According to their site “One World Trust, a London based think tank, has launched a portal on civil society self-regulation which includes a database listing over 320 initiatives (codes of conduct, certification schemes, working groups, self-assessments and information services) across 80 countries. Each initiative has a unique page with summaries of its content; contact details; areas and types of activities the initiative addresses; a list of participant organisations; compliance, monitoring and sanctioning mechanisms; among others.” 

It is interesting that they note:

“Such sector level self-regulatory initiatives have become an important means of:

• increasing CSOs’ credibility and legitimacy with stakeholders
• helping build public trust, protecting the political space for CSOs to operate
• supporting the sharing of good practice and learning”

They also note:
“While some self-regulatory initiatives have strong compliance mechanisms, the majority leaves implementation fully in the hands of individual CSOs, without setting standards or specifying monitoring or enforcement systems.”

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Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at Blumberg Segal LLP in Toronto, Ontario.  To find out more about legal services that Blumbergs provides to Canadian charities and non-profits please visit https://www.canadiancharitylaw.ca or http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca He can be contacted at mark@blumbergs.ca or at 416-361-1982.

This article is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be legal advice. You should not act or abstain from acting based upon such information without first consulting a legal professional.