ISLAMABAD: In a bid to streamline the flow of charity into right hands, the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) to promote safe donations through certified organisations.

The agreement was an effort by the government to effectively implement the recommendations of the Finan­cial Action Task Force (FATF) related to alleged terror funding through charities.

Nacta is also working in collaboration with all the police and counterterrorism departments (CTDs) of the country for effective implementation of the FATF recommendations.

The MoU was signed by Nacta’s national coordinator, Ihsan Ghani, and Executive Director of PCP, Shazia Maqsood Amjad, at the authority’s headquarters.

Both Nacta and the PCP will conduct joint research studies on areas of mutual interest such as collection of skin and hides during Eidul Azha, which usually allowed the proscribed and banned groups to operate without declaring their identities.

The PCP will also help Nacta formulate in depth analysis along with recommendations for developing the legislative framework to have one registration law for non-profit organisations. They decided to hold joint seminars and workshops on different themes of philanthropy and safer donation practices.

The PCP is a designated certification agency by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), to conduct performance evaluation of non-profit organisations. It certifies that NPOs meet the desired requirements of certification standards as notified by the FBR in the areas of internal governance, financial management and programme delivery.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2018