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Caux Round Table – http://www.cauxroundtable.org/index.cfm?&menuid=2
The Caux Round Table (CRT) is an international network of principled business leaders working to promote a moral capitalism. The CRT advocates implementation of the CRT Principles for Business through which principled capitalism can flourish and sustainable and socially responsible prosperity can become the foundation for a fair, free and transparent global society.
http://www.cauxroundtable.org/index.cfm?&menuid=101
Caux Round Table Principles for
Non-Governmental Organizations – NGOs
Introduction
Persuaded by experience that a person’s
moral sense contributes to success in business
endeavors, in 1994 the Caux Round Table
published its Principles for Business as a
world standard against which business
behavior could be measured.
The CRT Principles do not only reflect a
concern with the ways business is done, but also
with its objectives. Although the prime
responsibility for creating a just society does not
lie with corporations, it is the firm
belief of the Caux Round Table that corporations can
and should make a contribution to this
objective, reflecting their role and position in
society.
In our world it is governments that
primarily have a duty to create the fundamental
conditions for establishing a better world
in terms of the requisite laws, (national)
security, health, safety, equity,
education, communication, technology, transportation, et
cetera. To support governments in this
respect and to help them focus on the core
elements to do their jobs well the Caux
Round Table advocates certain ethical Principles
for Government.
The reason for developing the Principles
for Government in addition to the 1994
Principles for Business lies in the belief
of the Caux Round Table that business and
government need to co-operate and
co-ordinate their efforts if prosperity is to be created
for the benefit of all. The CRT principles
derive from two ethical ideals: “Kyosei” and
“Human Dignity”. The Japanese concept of
“Kyosei” means living and working together
for the common good while the moral vision
of “Human Dignity” refers to the sacredness
or value of each person as an end in
itself.
The rise of NGOs
Recognizing that while both business and
governments are quintessential in the
promotion of a better world, the set of
responsible global actors is not complete without
referring to the role and responsibility
of the third major player in a dynamic world: civil
society.
Especially in the United States, Canada,
Australia, and the European Union, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) are a basic form of
participation and representation
in the world today. Some are known on a
national or international level, such as CARE,
Oxfam, Save the Children, Medicins sans
Frontières, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace,
Amnesty International, Transparency
International, or WWF. A vast majority, however,
is and will always be unknown to the
general public. There is no way to reliably estimate
the numbers of NGOs in the various
countries around the world, although one thing is
sure: the numbers have vastly grown over
the years. Hundreds of thousands of NGOs
actively promote their objectives and, as
they see it, appropriate objectives for society –
be it local or at large.
Many NGOs have become large and
financially as wealthy as many corporations. Their
management by appropriate ethical
principles can be enhanced by experiences drawn
from business with regard to the CRT Principles
for Business. Further, many NGOs seek
to partner with businesses, seeking from
business both financial contributions and likeminded
engagement in remediation of
environmental, social, cultural, and other aspects
of civil society. Businesses much prefer
to partner with those NGOs that adhere to high
standards of ethics, transparency, and
accountability in the conduct of their affairs.
Business expectations of NGO performance
can be met by implementation of ethical
principles specially designed for NGOs. By
following such principles, NGOs can more
easily win the trust of business.
In the world of today it is a good thing
that civil society has organized itself to counter
and balance the dominant economic and
political forces of business and government.
NGOs – as part of civil society –play an
important role in stimulating business and
government to become more transparent in
their operations and the direct and indirect
effects of these operations. In
challenging their counterparts it is evident that what NGOs
demand corporations and governments to do
– that is, become more transparent and
accountable – also applies to their own
behavior. Based on the notion of reciprocity
NGOs may, therefore, expect to be
questioned on, for instance, the legitimacy of their
causes, the representation of their
audiences, or the efficacy of their programs, projects,
or actions.
In the United States, recent scandals
involving NGO management at reputable NGOs
such as The United Way, the Nature
Conservancy, the American Red Cross, have led to
demands for more regulation of NGO
behavior by the federal Congress along the lines of
the recent Sarbanes-Oxley regulation of
business corporations. Calls for increased
regulation of NGOs have been heard in the
European Parliament as well. Amnesty
International, Oxfam, Greenpeace and 9
other NGOs recently announced their
commitment to abide by a set of guidelines
for responsible practices.
Definition of NGOs
The multitude of NGOs and the wide variety
of causes they promote make it hard to
define what an NGO is. A definition may,
however, not be necessary to describe their
function in society. It is assumed that
NGOs function to serve social or environmental
objectives, empower people, engage in
advocacy for change, and provide services. In
doing so NGOs have formal characteristics
aimed at their survival as an organization.
They are or aspire to be self-governing on
the basis of their own constitutional
arrangements. They are private in that
they are separate from governments, while at the
same time not being focused on profit.
Their objectives usually have a time frame of at
least a few years. Often the time frame is
longer, like in the case of respecting human
rights, defending the rain forest or
combating poverty.
NGOs combine aspects of government –
either through the source of their funding or in
their advocacy of specific public goods –
with aspects of business – they are privately
owned and managed and must respond to the
market demands of prospective donors in
securing financial support. NGOs are
quasi-public corporations but are free of direct
responsibility to the public either as
voters or as consumers. Thus, a set of ethical
principles reflective of the unique hybrid
public/private nature of NGOs is an appropriate
complement to ethical guidelines for the
use of power by governments and private
businesses.
Principles for NGO’s
To further dialogue on NGO responsibility
– and as a contribution to a wider public
debate – the Caux Round Table proposes a
set of Principles for NGOs. More than a strict
set of rules the Principles set out a
number of topics that may require attention and
reflection from the NGO community and
their stakeholders – for the sake of a more just
global community.
The Principles
Recognition
Business organizations and governments are
dominant players in the current world order.
The welfare and well-being of society
largely depends on their efforts and contributions.
Since the world community is so dependent
on businesses and governments, the question
rises to what extent these organizations
are controlled by society. In the world of today
the function of non-governmental
organizations – as part of civil society – is generally
recognized in establishing necessary
checks and balances that help to sustain the earth on
which we live and the global community
that we are all part of.
NGOs play a very important role in serving
the social and environmental needs of society
both directly and indirectly. Directly
they offer relief, for instance in case of emergencies
or disasters. Indirectly, it is the
conviction of the Caux Round Table that NGOs
meaningfully contribute to:
the awareness of social and environmental
needs by business, governments,
multilateral organizations, and the public
at large,
the social and environmental performance
of these parties to meet the needs, and
the accountability of these parties to
their stakeholders.
In doing so, and based on their
principles, convictions and the individual conscience of
their members or representatives, NGOs
might want to change or get into conflict with
the existing national and international
laws.
To reinforce NGO recognition in society
and to establish credibility and trustworthiness
with business, governments and the general
public the Caux Round Table has drafted a
set of voluntary Principles for
Non-Governmental Organizations. It is not our intention to
prescribe what may be expected from NGOs
and what not. Being an NGO and having a
tradition in participating in the debate
on responsibility in our global society, it makes
sense to also address issues around NGO
responsibility.
Fundamental Principle
Integrity
A non-governmental organization will
recognize that it is a quasi-public entity entrusted
with resources and reputational prestige
in order that it may better seek to achieve
meritorious objectives aligned with a
common good. The actions of an NGO will be
consistent with its core aspirations and
its leadership and staff will not use their position
for personal advantage of any kind, and
especially for inappropriate personal financial
gain. Fidelity to their trust and due care
in the execution of their mission are the
hallmarks of responsible NGOs.
Derived Principles
Public Benefit
A non-governmental organization will
recognize that it and all its actions and endeavors
reflect the interests and values of the
people who fund, organize, operate, or in any way
support the organization, as well as the
social, cultural, political, economic, and
environmental interests that such people
seek to serve. An NGO serves as agent for
privately selected but publicly
acknowledged common goods and social purposes. An
NGO should promote a wider cause than its
own continuity by seeking to achieve public
goods or contribute to social or natural
capital. In doing so it must be aware of how its
actions affect the peoples, communities,
and natural resources it seeks to promote or
preserve.
Transparency
Every non-governmental organization has a
mission for which it mobilizes support,
influences governments, international
organizations and corporations, raises funds,
educates the public, dedicates resources,
and represents its members, its beneficiaries, its
donors or its stakeholders in a wider
sense. To the extent that an NGO influences other
parties in society to further its
objectives it will – as a mark of the quality of its approach
– be transparent regarding:
its mission and objectives,
its values and principles,
its governance,
its actions, and
its means to achieve its objectives.
Scrutiny is only restricted to protect
legitimate expectations of personal privacy or to
sustain the confidentiality that is
required in the organization’s daily operations.
In addition, in dealing with governments,
corporations, international organizations, a nongovernmental
organization is always clear and honest
about the interests it represents and
the extent to which it speaks on behalf of
members, donors, beneficiaries, or other
stakeholders.
Participatory Governance
A non-governmental organization will
recognize that it is an active and participatory
process of freely chosen volunteerism
through which individuals express themselves and
contribute their efforts and financial
resources to bring about specified public benefits.
The governance of an NGO will, therefore,
abide by the highest fiduciary obligations of
transparency, accountability, loyalty and
due care in decision-making and fund
management. An NGO will communicate on a
regular basis with those parties it
represents, its stakeholders, and will
provide those to whom it owes duties of
representation with sufficient
opportunities to react to its objectives, activities, and
communications. Those touched by the
actions of an NGO - its stakeholders - must be in
a position to take cognizance of, assess
and influence, an NGO’s constitution, structures
and systems, intentions, activities and
impact.
Independence
A non-governmental organization will
disclose all legal, organizational or financial ties
with corporations, governments, or other
organizations that may materially affect the
intentions, activities and impact of the
NGO.
Respect for the law
In its operations an NGO demonstrates a
general respect for the law – international as
well as national. It takes notice of all
legal issues and obligations relevant to its decision
making. In case an NGO decides to ignore
legal obligations it will be accountable for the
decision taken.
Care
An NGO will recognize that its policies
and activities are a legitimate subject of public
comment and analysis. It is therefore
willing to engage in reasoned discourse regarding
its mission and objectives, values,
principles, governance, actions, and means used to
achieve its objectives. When engaging in
advocacy, an NGO will always in good faith
present accurate facts and truthful
information. When planning its actions or executing its
policies, an NGO will demonstrate
enlightened care and concern for those whose
interests will be affected by its
contemplated actions. In case an NGO inflicts damage
upon a government, international
organization, corporation, or other party, it will be
accountable for its actions.
Accountability
A non-governmental organization will
produce on a regular basis – but no less then once
a year – a public (web-based) report on
all activities it has undertaken to realize its
mission and its stated objectives. The
report contains adequate and sufficient information
for the stakeholders to take cognizance of
and to evaluate the NGO’s:
organization,
activities,
programs,
fund raising, and
financial performance.