In 2018, CSB started a project that will eventually lead to the self-regulation of our Civil Society sector.  We intend to develop and promote a set of values intended to influence the governance, behaviour and practices of our sector.

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Self-regulation can be seen as an exercise of self-definition for the Civil Society sector as Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are helping develop their own standards rather than having them imposed by governments or donors.

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Self-regulation will also give our donors confidence that we are serious about our governance.

 

Establishing the self-regulation initiative must be a Civil Society-led process and we intend to closely involve our stakeholders as we craft the initiative.

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We expect the process to regulate our sector to take 3-5 years and will comprise of the following elements:

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Step 1: Establishing a self-regulation initiative’s principles and standards

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Step 2: Selecting a modality for a self-regulation initiative. We have a choice of  1/ Working groups, 2/ Information services, 3/ Awards, 4/ Codes of conduct or ethics, 4 a/ Code of Conduct with Compliance Mechanisms, 4b/ Code of Conduct with Sanction Mechanisms, 5a/ Certification or accreditation schemes, 5b Certification Scheme with Self-Assessment, 5c Certification Scheme with Peer Assessment, and 5d Certification Scheme with Third Party Accreditation.

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We have started the process by drafting the Principles and Standards, which can be found below.