SWC starts homework on NGO Code of Conduct

As stated in the concept paper of the 10th five-year plan made public in 2002 the Social Welfare Council (SWC) has started homework to draft the code of conduct aimed at regulating the NGOs and INGOs.

The SWC, which monitors the activities of NGOs, organized a meeting of representatives of various ministries on Sunday to discuss the points to be incorporated in the proposed code of conduct.

Officials claimed that the code of conduct would be focused on controlling misuse of funds and ensure proper utilization of resources for the advantage of the target groups and also make NGOs accountable and their works more transparent in order to develop result-oriented auditing system.

The new codes, officials said, would also prevent NGOs and INGOs from leaking crucial information that may harm the interest of the nation and security system.

Talking to Nepalnews, Sharad Sharma, SDC member secretary, said, "We have been seeking response and suggestions from NGOs in the process of formulation of the code of conduct and we will welcome all the suggestions and incorporate them in the codes.”

"NGOs and INGOs have no reason to panic just because the code of conduct is being brought into force. In fact we are getting positive response from them," he claimed and added that the code of conduct was being designed under an ‘umbrella concept’ covering all the Acts, rules and regulation governing the social welfare section. It will not overlap any existing code and conduct, he said.

According to Sharma, the code of conduct is likely to be introduced within the month of Kartik (Oct-Nov) this Nepali year. This will be the first code of conduct prepared by SWC so far. nepalnews.com Neetu Dubey Sep 11 05