Registry of third sector organisations coming soon

A registry listing third sector organisations will soon be coming on stream in Barbados, to ensure a greater level of transparency, trust and legitimacy for those operating in this sector.

Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations, Colin Jordan pointed out the above, as he spoke during a Panel Discussion focusing on the engagement between Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Government, which formed part of the recent Closeout Workshop for USAID’s Local Capacity for Local Solutions Project. That event was held at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel.

“We will be creating a unit which will have a registry. The intention is to have registry of third sector organisations – civil society, faith-based, community-based organisations, NGOs – a register for those organisations, and we will be insisting on good governance, effectively demonstrated by some kind of organisational structure, also financial statements on an annual basis,” Jordan revealed.

He noted that audits for larger organisations will be required, whilst smaller organisations will be allowed to have financial reviews due to their size and the costs involved in having audits carried out.

There will also be a process of appeal for those who may be de-listed or taken off of the register due to non-compliance, Minister Jordan also stated.

“If an organisation is going to be taken off the register, de-listed, there must be recourse to appeal and the structure will include a mechanism such as that,” Jordan added.

“So what we are doing is building a structure, a framework that will assist in the process of ensuring the legitimacy that is necessary, because we have found that is one of the areas that has created some difficulty,” he further explained.

This will also augur well for civil society organisations seeking funding from international donors, who will now be able to ascertain how legitimate they are.

“NGOs and CBOs here can write a good proposal, but there needs to be the trust element that says to potential donors, this is a legitimate organisation. This is an organisation that the public understands is working to better some area of need, in the country,” Minister Jordan commented. (RSM)