This article argues that although the Paris Declaration is an important step in establishing an international consensus on aid, its ability to make aid work in the long term is questionable without the availability of publically available, reliable, qualitative and quantitative information on civil society organisations (CSOs). This type of transparency and accountability it is argued will serve to increase democratic ownership and accountability as well as provide a useful tool for donors, gov more...

This article examines the ways in which the charitable sector can be strengthened through some degree of income generation. However, it also argues that new ways of giving such as ‘philanthrocapitalism’ can ensure that the work being done by nonprofit organisations is not overshadowed because it can help socialise for profit activity. It also highlights how GuideStar can assist in this respect.

Authors: A. A-A. Hamada; G. Eid; M. Hakem
Publisher: The Initiative for an Open Arab Internet, 2007. Censorship in the Arab world is still rife, extending to all forms of media including print, television, radio and internet. However, the internet has also become a tool used to get around this censorship and for freedom of expression to find an outlet. This research looks at the extent to which electronic media has influenced the course of human rights in the Arab world and to what extent human more...

The Hungarian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MSAL) has published its database at http://www.civil.info.hu/modules/Orgs. It is the most comprehensive state database online at this moment and it collects and presents data from the following sources among others: the registry information from the ONJC, 1% allocations received by that organisation, grants and other financial supports coming from state institutions. The database in its current form is unfortunately not really valid, or compre more...

On April 8 the “DZI Spenden-Siegel Forum” was held in Berlin. This was the German team's mid-term event according to the eTEN requirement list for each participating country. Representatives from some of the biggest welfare organisations (Deutsche Welthungerhilfe), foundations (Bertelsmann Foundation), umbrella organisations (VENRO for the development organisations) as well as government representatives were among the more than 100 attendees.

Besides a presentation of the current progres more...

The August edition brings you some information on recent partners which utlise GuideStar information. This includes The Office of the Third Sector recent announcement that the forthcoming National Survey of Third Sector Organisations will be based on data provided by BMG Research and GuideStar UK. Birmingham University and Southampton University have been selected to run the new Third Sector Research Centre, with GuideStar UK which will deliver a number of programmes to help develop a robust bas more...

n March 14, 2007, the Carnegie Endowment hosted the event “Between Politics and Markets: How is China’s Media Evolving” with Hu Shuli, the founder and editor of Caijing Magazine. Carnegie Senior Associate and China Program Director Minxin Pei moderated the event.

Hu Shuli discussed the media in transition, the changes that have been made and the obstacles it still faces.

The July edition of the GuideStar International newsletter is now available. It gives some information on what GuideStar has been up to and features some interviews and information on what has been going on in the civil society realm

This article written by Marianna Török, Director of Emerging GuideStars talks about the way in which the absence of a legislative framework that enables disclosure of reports by civil society organisations is a major obstacle for countries seeking to implement databases based on the GuideStar model. However it also examines the ways in which voluntary databases can help overcome the problems faced and examines the prospects for Germany, Hungary and Palestine.

n relation to the World Press Freedom Day 2007 under the global theme Press Freedom, Safety of Journalists and Impunity, the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu asked the Forum of Development Journalists (FoDeJ) to undertake a ‘reality check’ on press freedom in post-conflict Nepal.
In order to give a voice to journalists working outside the Kathmandu valley, FoDeJ undertook a series of case studies in the mountains, hilly areas and the plains, covering all the development regions of Nepal.

Test more...