By: Baquer Namazi, Director of the Iran NGO Initiative and Senior Adviser to the Population Council

Recent Trends Focus on People’s participation Impact of global policies President Khatami’s Policy Elections and Local Councils Coordinating Council of NGOs NGO Law Reform

NGOs in Iran Environmental NGOs501 Women NGOs300 Youth NGOs 2,500 (1000 registered) Scientific115 Cultural and Artistic2181 CharitiesAlmost 5,000 Community Funds Almost 10,000 50% of NGOs (over 7,000) were set up during the last four years.

Percent Distribution of Iranian NGOs by Year of Establishment

Challenges facing NGOs Structural and legal constraints Conflicting policies and bad practices Govt’s role as heavy handed control agent Serious obstacles to interactive international cooperation, e.g. to resources; GINGOs Role of traditional CBOs neglected

Internal Problems 1. Insufficient professionalism and participatory management systems 2. Weak technical and financial capabilities 3. Affinity with the communities weak 4. Scarcity and unreliability of information and data 5. Absence of culture of accountability and transparency 6. Lack of understanding with respect to role of NGOs 7. Strong Code of ethics needed

Opportunities Demand for democracy and participation Role of CSOs increasingly recognized Community participation, role of CSOs/NGOs and expatriate Iranians highlighted in Fourth Plan Growing confidence of CSOs/NGOs to challenge government policies Forums for dialogue by all stakeholders Several progressive Government voices

Opportunities (cont’d)- New visions linking research and advocacy to community-based action emerging More opportunities for expatriate Iranians More involvement of provincial CSOs New alliances involving diverse partners, World Bank, traditional philanthropists, multinationals

Cooperation possibilities: Types Training and capacity building Joint research projects Community-based initiatives Scientific and CSO exchange Information and experience sharing Networking EXPATRIATE IRANIANS AS BRIDGE

Cooperation possibilities: Themes Good governance, human rights, law, democracy Gender mainstreaming Children and youth empowerment Environmental protection Poverty Alleviation; vulnerability reduction Health and population Popularization of science and technology

CSO/NGO Empowerment: INI’s contributions Created new alliances with communities, traditional philanthropists, universities, private sector, World Bank and multi-nationals Promoted virtual networking Strengthened international cooperation with UN bodies, European and US CSOs, including dialogue with EU Supported training and capacity building projects Helped highlight role of CSOs in Fourth National Plan

NGO Empowerment (cont’d) Took the dialogue to the provinces Initiated five community-based pilot projects, with one operational (in Ardekan) Cooperated with universities and centers of excellence Contributed to development of NGO literature through studies (Situation Analysis of Iranian NGOs) Cooperated with the Iranian diaspora

Iran/US NGO joint activities supported by INI Partners: Ford, Population Council, Woodrow Wilson Center, ISAR, SFCG, W.Alton Jones Activities covered included: Training Exchange Studies

Training Activities Two proposal writing workshops Workshop on lobbying and advocacy Workshop on women, children and peace Two E-law workshops Fellowship to E-law Institute Cooperation of E-Law Institute with Tehran University leading to graduate program

Seminars and Exchanges Meeting of Iranian/US CSOs (DAPIA) Visit of 10 ENGO representatives to USA Tehran Environment and Urban Development Seminar Meeting of Caspian NGOs in Tehran

Studies Situation Analysis of Iranian NGOs Study on perspectives of independent researchers on scientific exchange Study on Traditional Community-Based Organizations

Criteria for cooperation Focus on people-to-people cooperation bereft of politics Equality and mutual respect Transparency Priority to community level actions New code of ethics for cooperation

Start-up actions Take stock of ongoing cooperative actions Set up network of interested partners Create data bank Set up focal points for cooperation Generate joint projects through consultation with focus on community-based projects Focus on ideas and action