Governance System and Tools
Governance & Professional Practices (GPP) is an independent voluntary-based certification system which is hosted by the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC) and GPP works as secretariat. GPP is symbol of trust in strengthening good governance, professionalism, accountability and transparency within NGO operating in Cambodia through the Standards of Good Governance and Professional Practice for NGOs in Cambodia and Voluntary Certification System (VCS).
The Standards of Good Governance and Professional Practice for NGOs in Cambodia has been developed since 2005 through widely consultations with CSOs, development partners, and government. This is the third edition. It contains six (6) headings, 25 standards, 71 indicators, and 65 guidelines. Please click here English, Khmer.
Since mid-2007, a Certification System has been in place in order to support any interest NGOs and Associations to comply with the standards. The VCS contains:
- A set of prerequisite requirements
- Application form
- Benefits of VCS.
NGOs wishing to apply must first review the prerequisite requirements to see if they are eligible to submit an application. Once the applicant completes the required documentation, this is sent to GPP in the required format and sequence.
A preliminary review of documents is done by the certification officers; if the requirements are met, then the application is reviewed by the Working Group. A field check is the next step and assessed by voluntary field assessors and GPP team. The field check team will meet a group of staffs, management, board of director, beneficiary, and partners (Donors/Government) of the applicant NGO. The findings from the field visit are then presented to the NGO Code Compliance Committee (NCCC), which has the responsibility to do a final review. This may either result in the Certification being awarded, or recommendations to meet Standards that are only partially fulfilled. These recommendations need to be addressed by the NGO applicant within a specified time period. If these recommendations are not met within 12 months, then the application process begins again with a new submission (re-apply).
Currently, certification has a three year validity period. Certified NGOs (CNGOs) are required to submit each year an annual report and audit report, as well as any new policy that they develop. A follow up visit during the interim period is also scheduled, to assess challenges and continuing compliance with the Standards. If it is shown by the supporting documentation that the CNGO continues to maintain the Standards required to achieve certification, they will be re-certified for a further three years. However, if it is clear (or there is doubt) that the CNGO has not maintained all of the standards, the Certification officers will work with the NCCC to investigate further to determine whether the CNGO should be de-certified. The procedure to de-certification will follow the steps on the complaint policy.
GPP supported by two independent committees: Working Group (WG) and NGO Code Compliance Committee (NCCC). Working Group (WG) is the independent committee involved in the screening of applications, assessing compliance, advising the NGO GPP Certification staff. NGO Code Compliance Committee (NCCC) is the independent committee to who makes final decision on GPP Application either to recommend fulfillment or approve certification.
