In its recently revealed 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International ranked 180 nations in terms of corruption. On a 0-to-10 scale, with 10 being the least corrupt, 129 of the 180 nations scored below five. New Zealand topped the list as least corrupt, followed by Denmark and Singapore, while Somalia sat at the bottom, followed by Afghanistan and Somalia. For full list of the nations, see http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table.(Read more...)

Almost 3,000 child soldiers who served in the Maoist rebel army during Nepal’s decade-long civil war, which ended in 2006, will be released from Maoist camps and provided educational and training programs.(Read more...)

"Dance of the Four Veils," is a Tom Ahern article that articulates the essential skills of communicating the value of your NGO's work in terms of avoiding four common pitfalls. Among these four "interest-draining veils" to eschew are such as "avoiding conflict and controversy, the essence of drama," "tendency toward bland language rather than vivid words," and "faint appreciation of the emotional aspect of the human response."(Read more...)

WANGO often is contacted by individuals checking on an NGO's legitimacy or reporting a horrific experience volunteering abroad with a less-than-reputable organization. How does one tell if an organization is legitimate? Please review this article for some pointers.(Read more...)

A survey of almost 4,000 people in the USA shows that 72% have cut back on the time they spend volunteering and other civic activities. This is overwhelmingly attributed to the recession. Volunteerism remains highest among younger people, with online activism playing a role: Those using online social networks were more likely to get involved. (Read more...)

In Africa, about 3,000 children under of the age of five die every day from malaria. Inexpensive drugs are rarely effective in Africa. However there is a new magic bullet: a new type of mosquito net that is effective for up to five years. The aim of WHO is to have everyone in Africa sleeping under such a net by the end of 2010, with the goal of cutting the disease in half. (Read more...)

The recent devastating flooding in the Philippines was met by a quick response by WANGO member CDR and its director Dr. Ron Patterson. CDR conducted a needs assessment in the affected areas and volunteer teams are working with local NGOs to provide food, clean water, medical care and other emergency relief services. WANGO members in the Philippines should contact CDR if they would like to partner to provide relief to the thousand of homeless disaster victims.(Read more...)

Spiraling food prices among other factors have resulted in a record-breaking 1 billion people going hungry and 30 countries in need of immediate emergency aid. Many families are unable to provide one healthy meal a day for their children, despite cutting down on such expenditures as schooling and medical care.(Read more...)

In recent years, online social networking sites have experienced explosive growth, becoming a major phenomenon in the new millennium and a popular work tool among NGOs. Nonprofits are increasingly embracing social networks in order to promote awareness, recruit followers, and raise money. But, are social networks actually effective in carrying out such goals? Which network or networks are best used? This article seeks to help NGOs answer these two questions. (Read more...)

Assessed by Cone and Intangible Business, YMCA’s brand, with a worth of about $6.4 billion, heads the list of the top 100 nonprofit brands in the USA. It was followed by Salvation Army ($4.7 billion), and United Way ($4.5 billion), with other notable brands including Feed the Children (15th on the list), World Vision (20th), Save the Children (28th), Rotary (49th), and Oxfam (88th).(Read more...)

For six weeks this summer, Mr. Mohammed Attah, WANGO’s Africa Regional Coordinator, attended a training in India at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India. Here he joined NGO leaders from various parts of the world in the Management of NGOs program, where he also served as a group leader and offered talks on networking and volunteering. The following is his press release, presented in India at the successful conclusion of his program. (Read more...)

About 200,000 political prisoners are estimated to be in the vast hard-labor camps in the mountains of North Korea. While these prison camps have never been visited by outsiders, testimonies have been culled from survivors and former guards.(Read more...)

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has offered severance packages to 40% of its staff (68 of 167 employees) as a result of losing approximately 30% of its asset base as a result of the recession. The economic downturn also has led to 11% of the staff at the Ford Foundation accepting voluntary severance packages, with one-third of its 550 staff offered such packages.(Read more...)

Network for Good has published a new (free) 40-page email outreach guide on 7 steps to better email fundraising and communications. It includes strategy, tips, and templates to create email campaigns.(Read more...)

WANGO's initiative to rebuild the earthquake destroyed village of Ngelepen in Indonesia was recently the focus of a cover story in the June issue of Concrete International. (Read more...)

NGOs have embraced social networks like Facebook and Twitter as a panacea for their causes. However, a report in the Chronicle of Philanthropy notes that a recent survey of nonprofit officials indicated few groups have attracted many supporters or raised much money via such means. (Read more...)

Jeff Skoll, the first president of eBay, has donated $100 million to start a new foundation to address urgent threats like water shortages, pandemics and the Middle East conflict. The Skoll Urgent Threats Fund joins the Skoll Foundation as two philanthropic organizations created by Jeff Skoll. (Read more...)

Convened on the theme "Values & Ethics in Development," the 3rd NGO Forum was held May 10-11 in Cairo. Unveiled at the event was a draft Code of Ethics and Conduct for Egyptian NGOs, designed to help guide Egyptian civil society organizations.(Read more...)

Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson of the Global March Against Child Labor, reflects on the current status of a world where millions of children are enslaved, trafficked, sold and bought like animals -- and sometimes worse than animals. This address was presented at WANGO's World Congress of NGOs in Toronto.(Read more...)

As the global economic crisis is beginning to hurt funding for nonprofits, charitable organizations are now targeting the large, newly affluent middle class in India. India's economic boon in recent years has lead to a middle class of about 200 million people, and charities are finding these people wanting to be part of the solution and responsive to telemarketing, direct mail and face-to-face approaches. (Read more...)

It is often noted that nonprofits/foundations should be "more like business" and that they require oversight from legislators and bureaucrats. Grant Oliphant, writing for the Chronicle of Philanthropy, offers alternative views to these two "myths" and instead states that business and government leaders need to be the students.(Read more...)

Noting that "it is sick that we should even need to write a report about slavery in the 21st Century," the UN Office on Drugs and Crime released its Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. This reports paints a picture of a shadowy form of human slavery little understood by governments, and only rarely adequately tackled.(Read more...)

Trafficking in persons, a threat to the lives and rights of human beings, is a multi-dimensional worldwide phenomenon. WANGO author Joanna Moshman explores this serious problem in the 2009 Winter issue of Beyond Boundaries, with excepts available here.(Read more...)

In his 2009 annual letter, Bill Gates outlined work on his twin passions of health and development in the poorest nations and education in the U.S. The Gates foundation already has accomplished much and with endowment assets of 38.7 billion dollars, and plans to spend 3.8 billion in 2009, it is seeking much more staggering results in the world of vaccines, health, and food production. (Letter here: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/annual-letter/Pages/2009-annual-letter-introduction.aspx)(Read more...)

With the economy in tatters, Zimbabwe is now dealing with a cholera epidemic, on top of a hunger crisis, the highest inflation in the world, AIDS crisis, and severe shortages of necessities. Cholera is spreading rapidly in this nation, as the health care system, once one of the best in sub-Saharan Africa, is now crumbling, combined with a lack of clean water, and raw sewage in the streets.(Read more...)

Far too often, grant recipients miss the opportunity to show gratitude to their funders during the holidays. This article, by Dr. Vanessa O'Neal, Founder of Families 4 Life, deals with holiday etiquette and some examples of how organizations receiving funding acknowledge the generosity of their funders.(Read more...)