UK Charity legislation is ok, regulation is pretty poor, but when it comes to legislation and regulation of UK Charities working overseas it is completely absent.

Good charities will always be good charities even without the legislation to make them, they will operate honestly, ethically and morally and do all they can to ensure that they do no harm. Unfortunately when it is so easy to be a charity, earn money from being a charity, and wrongdoing to be excused without punishment, it follows that not all charities are good.

UK charity guidance for charities working overseas centres only on protecting the charities finances with special mention given to ensuring a charity does not finance terrorists. There is no guidance on how to work ethically, no information on the impact charity projects can have in the developing world, no guidance regarding the duty of care UK charities should employ in the areas they work etc.

If working with partners UK charities are only advised to work within a partnership agreement, it’s a should and not a must and so charities don’t have to and many do not. This leaves partners and communities vulnerable to unethical practice.

The Charity Commission produce a standard outline partnership agreement, we believe all charities working with overseas partners must use this basic outline at the very least.

No reference is made to the role the Charity Commission would play if a UK charity broke a partnership agreement with an NGO overseas without due cause.

Experience has shown that the Charity Commission will support a UK charity to terminate a partnership (with or without an agreement) without ensuring the UK charity behaved honestly and ethically in doing so. In such cases the Charity Commission do not communicate with the partner or request or consider information or evidence from the partner. Any consideration is one sided and always supports the UK charity’s action. We conclude that a partnership agreement is only there to protect the UK charity and will always allow and support the UK charity to terminate without due cause or reason. The UK charity is always right ! 

The Charity Commission under its regulatory role does absolutely nothing to prevent harm or abuse by UK charities working overseas. All guidance is focussed on minimising the risk to the UK charity (eg:PESTLE) and its finances. Our regulations offer no real support, advice or guidance about working with NGO’s other than watch your money. There is no consideration given to NGO’s supposedly in partnerships (but could be servitude) in developing countries who may be the victims. There is no means of redress, when a UK Charity does not exist physically or legally in a country. A partner NGO can do nothing if a UK charity bullies, abuses or withdraws funding on a whim. The Charity Commission and our guidance and legislation only protects a Charity it does not protect the concept of charity. There is no route for a partner NGO to complain to the Charity Commission about the behaviour of a UK Charity (the only body that can act) and no means of legal redress in their own country. Our own inbuilt attitudes and unconscious belief that charities ‘do good’ can mean that attempts to address the bullying or harm by charities overseas is often seen as people ‘biting the hand that feeds them’

Our Charity Commission by its lack of guidance and lack of regulation does nothing to support charities to get it right and actually enables UK charities to get it wrong.

The countries that are most in need of ‘our’ charity resources are in the developing world and the communities UK charities work in and with, are always economically vulnerable. Therefore charity partner NGO’s do not have the resources or money to fight exploitation. When the relationship is one of benefactor and beneficiary there is a clear power imbalance. A recent written statement from the Charity Commission said that an overseas ‘partner’ (their inverted commas) is responsible for carrying out a UK charity’s activities ‘in the field’ (their inverted commas) on behalf of the UK charity ie: its role is solely to work for the UK charity, so not do their own work, run their own project etc . This is not how the Charity Commission define or describe a partner or working with a partner in their published guidance but maybe that guidance does not refer to partners in the developing world?

We believe that in a civilised society this is not morally acceptable. We do not believe that charity should be the wealthy doing what they think is best for the poor, charity should only be done with and not done to.

Partnerships must be about working together and not the poor partner working for the richer. We do not believe that charity should be used as a tool to create dependence, unconditional gratitude or servitude. We do not believe that when beneficiaries will not do exactly as they are told (eg: even if doing it would break their countries laws) that a Charity should be able to remove the funding and support with the full support of the Charity Commission. The concept of charity is greater than that. When this abuse is accepted and supported by our charity commission and their regulation and guidance then it is appalling and a national disgrace.