Global Perspectives – why we need to say “Yes!” more often

Discover this ideal resource for boards everywhere, includes a chapter by our founder and former Executive Director: Burkhard Gnärig on International Civil Society Organisation governance.

About the book

There are at least 10 million Civil Society Organizations (CSO)s in the world, each of them with a board composed of individuals doing their best to govern well and wisely. There is no single model of governance to emulate, but are there universal principles and practices that can help boards everywhere perform at the highest level.

This book takes us for a trip around the world to look at what is working for boards. Its discoveries will help not only boards, but also nonprofit staff leaders seeking to assist their boards to optimal performance, and capacity-builders looking to strengthen their civil society sector.

Even if your organizational concerns extend no further than city boundaries, this book is for you. One of the greatest governance challenges today is a lack of diversity on the board. This can seriously hamper an organization’s ability to realize its mission and to understand and serve its community. Reading this book will provide a greater understanding of how the cultural context affects governance and will sensitize the reader to different ways of thinking about governance.

Global Best Practices For CSO, NGO and Other Nonprofit Boards presents case studies from different parts of the world that illustrate effective practice, identifies and discusses interesting and significant differences, and explores global governance trends with implications for us all.

• Tests for universal truths about roles, responsibilities and practices using criteria established by BoardSource, the premier voice on nonprofit governance
• Provides information that builds exceptional nonprofit boards
• Discusses cultural differences in governance that will help all boards to better function in increasingly diverse environments
• Offers inspiration to NGO boards in any part of civil society
• Reflects on the future of governance worldwide

If you’re a capacity-builder, a board member, or an executive leader looking for guidance on governance, this is the book you’ll want to have on hand.

Where to purchase this book

• Find it on Amazon DE
• Find it on Amazon US

Welcome to the International Civil Society Centre’s new website!

As we head into the Centre’s next decade we offer a virtual entry point into our work, which is modern and easy to use. We hope that you like it and find what you are looking for (and more than that)! Help us with your feedback or questions, and do get in touch!

Over 30 representatives from International Civil Society Organisations gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh for the Leave No One Behind Annual Meeting between 2 – 3 May. The group focussed on the progress made in the project’s pilot countries* and developing a joint political message, for the high-level political forum, from the initial key findings.

The next phase of the project pilot will involve rolling out the projects unique data collaboration between country offices of ICSOs. The aim is to ensure the recognition and validation of community-based data in the official SDG implementation of the five pilot countries. This will achieve the project’s main target: to make sure that people’s voices are heard, understood and acted upon.

Wolfgang Jamann, International Civil Society Centre Executive Director, said:

“The SDGs were created in the spirit of “leaving no one behind”. This means that they will only be considered fulfilled if all goals are reached, for everyone – especially those who live at the margins of society.

“This project is about raising the voices of those marginalised people around the world. By bringing together the wealth of evidence that is being collected by international civil society organisations we can put their voices at the centre of SDG implementation.

“Collectively, as a coalition, we have made some huge strides since this project started last year. The project shows that when leading ICSOs connect, they can go beyond organisational limits. By collaborating, we stand a better chance of reaching the SDG targets in more places. That can only be a positive thing.”

Peter Koblowsky, Leave No One Behind Project Manager, said:

“I am really pleased with the progress we have made in the two days. Our next steps will focus on consolidating country-level experiences and findings. This will help us to refine our planned activities and develop a scaling-up strategy for the project to be carried out in an increased number of countries, thereby reaching more marginalised communities around the globe. In addition, the outcomes from Dhaka will be used to prepare a joint message to be delivered at the High Level Political Forum. I hope that our common effort will be a success, so that the voices of the most marginalised around the world will be heard and make a difference in the implementation of the SDGs.”

*Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Kenya and India