| |
 |
|
 |
|
| |
| The Challenges |
|
| |
| There are many different challenges that emerge when an attempt is made to bring together organisations of diverse nature under a common platform. We are positively aware of them and hope to build an acceptable process together with the support and assistance of these very organisations: |
| |
| Diversity |
| |
| One of the reasons for the vibrancy of voluntary organisations is the diversity amongst them: in their mission statement, structure, functional area, organizational culture, size, etc. This leads them to have different sets of priorities. Any effort at evolving a uniform standard may not be desirable. Thus there is a need to frame layers of norms. |
| |
| Multiple accountability |
| |
| Organisations are accountable to different actor- state, donors, and beneficiaries. Thus accountability is not necessarily unidirectional. It is vertical to state and donors, horizontal to other partner voluntary organisations and civil society constituents, downward to the people with whom they work with and internal to the staff. So accountability and transparency needs to be ensured at these different levels through appropriate institutional and procedural mechanisms to be credible in their eyes. |
| |
| As a Process |
| |
| Creating credibility needs to be viewed as a process that is inclusive and derives from the instruments of establishment of the organisation, its functions, outcomes and outputs of its programs and the general impact. Credibility needs to be ensured at all these levels. In essence, credibility is both structural and processual in nature. It involves establishment of norms concerning whether an organisational structure is based on its avowed objectives, and whether the process emanates from the structure and its goals. The structure and process of voluntary organisation functioning should complement each other to ensure its credibility. Otherwise, how does one sustain it? |
| |
| Autonomy and Compliance |
| |
Compliance to norms would be sustainable only if it provides and respects autonomy of the voluntary organisations. Thus, the structure of the compliance mechanism is to be evolutionary in nature and should follow from serious deliberation. The formulation of norms and compliance mechanism needs to evolve through debates and deliberations within the sector for them to be effective, sustainable and enforceable.
Attempts to ensure credibility of voluntary organisations needs to address both the external environment and the internal capacities of the organisations. VOs differ widely according to their capacity and it might not be easy for all of them to comply with the norms as this entails costs. Nevertheless, this problem can be overcome by regular attempts at capacity building. Existing training and capacity building agencies can be identified who can take the initiative in different spatial and functional areas. |
| |
| Legitimacy |
| |
| Finally and importantly, the success of the endeavour would also depend upon the acceptance of the form and content of the initiative by the State and donor agencies, as two important stakeholders in the process of development in India. |
| |
| |
|
 |
|