotion of economic activities

Slide 1036

10Non-profit category for SNPC - 2

11

The size of expense and employees salary

17. Development of vocational expertise or expansion of employment opportunities
18. Protection of consumers
19. The activities defined by regulation of prefectures or government-decreed cities
20. Administration of organizations that engage in the above activities or provision ofliaison, advice, or assistance in connection with the above activities

Expense(billion yen）

Public interest Corp.
Society welfare Corp.
Religious Corp.
Labor organizations
Industry group
Medical services Corp.
Private school Corp.
Specified nonprofit Corp.
Community based group*Category No. 4, 5, 20 will be added in April 2012.

20,33818,300
3,651
540
6,877
33,94010,876738
1,811

Employees
Salary (billion yen）
3,679
3,597
655
119
935
8,880
3,301
112
40

Source: Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting (2008)

Slide 11

Slide 12
12

The issues on CSO legal environment - 1

13

The issues on CSO legal environment - 2
Related to GNC legal system
6. The existence of three types of GNC including public benefits,
mutual benefits and non-mutual benefits.
7. No limitations to the purposes of activities or their specifics.
8. GNC law has been affected too much by the new Companies
Law.

The most questionable of legal system is as follows;In general
1. CSO legal system is quite confused due to the existence of too
many different types of legal entities.
Related to PIC legal system
2. Application procedures for initial registration, annual reporting
form and etc. are too much complicated and rather difficult.
3. Principle of balancing out revenue and expenditure.
4. Ratio of spending on public interest activities
5. Regulation on idle assets

Related to Approved SNPC & SNPC legal system
9. There will be a clear line drawn between ASNPC and SNPC
because authorization requirement of ASNPC is restricted.
10.Taxation system of ASNPC is very similar compared with PIC
but legal basis of governance is not necessarily strong.
11.The number of SNPC counts more than 40,000 but most ofthem are grassroots and mixed organizations.

Slide 13

Slide 1437

2-3 JACO membership system
1) JACO membership system
At first, it is possible to know how much your organization is legitimately qualified asnational umbrella by the size of members (Slide 2). In case of JACO, we have 1,650
members out of 25,000 Public Interest Corporations (PIC), being less than 10% of total
number of PIC and a few JACO members are General Non-profit Corporations (GNC).
Both PIC and GNC members are distributed across the country.
The membership fee is a flat price of ¥72,000/year, $933US. The services formembers are as shown below;- monthly magazine- e-mail magazine- free counseling service- seminar and symposia at special discounted price- sale of publications at special discounted price- etc.
As it is described before, the meaning of our membership is different from themembership of regular associations, because JACO is a foundation organizationally (Slide3). Therefore the status of our member is a supporter, and the meaning of theirmembership fee is donation, not membership fee.
In Japan, regulation and operation of association and foundation is different. For
example, associations usually hold general meeting once a year but JACO holds theboard meetings instead of general meeting.
For more information on regulation of association and foundation, please see thetable on page 22.
2) Our challenges
Serving to not only JACO members but also non-members is a good stance of JACO’smembership system (Slide 3). Official members can receive better services, for example
it is possible for members to buy publications and attend seminars with special discountprice. Regarding consulting services, there are no differences between official members
and non official members. They can receive our consulting services with free of charge.
JACO probably has two challenges in terms of membership system. The membershipfee of ¥72,000/year is too expensive for small organizations and it could be one of thereasons why the number of JACO members does not expand remarkably. If the numberof members do not increase, it will be difficult to keep up as legitimate organization on
behalf of all PICs and GNCs.
Preventing a further widening of the regional gaps is another challenge that JACO
38

has because most of JACO members are located in metropolitan Tokyo area. The reason
why it had happened is, JACO has its office only in Tokyo, and, it is difficult for PICs and
GNCs based in outside Tokyo to receive various services from JACO.
JACO has some thoughts that providing services to all the PICs and GNCs in Japan asmuch as JACO can, even they are not JACO members. This is a very important point,
because JACO is valuated as a charitable organization for whole the CSO sector of Japan
if JACO acts like that.
1

2nd Regional Meeting of Asia
Montreal, Canada
7th-8th September 2011

JACO membership system - 1
1. The size of members is important for being a legitimate
national umbrella organization.
2. We have 1,650 members out of 25,000 of PICs, covering
almost all of leading CSOs.
-Most of our members are PIC, some of them are GNC.
-Membership across the country-Membership fee is ¥72,000 lump sums-Services: monthly magazine, e-mail magazine, free counselingservice, invitation to seminars & symposia, special price forpublications, etc.

JACO’s Membership System

Yoshiharu Shiraishi
The Japan Association of Charitable Organizations

Slide 1

Slide 2
2

3

About JACO membership system - 2

Our challenges

3. The legal status of JACO members is our supporters, so themeaning of membership fee is a donation, because JACO is afoundation, not an association organizationally.
Regulation and the ways of operation is quite different fromother associations. For example, association usually holds
general meetings at least once a year but JACO holds regularmeetings of the board of trustees, instead of general meetingof members.

Good point:
We serve our services to not only our members but also nonmembers (our members can get better services).
Challenges:- Membership fee is flat rate of ¥72,000.
- In fact, most of members are national associations and largeorganizations. It is difficult for small organizations to be JACO
member.
- JACO number is less than 10% of total PIC.
- Most of JACO members are located in Tokyo region.

*For more information on regulation of Association and Foundation,please see page 5 – 8.

Slide 3Slide 439

3. India
By Harsh Jaitli
Voluntary Action Network India (VANI)

3-1 Networking for Enabling Environment: VANI’s Experience
1) Importance of Network
Collectivization is an important tool for conducting advocacy and give weightage tothe issue. In today’s fast changing global realities, the voluntary sector faces numerous
challenges and some of them are too contested to be raised individually. It is also realitythat isolation minimizes the impact, scope of learning and sharing. Various networks
exist in the world which is based on specific themes, agenda or strategies. Say forexample in India there are very efficient and influential networks around the issue of
health, education, environment, gender, social marginalization, etc. Their collectivization
gives them extra edge wherein they are not only able to enrich their arguments withwide experiences but also build on each other’s strengths. Within this impressive
spectrum of networks the need for network was felt which could raise the issue of very
existence of the voluntary development organizations. In late 1980’s, Indian government
came out with the suggestion to regulate and impose ‘code of conduct‘ on Indian
Voluntary sector. Most of the organizations opposed this as they preferred the model ofself-regulation. At the same time the need was felt to have a network which can argue
with the government to protect the space of the sector on one hand and also strengthen
the sector. This gave the birth to VANI. Same is the case at global level; the birth of
AGNA, within CIVICUS was to provide space and strengthen such national networks andlink them with each other. Today, such national platforms or networks exist in many
countries and AGNA and International Forum for National Platforms provides themspace.
One of the most contested issues faced by Voluntary sector worldwide is theshrinking space due to restrictive regulatory regime. Through various formations of
networks we can express solidarity with each other. Provide mutual security at the timeof crisis and above all it gives us platform to share our learning and experiences. We can
not only save resources by avoiding ‘re-inventing the wheel’ and consolidate ourknowledge and studies.
2) About VANI
VANI, an apex body of voluntary organizations in India, was founded in the year 1988
to act as a promoter/protector and collective voice of the voluntary sector. Since then,using advocacy as its principle instrument, VANI has taken up a series of advocacy
40

initiatives at global, national, and state level. VANI also supports and coordinates various
efforts from within the sector to promote voluntary action in the country. Being an apex
body, VANI works as a catalyst between the Indian voluntary sector and other actors likecentral and state governments, bilateral and multilaterals. Besides the advocacy efforts,
VANI actively engages in the process of reaching out to the media and the public tosensitize them on concerns related to the sector. The efforts of VANI to promote theprinciples of accountability, transparency, and good governance in public, private andthe voluntary sector have been recognized not only at the national level, but also at theinternational arena. Consequently, almost all stakeholders have recognized theperspectives that VANI takes on various critical issues of development.
STRUCTURE
VANI has a three-tier structure:
1. General Body: is the supreme body comprised of all members of VANI(NETWORKS/FEDERATIONS, ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS)
2. Working Committee: makes decision on behalf of the members and is composed of 21
elected members from the general body, which also elects two office bearers- theChairperson and Treasure. The working committee has four sub committees namely:
Programme, Networking, Membership, Finance and Management Committee.
3. Secretariat: is headed by Chief Executive Officer appointed by the Working Committee,
and is an ex-officio member of the working committee. The secretariat has
programme units, each lead by programme managers/officers with their respective
professional and support staff. The CEO liaises between the Secretariat and theWorking Committee for planning, implementation and monitoring of theorganization’s activities.
OBJECTIVES• As a platform, to promote voluntarism and creates space for voluntary action.
• As a network, attempts to bring about a convergence of common sectoral issues andconcerns for building a truly national agenda of voluntary action in the country. It also
facilitates linkages of various efforts and initiatives of the voluntary sector in the
country for a multiplier effect, to create and sustain the process of change in an
organic manner.
• As an association, work towards fostering value-based voluntary action and long-termsustainability among its members.
VISIONWorks towards building a society where voluntarism and voluntary rganizations playa dominant and constructive role in social cohesion, economic empowerment andnation building.
41

MISSION
To act as a platform for research, advocacy, capacity building, sharing and learning on
issues related to voluntarism and voluntary agencies

Well developed NETWORK
A. National, Regional and Global Networks:
1.
2.

Thematic/ National Platforms-Associations
Existing Networks: CIVICUS, Open Forum, GCAP, IFP,
Better Aid, etc.

B. Role and Importance of Networks:
1.
Solidarity

Registered under the Societies Registration Act of India in 1990

2.
3.
4.

Voluntary Action Network India (VANI)
BB-5, Greater Kailash Enclave-II, New Delhi – 110048, India
Ph: 91-11-29228127, 29226632, 41435535
Email: info@vaniindia.org
Web: www.vaniindia.org

Mutual Security
Sharing and Exchange of learnings
Sharing of resources

Slide 1

Slide 2

ABOUT VANISTRUCTURE

General Body
VANI is an Apex Body of Voluntary Organizationsin India.

Working
Committee

Founded in 1988 to be a platform for national leveladvocacy, coordination and action to support
and promote voluntarism.

Secretariat

Members

Slide 3Slide 4OBJECTIVES
As a platform, to promote voluntarism and creates space forvoluntary action.

VISIONWorks towards building a society where voluntarism
and voluntary organisations play a dominant andconstructive role in social cohesion, economic
empowerment and nation building.

As a network, attempt to bring about a convergence of common
sectoral issues and concerns for building a truly national agenda
of voluntary action in the country. It also facilitates linkages ofvarious efforts and initiatives of the voluntary sector in the
country for a multiplier effect, to create and sustain the processof change in an organic manner.

MISSIONTo act as a platform for research, advocacy,
capacity building, sharing and learning on issues
related to voluntarism and voluntary agencies.

As an association, work towards fostering value-based
voluntary action and long-term sustainability among its members.

Slide 5Slide 642

3-2 Current issues: Regulatory environment in India
1) Restrictive Laws:
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010: The year 2010-2011 has
witnessed the emergence of many new legislations and laws of which the Foreign
Contribution (Regulation) Act has created quite a stir in the Development Sector. The
radical changes made in the FCRA have an adverse impact on the advancement of thesector. It clearly indicates a change in the intention of the government- from reforming
and enabling the voluntary sector to controlling and commanding it.
VANI adopted a two-fold strategy to deal with it. Firstly, to inform all FCRA certificate
holding organizations about the change through series of intensive workshops, meetings,
newsletters, e-mails and also advocating with the Ministry of Home Affairs for better
rules. Secondly, VANI organized consultations with technical experts, finance officials,
chartered accountants and heads of various voluntary organizations to get feedback on
the practical side of FCRA. The final rules became applicable from May 1, 2011 which
acknowledged some of the recommendations submitted by VANI to Ministry of Home
Affairs.
Direct Taxes Code: In august 2009, the Finance Ministry released the draft Direct
Taxes Code (DTC) with the objective of simplifying and rationalizing the direct taxation
regime in India. Although the proposed code simplifies taxation for corporate andindividual tax payers, it reverses this in the case of voluntary sector.
Since 2009, VANI has been advocating with the ministry to make the DTC friendly for thevoluntary sector. As a result of which may changes can be seen in the revised discussion
paper released on June 15, 2010. VANI also mobilized not only its members but allvoluntary organizations working in the development sector to send their appeals to the
Finance Ministry and other policy makers. The major achievement of this process wasthat the Finance Minister initiated dialogue with the representatives from the voluntary
sector before preparing the annual budget of the country.
Visa Requirements: In 2010 the Indian government notified that volunteers who arekeen to work in this sector will need to apply for a work visa and they must have anannual salary of $25,000. VANI took up the issue with the home ministry to consider
volunteers as technical experts who provide their services at very low cost. Hence, theannual salary condition was waived. Further, if voluntary organizations want to invite any
foreign visitors they have to take approval from three different ministries so VANI is also
arguing with the government on this issue.
Registration Laws: The voluntary organizations can be registered under the Society
Registration Act 1860, Trusts act or Companies act. The society registration act underwhich voluntary organizations are registered is very obsolete. Further, different states inIndia have separate acts to govern voluntary organizations which are restrictive in nature.
VANI has been lobbying on segregation and defining what is voluntary Sector and the43registration issues. VANI is demanding the government for a simple and liberal central
law for registering the Vos which will co-exist with prevailing central and state laws.
2) Hope/ Opportunities: National Policy of Voluntary Organizations, New Spaces for
dialogue.
The first-ever National Policy on Voluntary Sector was announced by the Voluntary
Action Cell of the Planning Commission and was approved by the union Cabinet on May
17, 2007. The main objective of the policy was to encourage, enable and empower an
independent, creative and effective voluntary sector and treat it as partners to thegovernment without affecting the autonomy and identity of voluntary organizations.
Unfortunately, government took no initiative in implementing the policy.
Being an important policy document defining the relationship between thegovernment and the voluntary sector, VANI did not wanted the spirit to die down. VANI
adopted a dual strategy of working with the Planning Commission on one hand andworking with the voluntary sector in various states on the other. Since 2007, VANI hasorganized several state level consultations, so that voluntary organizations are motivatedto draft a state level policy on the voluntary sector. VANI also translated the National
Policy in regional languages.

CURRENT ISSUES:REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT IN INDIARestrictive Laws: FCRA, DTC, Passport Laws,
PMLA, Registrations.



Hope/ Opportunities: National Policy of
Voluntary Organizations, New Spaces for
dialogue.

Slide 144

3-3 Membership of VANI
1) MEMBERSHIP OF VANIAs an apex body of voluntary organizations in India, members are the backbone of
VANI. VANI currently has 390 direct members with an outreach to more than 5000
organizations in 25 state of the country. Membership in VANI is not merely for numbers
but is an expression of solidarity.
There are two ways in which one can engage with VANI either by becoming a
Member or by becoming Associate.
Membership is of two types- Individual and Organizational. Individual members arethose who believe in voluntarism and are engaged in practicing the objectives, principles
and values of VANI and are committed to work for achieving the objectives of VANI. On
the other hand, Organizational members are those social development organizations,networks or federations that believe in voluntarism and work for achieving theobjectives of VANI. Organizations are further classified into two categories. Category I
represents smaller organizations and category II represents larger ones. VANI leaves it to
the discretion of the concerned organization to decide where it belongs.
Associates: VANI learnt that many voluntary organizations were unable to become its
members for various reasons. However, they have the opportunity to engage with VANI
as associates. They need to submit a letter of recommendation to become a member of
VANI. Privileges and responsibilities of all the associates of VANI will be same as that of
the members with the exceptions of not having the right to vote and to stand forelections for the working committee.
Fee Structure- Annual- Individual Membership- Rs. 1,000- Organizational Members (Category I)- Rs. 1500
- Organizational Members (Category II) - Rs. 2500
- Associates- Rs. 500
MEMBERSHIP SYSTEM• VANI’s members are present inalmost all the states of India
representing diverse groups i.e. small,medium and large.
• The members of VANI helps us toknow the issues and ground reality
faced by them at the grass root level inthe form of case studies which is further
shared with the wider audience.
45• VANI articulates the voice on behalf of its members and do advocacy at national,
regional and state level.
2) Media and PUBLICATIONS
For an apex body of voluntary organizations, information sharing is a key activity.
Information is collected and collated, and then shared with partners and other voluntaryorganizations. The information outflow by VANI is done by a variety of means, such as
through various souces which are mentioned below:
Website: VANI’s website is the one of the latest and best tools to provide updated
information to its members and non-members on various issues affecting the voluntary
sector. VANI maintains two websites at its secretariat: http://www.vaniindia.org andhttp://www.ngo-asia.org
E-Newsletter: VANI’s newsletter e-vani is published every month with latest news
about the voluntary development sector and also updates the members on activities andprogrammes of VANI.
Civil Society Voices Magazine: VANI publishes a quarterly magazine in both English
and Hindi language so that more and more voluntary organizations can benefit from it.
Annual Report: VANI publish its annual report at the end of the every year which isalso circulated to its partners and also uploaded on the website. It also includes adetailed description of abridged Income and Expenditure account for the particular year.
Library: VANI also hosts a library which stores a variety of information in the form ofbooks, magazines, journals and periodicals related to voluntarism and the voluntary
sector.
3) SERVICES TO MEMBERS AND SECTOR
VANI accelerated its efforts in articulating the voice of the voluntary sector andstrengthening the sector.
Articulating the Voice- It not only share information about the changes but also collect and articulate voice ofthe sector. VANI provide the information to its members about any changes in theregulatory framework or any taxation policies and also do advocacy with thegovernment on behalf of the sector.
- VANI helps in amending the laws/acts framed by the government as per the need of
the sector.
- It plays a significant role in creating a space for voluntary sector to participate which isshrinking at a fast pace.
- VANI also links with media, donors, government and other agencies and guide them
about the role that sector is playing in the development of the society which further
helps in improving the image of the sector.
46

Strengthening the Voluntary Sector- Promoting Good Governance: The voluntary sector in India has had a phenomenal
growth over the past two decades. This growth also brought along with it a set ofproblems and questions about the authenticity and credibility of the sector. Thus, VANI
came out with a handbook on Good Governance to improve the governance of thevoluntary organizations in the country. Further, VANI also did a study and developedmodel policies which are very essential to strengthen the internal governance of thevoluntary organizations.
- Thematic Opportunities and challenges for Voluntary sector: VANI conducts various
meetings and workshops at the national, regional and state levels to share theopportunities and challenges before the sector and disseminate the information to thesmall and medium voluntary organizations. Capacities of partners are also built on
issues such as accountability and transparency.
- Information Resource Centre: VANI acts as a resource Centre and aware its partners
about changes in regulatory framework through various sources such as newsletter,magazine, website, emails, etc.
- Convening and Networking: VANI works and interacts closely with several othernational networks and is a part of several international network organizations like
ABONG, ACCION, CONGAD, COORDINATION SUD, INTRAC, CIVICUS, CONCORD.
- Linkages with Diverse Actors: Globally, voluntary sector has grown to become a third
sector along with agriculture and industry. There has been shift in the role of thevoluntary sector, and there is need for the sector to engage regionally in programmes
and issues that touch the lives of the ordinary people. Thus, VANI actively link withvarious stakeholders and helps in improving the credibility of the sector.
- Promoting and Nurturing Members: VANI opens its doors to bring in more individuals
and organizations with a social commitment to further consolidate and strengthen thegoal that it has stood for over the last 21 years. It promotes its members and do theircapacity building by conduction various workshops.

47

MEMBERSHIP OF VANI

MEMBERSHIP SYSTEM

Current System: Merits and Demerits
Proposed Changes: Associates and Members, Fees
VANI Members

A network of 373
members across various
parts of the country

16%
5% Membership across the country Representation of small and medium sizedorganisation
 Enable us to know the issues of Voluntary Sector
 Articulating the voice and advocacy at national,
regional and state level

individual
Netw ork
Organization

79%

A base of 5000
organisations in 24
states/provinces ofIndia.

Slide 1

Slide 2PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES:INFORMATION DISSEMINATION TO
CONNECTPUBLICATIONSCentral to VANI’s advocacy
work is sharing knowledge on
policies and programmes of
the Government and donororganizations to its members.
VANI gathers information andprovides perspectives on
issues that affect thevoluntary sector, especiallyorganisations that work at
grass-root level.
www.vaniindia.org

AnnualReportSlide 3Slide 4SERVICES TO MEMBERS AND SECTOR

Articulating the Voice







Financial and Taxation Policies
Governance and registration policies
Creating and nurturing spaces for participation
Linkages with media, donors, government and other agencies

Strengthening the Voluntary Sector







Civil Society
VoicesPromoting Good Governance
Thematic Opportunities and challenges for Voluntary sector
Information Resource Centre
Convening and Networking
Linkages with Diverse Actors
Promoting and Nurturing Members

Slide 548

E-NewsLetter4. Nepal
By Dala Rawal
NGO Federation of Nepal (NFN)

4-1 Forming network with partners across the world: NFN’s experience
Why Networking !

Forming Network with Partners
across the World• Strengthening coordination and cooperation among thepartners on common issues at regional and global level• Capacity Building of partners in order to catch the rightadvocacy movement• Create solidarity and build up pressure on the issues
relating to human rights, social justice, environment,poverty etc .

Dala Rawal
Board Member-Central Committee
NGO Federation of Nepal
7th September, 2011,
Montreal• Create pressure group to lobby against government anddevelopment actors at national and international levelon the various issues like aid conditionality,
development effectiveness etc .

Slide 1

Slide 2

Common Areas to work at Global andLocal Level

Some of the existing Networks• The Reality of Aid• CIVICUS, AGNA
• The International Forum of National NGO
Platforms• Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC)• Imagine a New South Asia (INSA)• GCAP Global Alliance• South Asian Alliance for Poverty
Eradication (SAAPE)• LDC Watch• Jubilee South• Human Rights, Democracy and Social
Justice• Aid/Development Effectiveness• Capacity Building of CSOs
• Climate Change and Environment Justice• Implementation of MDGs and poverty
reduction• LDC’s Issues• Food Right• Natural Resources• Good GovernanceSlide 3Slide 4

How the Networks of Partners of CSOs
can help each other• Capacity building of members• Peer learning/exposure visits/sharing ofexperiences/good practices• Frequent meetings and conferences inreference to local and global issues• Create solidarity, lobby and pressure
against development actors including
governments• Publications and communications• Building strategies, policies and working
procedure to enhance CSOs development
effectiveness of their work

Challenges• Division of networks according to theirinterests• Access to information technology• Lack of Resources• Lack of Accountability• Politicization of movements• Unequal distribution of resources

Slide 5Slide 649

4-2 The situation of CSO legal environment in Nepal
Overall Legal Challenges of CSOs in
Asia

The Situation of CSO Legal Environment in AsianCountries• Lack of democratic government in most of the
Asian countries• Even if government is democratic, laws andpolicies are developed in such a way so that
CSOs experience hurdles receiving resources• Out dated laws (Organization Registration Act 2034 (1977)• Lack of effective laws and role of government• Conflicts and violence• CSOs involvement in corruption

Dala Rawal
Board Member- Central Committee
NGO FEDERATION OF NEPAL
8th September, 2011, Montreal

Slide 1

Slide 2Overall Legal Challenges of CSOs in
Asia …

Way Forward for CSOs
• Create pressure to establish space for CSOs
• Role and position of CSOs recognized in thedecision making process at national level• Strong Regional Network among the AsianCountries so that strong pressure could becreated against any government that works
against CSOs
• Frequent meetings and conferences on common
agenda• Capacity building and knowledge sharing• Consultation programs can be organized among
the CSOs on legal issue of a particular country• Political instability• Accountability of CSOs
• Allocation of resources based on politicalconvictions• Debt and poverty problems• Laws and policies are formulated according
to donor’s interests

Slide 3Slide 450

4-3 Membership system of NGO Federation of Nepal
NGO Federation of Nepal (NFN)

Membership system of NGO Federationof Nepal Established in 1991
 Umbrella Organization of more than 5227 NGOs
working nationwide
 Works for promotion and protection of social justice,human rights, NGO autonomy and pro-poordevelopment

Dala Rawal
Board member- Central committee
NGO FEDERATION OF NEPAL Operates in 75 districts and 5 Development Regions

8th September, 2011, Montreal

Slide 1

Slide 2
VisionNFN Cont………..
 Promotion and protection of social justice, humanrights and fair development
 Autonomous and politically nonpartisan run by the
democratically elected representative of NGOs
 Actively involved in lobbying and advocating humanrights protection and promotion, environment
conservation, pro-poor development, gender justiceand community empowerment, peoples' democracy,
peace and sustainable development

 NFN envisions a democratic, inclusive,
equitable and just society through a vibrantand strengthened NGO movement striving for
economically sustainable, socially equitableand environment friendly nation.

Slide 3Slide 4
Goals

Mission To strengthen a dynamic and pro-people NGO
movement of Nepal thus ensuring the autonomy
and freedom of civil society; To enhance the capacity of CSOs for improving
organizational good governance;
 To mobilize member organizations to implementpro- poor development initiatives;
 To respect, protect and promote human rights,
social justice and lasting democratic peace.

 Organize, aware and mobilize people topromote democratic and just society; Strengthen the NGO movement and promote
capacity building processes;
 Safeguard the autonomy of civil society andwork as change agent.

Slide 5Slide 651

Organizational Structure

Strategic Framework• Membership Organization-5227• National convention• Annual General meeting• Executive Board-37 democratically elected• Advisory Committee• Management Departments-6• Regional Committees/Resource Centre-5• District Captures-5

NFN has adopted a four- pillar strategy tomeet the needs of its members in the current
period of political transition. The four pillarsare: Capacity building and NGO governance reform Women empowerment and inclusion
 Youth empowerment
 Broad-based civil society networking

Slide 7

Slide 8Eligibility for Membership

Which Organizations are generally
not Eligible?

• Autonomous and volunteer Org. established as per
the prevailing laws
• General membership opened• Executive committee based on direct and democraticelection process• Not distributing institutional income as bonus for
personal purpose• Free from party and power politics• Programs and financial management transparent.
• Committed for the progress, awareness andempowerment• Having only the objectives relating to religious
activities, business/occupation, sports orrecreation, reading-room or library• The organizations/institutions, operated with
communal and regional feelings• Consumers' committees, trade unions andother occupational associations

Slide 9Slide 10

Types of Membership

Membership Provision• General Member: Principal Nepali NGOs, having
qualifications as provisioned and, already withthe membership.
• Co –Member: The branches and sub-branches of
Nepali NGO, having qualification as provisioned
and operating its branches and sub-branches in
one district after having registered in another
district.
• Affiliated Member :The foreign donor organizations, General Member:• Submit an application to the central committee throughthe district branch.
• The district branch after examining sends throughregional committee or directly to the central committee
all details of the NGO• The district must recommend for endorsement within aperiod of one month from the date of submission of
application.
• NFN Central Committee approves the membership Co-Member: Only got the membership of regional andcentral NGO’s district chapters.
 Affiliated Member: INGOs and Donor agency

supporting the Nepalese NGOs affiliated with NGO
Federation
Note: They are from amongst INGOs operating in Nepal after
receiving approval as per the prevailing laws.

Slide 11

Slide 1252

Termination of Membership

Membership distribution and fee• Open for all through newspaper• Information sharing through workshop/orientation
Fund Limit NPR

New entry fee
NPR

Annual Fee NPR

Renewal Fee NPR< .5 Million

300

200

200

<2 Million

300

300

300

<5 Million

300

500

500

< 10 million

300

1000

1000

> 10 million

300

2000

Co-Member

300

300

Affiliated Member

USD $ 500

USD $ 300

 The disqualification of the NGOs determined
directly or on the recommendation of district orregional committee by the central committee
 Termination:
 If qualifies no more
 If the member NGO is dissolved;
 If an accusation that the member NGO has acted
financially and morally irrational tasks is proved.
 If the Federation decides that it has not behaved
pursuant to the Codes of Conduct of NFN

2000

Slide 13

Slide 1453

5. NCVO Membership System
By Oli Henman
National Council for Voluntary Organizations (NCVO)

NCVO Membership System
Oli Henman

Main issues

Asia Regional Meeting AGNA - CIVICUS
8th September 2011

1. Introduction to NCVO
2. Membership structure
3. Growth & Retention
4. Wider international partnerships

Slide 1

Slide 2

1. Introduction to NCVO
Giving Voice & Support to Civil
Society

2. NCVO Membership structure• Community Membership (under £10k turnover)A free electronic package for the smallest orgs
• Community Plus Membership (£10-50k)
All the benefits of full membership for smaller orgs
• Full Membership (£50k-1million)
Full membership on a sliding scale, benefits include
invitation to all events & training, discounted
publications, free advice & support• Membership Extra (£1million+)
Special package of premium benefits for largeorganisations , wishing to support therest of the sector through their fee• Established in 1919
• England wide umbrella body for Non-Profit
organisations• 8000 approx. member organisations –across civil society• 100 approx. staff• £10 million approx. income

Slide 3Slide 4

Annual Income

Annual Fee

Fee if paid by Direct Debit*

3-year special offer fee**Less than £10,000

Free

Free

Free

Less than £50,000

£44

£42

-

Less than £100,000

£99

£93

£265

£100-£500,000

£146

£139

£394

£500,000-£1 million

£353

£334

£952

£1million-£5 million

£481

£457

£1,296

Over £5 million

£723

£687

£1,951

3. Growth & Retention• Tighter economic conditions lead to need todemonstrate benefits• Crucial ability to shape policy and influence
government (Voice)• Key value in training and capacity-building formembers in new skills (Support)• NCVO continues to grow, potential forcollaboration and mergers• Bridging across civil society

Slide 5Slide 654

NCVO role:

4. Wider International Civil Society

Opportunities for exchange of good practicewith national partners on key themes:• Relations between civil society andgovernment• Advocacy• Good governance• Fundraising• Membership development• International Member programme• Active role in CIVICUS, Affinity Group for National
Associations• Key role in development of ENNA (European
Network of National Civil Society Associations)• Building on links with Commonwealth countries• USA –Obama priorities & Independent Sector• Connections on civil society in Asia Region, build
on connections with Japan and China

Slide 7

Slide 8NCVO EU & International
Civil Society overview

Oli Henman
Head of EU & International
oliver.henman@ncvovol.org.uk

Slide 955