From:EurActiv:
After concerns expressed by the Council of Europe and European NGOs, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a controversial bill on nongovernmental organisations to be "thorougly revised".
More: here: After European pressure, Putin announces softer NGO law
Apologies for the problems with our main web site (www.volresource.org.uk and similar) on Thursday 1st Dec. Our web server hosting arrangement got its electrons in a twist for a few hours. Everyhting was back to normal late evening.
From The Guardian:
The current ban on political advertising prevents all "political" organisations from advertising on TV or radio. The Communications Act 2003, which contains the ban, defines political to include any organisation whose main aim is "to influence public opinion on a matter of controversy". A definition which, were it not for their overriding profit motive, could even include newspapers. It certainly includes a huge number of campaigning organisations which would not usually be thought of as political organisations; the RSPCA, Amnesty International and the Make Poverty History campaign, whose memorable finger-click ad was confined to cinemas - where the ban does not apply - after being bumped from television by the media regulator, Ofcom.
See the rest of the piece: SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Voluntary sector | Media law : Remove the charity gag
From xPRESS digest:
The National Trust is launching a nationwide training campaign to help its staff and volunteers learn how to make and receive calls through RNID Typetalk, the specialist telephone service for people with communication difficulties.
xPRESS Digest: RNID Typetalk Helps the National Trust Listen to Deaf Visitors
The second quarter of this year saw a significant drop in the number of requests made to the Government under the Freedom of Information Act, with 8,400 requests between April and June. This is a drop of 38% compared to the first quarter of the year, when the new law came in fully.
The Home Office and HM Treasury were the worst performing departments, responding to 44% and 46% of requests respectively within the required 20 day period.
Read more at:
English FoI requests down; Scotland launches "mini review" | eGov monitor
I don't think I'll be taking part in any charity cycle rides in Devon or Cornwall after 2 reports in 2 days on BBC news web pages:
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Devon | Officer dies on charity bike ride: A police officer has died after collapsing during a charity cycle ride in north Devon.
BBC NEWS | England | Cornwall | Charity cyclists injured in crash: Police in Cornwall said two charity cyclists have been seriously hurt in a collision on the A30 near Camborne.
From Reinventing Accountability for the 21st Century Simon Zadek - openDemocracy, on openDemocracy
"........The corporatist professionalism of many transnational civil society organisations embraces the very same undemocratic tendencies that brought them into being in the first place. Today’s “smart mobs” of internet-based, networked campaigners, have inherited the genes of self-centred, unaccountable individualism that has undermined traditional forms of collective action."
The article argues that there needs to be continuing accountability innovations to keep accountability of governments (and other insititutions) alive. Accountability21 conference seeks to explore new approaches.
There have been off and on arguments about the need for greater accountability of NGOs - not just about filing accounts. So may be one to watch.
Finally after 17 years CFDG, the body for charity finance directors, has dumped its ridiculous logo of a prancing knight. I never understood what that was meant to convey, other than an organisation stuck in the past (which is wasn't particularly).
To replace it they've gone for a moth eaten purple blob:
An improvement but hardly inspirational or memorable.
It may be rather an extreme example, but the loss of crucial documents by the Justice Center in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina shows the importance of thinking wide (even ''outside the box') when creating or updating a risk management policy. They may have not been able to do anything in practice due to lack of resources, or perhaps they could have come up with a way of protecting key material? Or maybe it was just down to a lack of urgency on such issues.
Read Clive Stafford Smith's piece in today's Guardian at this link:
Somehow we knew in our bones that the volunteering story line on ITV soap Coronation Street would start on the Bank Holiday. And tuned in just in time for a demonstration of how not to persuade people to volunteer to do a community clean-up.
This 'plot' is set to climax on September 18th. Not being a soap addict I doubt I'll be watching the episodes in between, so do let us know if anything exciting happens!
Time to trial a weblog associated with VolResource. More of a personal angle, and not necessarily of any practical use to anyone in the sector.