Pressure from customers,
suppliers, employees, communities, investors, activist organisations
and other stakeholders has encouraged companies to adopt and expand
CSR efforts. As a result, CSR has shown a sharp increase in the recent
years...
The NGO sector
is no different. Infact the desire to address key issues require commitment
to following a set of coduct ethics that are critical in achieving
an organisation's mission and objective. Given below is a sample code
of ethics document which every individual interested in this sector
must be aware of.
Values
As diverse as our activities are, we have common value systems. Based
on the desire to advance and improve people's lives, and combat poverty
and inequality we are committed to the following fundamental values
that underpin the mission and objectives of signatories. We therefore
commit ourselves to:
•
Being responsive to the needs and welfare of the people of South Africa
• Accountability and transparency
• Participatory democracy
• People-centered development
• Respecting the rights,
culture and dignity of all people within the framework of the Bill
of Rights, as enshrined in the South African constitution, and enhancing
race and gender equity (adhering to the spirit of "Ubuntu")
• Ensuring the organisation
remains true to its mission and objectives
• Promoting voluntarism,
and active volunteer involvement at all levels
• Mutual cooperation, collaboration
and networking with other agencies around issues of mutual concern
• Striving for excellence,
including efficient and effective service provision at all levels
Governance
The effectiveness of our work depends on the organisation's governance
structures. As professional organisations, we recognise the importance
of establishing and maintaining able bodies that will govern the internal
functioning of our individual organisations. Committed, experienced
and responsible individuals are a critical ingredient for this. To
this end we will:
•
Ensure the organisation has a clear vision, mission, objectives and
policies, and adheres to them
• Specify the frequency of
governance structure's' meetings, quorums, and the role and powers
of the governance structure
• Develop a policy that prohibits
direct or indirect conflict of interest by members of the governance
structure, members, employees and volunteers. Ensure that members
of the governance structure and staff excuse themselves from decisions
where they have, or are perceived to have, a vested interest
• In the case of an independent
Board or Trust, adopt a policy that discourages members from submitting
tenders to the organisation or applying for staffing positions within
the organisation. This policy must stipulate that if they desire to
do either, they must resign from the governance structure
• Ensure that governance
structure understands and is responsible for overall policy-making
and accepts ultimate responsibility for governance of all aspects
of the organisation
• Within financial constraints
ensure the governance structure reflects the race and gender composition
of South African society and the various target constituencies that
the NGO works with, with regard to both their composition and their
geographic spread
Accountability
Our commitment to promote democracy is enshrined in a culture of participation
and complete accountability within our organisations. Transparency
in all the work we do is key. To this end we will:
•
Develop mechanisms to enable all our stakeholders to be involved in
planning programmes that directly affect them
• Provide opportunities for
regular evaluations and updating of programmes that include stakeholder
and community input
• Hold an Annual General
Meeting with full, open and accurate disclosure of relevant information
concerning goals, programmes, finances and governance
• Hold regular strategic
planning sessions to which relevant stakeholders are invited to contribute
Management
and Human Resources
Human capacity and skilled leadership are a critical component of
the effectiveness of our work. We shall endeavor to follow the best
management practices appropriate to the organisations mission, operations
and governance structure. To this end we will:
• Periodically reassess the
organisation's mission, objectives and operations, in the light of
changing contexts and constituents' needs
• Critically analyse our
own practices and our organisational culture and implement those changes
necessary o build a culture that encourages creativity, diversity,
responsibility and respect that will recognise all cultural groups
as equal partners in developing the organisation
• Develop clear, well defined
written policies and procedures to be followed, which relate to all
employees, members and volunteers. Such policies must adhere to the
Labour Relations Act and other relevant legislation and must protect
the rights of employers, employees, members and volunteers
• Establish and maintain
disciplinary and grievance procedures with clear lines of authority
and accountability
• Have clear and transparent
procedures for employing new staff, and disengaging existing staff
• Have clear staff development
policies that seek to empower all staff and volunteers to increase
their skills in order to enable them to move to greater levels of
responsibility
• Develop adequate and acceptable
systems of assessing skills, experience and qualifications, levels
of responsibility and performance, and remunerate on this basis
• Encourage management to
adopt interactive leadership styles and an "open door" policy
to facilitate good communication between staff and themselves
NGOs need to
prioritise the development and maintenance of proper financial management
strategies. Our finances shall be managed as to ensure appropriate
use of funds and accountability to members and donors. To this end
we will:
• Comply with generally accepted
business accounting and auditing practices, including voucher authorization
processes
• Set up appropriate financial
systems and ensure that we employ qualified persons to administer
and manage these systems
• Conduct annual audits for
incomes exceeding R50 000
• Have clear policies on
loans and staff advances
• Develop a policy regarding
the receipt of outside honoraria and/or remuneration in order to avoid
"double" or inappropriate payment
• Set up mechanisms to ensure
that our procedures for purchasing goods and services are free from
vested interests of individuals in our organisation and that they
are cost effective
• Prepare realistic project
or organisational budgets, then monitor and adhere to them. In instances
where it becomes necessary make changes, the appropriate consultations
should be undertaken and any amendments recorded
• Formally and publicly charge
members for any attempt at fraud, theft or misappropriation
• Wherever possible, ensure
that the funding base of the organisation is diversified
• Keep fund-raising and administration
costs to a minimum
• Ensure that funds provided
are only used for the intended purpose
• Ensure that tenders and
contracts called for encourage the participation of small and emerging
businesses, in particular those owned by previously disadvantaged
sectors of our society
• Provide clear and transparent
accounting to the broader membership and/or constituency of the organisation
Resources
We need systems to manage organisational assets in a sustainable and
cost-effective manner. This is a vital tool towards the sector maintaining
its original values of being effective and efficient in our work.
To this end we will:
• Develop internal procedures
and control mechanisms and implement these to ensure the proper use
of the assets of the organisation and to clearly separate organisational
use from private use
• Develop and implement mechanisms
to monitor the use of staff time
• Conduct periodic cost-benefit
analysis of projects and review resource allocations in the light
of these
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