Alliance news issue 6, March 2007
A monthly update of Credibility Alliance
CREDIBILITY ALLIANCE IMPROVING GOVERNANCE BUILDING TRUST

This newsletter intends to be the voice of the sector and
we want our members to use this as an organ of communication with their stakeholder as well as Alliance.
Do send us information of programs/ events at your end and we can share it with other members of the Alliance.


We Welcome Our Newly Joined Members to Credibility Alliance- A Network of Voluntary Organizations in India to promote norms of good governance and public disclosure

 

Our New Members

Hope foundation, Delhi
Asiatic Society for Hope and Action, Madhya Pradesh
Prayas, Gujarat
Youth Council for Development Alternatives, Orissa

Member’s contribution


Ms. V. Thangapappa won silver medal in the National Abilympics in
computer programming (VB)

--Contributed by Amar seva sangam, Tamil Nadu

A physically challenged student of our member organization has won silver medal in the National Abilympics -a competition similar to Olympics for differentially able on vocational skills, held on 14th February 2007 at Delhi.
Ms. V. Thangapappa has done her MCA from IGNOU special study centre at Amar seva sangam, a member organization of Credibility Alliance working with PWD (people with disabilities) and now she has joined the organization as software developer. This special girl hails from a poor family in a remote village in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. She is severy affected by polio and was unable to walk when she initially joined Amar seva sangam for computer training programme. She was given treatment and also caliper as a support to walk without any assistance. She is hopeful that she will be selected in International Abilympics to be held in November 2007 in Japan.
Ms. Thangapappa is an inspiration for all those who really want to make a difference to their life and society.

   Dear members!

We congratulate all of you to be a part of Credibility Alliance.
 We are delighted to share with you that past month of February  had been very busy month for the alliance. We conducted several workshops in collaboration with funding and support agencies and corporate to promote “norms of good governance”. It is also an inspiring fact for all of us that new members are joining the alliance and we have reached a membership base of 454.

We have also initiated the process of revision of present norms and discussion on norms for performance evaluation, as there were some apprehensions and suggestions coming in from our member organizations.

February 2007: The Month in Review

Workshop on Good Governance

Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) and Credibility Alliance jointly organized a workshop on “Good Governance in Civil Societies” at NBJK, Ranchi – member organization of Credibility Alliance. Thirty three voluntary organizations participated in the workshop and confirmed their acceptance of CA norms. There were also discussions on rights of person with disabilities and rights of people living with HIV/AIDS.

West Bengal State Committee meeting

West Bengal state committee meeting was held on February 8th 2007 mainly to elect Chairperson and secretary for the state committee. Persons elected by the members of West Bengal state committee are

Chairperson : Mr. Stephen Gonsalves ( Calcutta Urban Service)
Secretary     : Ms. Diti Mookherjee ( ASED)

Following organizations marked their presence in the state committee meeting

 Association for social and environmental development ASED

 Bagmari Progressive Youth Association
 Mandra Kanchan Goshti  Prantik Janavikash Samity
 Sarada Ramkrishna ( Sishu o Mahila) Sevashram  Ramkrishna Vivekananda Charitable Trust
 Divya Chaya Trust  Saswato Keka
 Cini Asha  ASHA
 Keliapathar Sabuj Sangha And Library  


Maharashtra State committee meeting
                       
Members of Maharashtra state committee met on 14th February 2007 to discuss the role of state committee in scrutinizing membership application form and also to decide on the approach to do it. Members present for the state committee were I.A.P.A, Childline India foundation, Ambuja cement foundation, Apnalaya and NASEOH. We convey special thanks to APNALAYA for providing the space and refreshment for the meeting.

Workshop on training of assessors

Credibility Alliance and YASHADA conducted a workshop with 20 participants to discuss on accreditation process, methodology, role of assessors, terminologies to be used, time frame for accreditation, role of capacity building agencies, role of planning commission, legal issues and most importantly the purpose behind accreditation. Overall, this workshop was a learning experience for YASHADA and Credibility Alliance. Based on the discussion we will be finalizing our assessment form and also the assessors for accreditation of voluntary organizations in Maharashtra.

BENEFITS OF CREDIBILITY ALLIANCE MEMBERSHIP

 

  • Recognition as being committed to a set of norms that ensures accountability, good governance and transparency within their organization.

  • Access to capacity-building support to meet the requirements specified in the norms.

  • Free services rendered by the Alliance, such as listing your organization in the ‘Organizational Profile’ on the Alliance’s website. 

  • Concession in accreditation fees, when it commences.

  • Prospects of attracting greater financial and other forms of support, from different stakeholders, including the government and other donors.

  • Opportunities to influence the policies and procedures of grant-making agencies including the government.

  • Networking opportunities within a large membership base.

  • A sense of belonging in broad and collective efforts to bring greater credibility to the sector as a whole.

    • LETS JOIN HANDS TO MAKE A POSITIVE CHANGE FOR A WELL GOVERNED AND TRUSTWORTHY VOLUNTARY SECTOR IN INDIA !

    Click here to download membership form

    Voluntary sector across the globe….






    		 

    Credibility Alliance and Packard Foundation organized Workshops in Bihar and Jharkhand on norms of good governance

    Credibility Alliance and Packard Foundation organized workshops at Patna, Bihar and Ranchi, Jharkhand on 20th and 21st February 2007 respectively. The workshop was mainly to introduce Credibility Alliance norms and promote membership. Total 41 voluntary organizations participated in two meetings and discussed the norms of good governance.  

                                  
    Seminar organized in Bangalore to promote Credibility Alliance


    Mr. Praveen (RC-South)
    making a presentation
    on Credibility Alliance
    The Seminar was organized to promote Credibility Alliance norms for good governance and membership with organizations in Bangalore. We also conducted separate session on preparing a Good Annual Report with the help of Murray Culshaw Consultancy (MCC), discussion on Corporate Social responsibility and accountability by Mr. Peter Yorke, i-flex solutions, need for good governance standards and the expectations of funding agencies from their perspective by Mr.Madhi Zaghan, CBM and on norms of credibility alliance by Mr. R. Ramachandran, ADD India.

     
    We extend our special thanks to Karnataka Ad-hoc committee members Mr. Ramachandran (ADD INDIA) and Ms. Mary Paul (Vatsalya) for providing their invaluable support to us. We also express our sincere gratitude to Medico Pastoral Association for providing the meeting hall and ADD India for sponsoring lunch, tea and snacks
    Mr.Ramachandran, Director ADD India (Extreme left)
    and participants
    from CBM, Vatsalya Read centre, Accenture, Sukrupa

    Credibility Alliance – Eastern region participated in Kolkata Marathon

    Mr. Robert Dequadros, our regional coordinator for Credibility Alliance east region participated in Kolkata Marathon On Sunday February 25, 2007 primarily to   sensitize the corporate presence to CA and to raise funds for the upkeep of the Eastern Region office. We raised a small amount for CA-east office but more than that we received full cooperation from our member organizations. We thank our our state committee members for their cooperation.

    Norms committee meeting

    Continuing with the discussion on revision on CA norms for good governance and incorporating norms for performance evaluation, norms committee members met on 3rd March 2007 at CA Mumbai office. Mr. B.N.Makhija, Mr. Venkat Krishnan, Dr. Armaity Desai, Mr. Murray Culshaw, Mr. Joe Madiath, Mr. Rajan Rao Yerdoor, Ms. Alpa Vora, Ms. Helen Joseph, Dr. Rajashree Mahtani, Ms. Rewati Bhagwat along with programme officers of Credibility Alliance participated in the discussion.


    Mr. Robert Dequadros, Regional Coordinator
    - east region during Kolkata Marathon
    Questions / comments/ contributions?
    Credibility Alliance is a registered organization under Societies Registration Act (XXI) of 1860. As an independent, voluntary (not for profit) organization, we aim at building trust among the stakeholders of an organization such as staff, the Board, donors, volunteers, the general public and the media. We do this by advocating norms for public disclosure and good governance that will help organizations become more transparent and accountable to their stakeholders. The draft of our norms was published in 2003 in English and later translated into six other languages - Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. More than 15000 copies of this booklet have been distributed.
    To know more about us please write at:
    Credibility Alliance 3rd Floor, West Khetwadi Municipal School, Lane# 5, Back Road Khetwadi, Mumbai -400004. Ph: 022-23894046/47
    Visit us at: www.credall.org.in