ATTACHMENT A

CODE
OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CHILDEN’S ORGANIZATIONS
IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
(ACORM)

The Code of the Association of Children’s Organisations in the Republic of Macedonia
(ACORM) is a document of principles, values and regulations adopted by a group of non-
government organizations involved in the protect ion of children’s rights in the Republic of
Macedonia. The Code of ACORM standardises the nor ms for a joint and co-ordinated action for the
implementation of the Children’s Rights C onvention in the Republic of Macedonia.
The Code provides for better communication am ong and better implementation of activities
by, the NGO’s included in the ACORM.
The Code should be refined and amended on a con tinuous basis in the spirit of the regulations
adopted and revised in terms of the pr ofessional ethics of its activists.

NGO’S STANDPOINT ON CHILDREN AND THEIR INTERESTS

Progress in the support of children and their ri ghts should be the key objective of the NGO
members involved in the ACORM.
All children and their interest s are equally worth the engagement of any NGO involved in the
ACORM. Every employee or volunteer in the NGO sector should offer any help, support and
protection to a child when being approached for it.

NGO’S STANDPOINT ON VOLUNTEERS

The sustainable development of NGO’s is f acilitated by the voluntary approach in their
operations.
Each NGO involved in the ACORM encourages a voluntary approach in its operations as
well as an involvement of volunteer s in the NGO regardless of sex, nationality, religion or any other
type of individual differences.
Volunteers should have insight in all project and program activities of the NGO, and be
involved and work on the realis ation of those activities in compliance with the NGO mission.
The NGO educates and trains it s volunteers for their adequate engagement in activities and
projects.
NGO’s should provide training for volunteers, in cluding activity description, project review
etc.
The NGO recruits an adequately qualified and experienced volunteer to work for the NGO on
his/her own request.
The NGO provides good conditions for effectiv e work, a computer, a printer, project
materials, files and all that is needed.

NGO’s adequately award volunteer s involved in activities with appreciation certificates and
acknowledgement certificates for their voluntary approach to the operations.
NGO’s should try to find a way to keep and award their volunteers who are both
professionally and completely, dedicated to their work with children.

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EMPLOYEE CONDUCT IN THE NGO

Employees are expected to advance and act in accordance with the mission, vision, values
and principles of the organisation. With their conduc t, all employees contribute to the organisational
development and growth of public trust. They are e xpected to behave in a manner that answers to the
strict observance of the immediate public, with no risk of condemnation.
NGO’s should try to find a way to keep and awar d their volunteers who are both professionally and
completely, dedicated to their work with children.
Employees should:
• At all times act with trust in communications with other employees, volunteers and external
factors;
• Not take part in, engage in, or allow any dishonesty, fraud or inadequate presentation –
representation;
• Not engage in public criticism of the organisation;
• Present any criticisms towards the NGO, to the organisation first;
• Avoid such behaviour that might cause conflict be tween the best interest of the organisation and
personal/private interests.
• Identify, declare and discuss the realistic, possible or identified difficulties in the process of
establishing the sta ndards of conduct.

NGO’S AND THE CITIZEN’S AN D DEMOCRATIC COMMUNITY

Every NGO involved in the ACORM stands for the Law as a stable governmental system that
guarantees human rights, freedom of citi zens, national and religious equality.
Every NGO stands for peace and co-habitation of the Macedonian people with the different
nationalities living in the Republic of Macedonia and projects program activities for the purpose of
providing social justice, economic welfare and progress of in dividual and community life.

NGO’S AND THE VISION OF THE ORGANISATION
Every NGO member of ACORM shoul d have a formulated vision.
The vision of the NGO is concerned with issues such as: what the organisation should look
like in the future, what activities it should be involved in and in what manner should these be
realised, as well as wheter thes e activities are needed for the target group for which the NGO was
established to begin with.
The vision provides a clear and always positiv e picture of the future of the NGO.
The vision gives direction to the people involved in the NGO, whereby they are able to
recognise that the existin g values and moral standards of the existing NGO are contributing to the
improvement of its image in the future.
The vision gives the organisation power to overc ome all “quakes”, obstacles and crises. It
helps in moments of turbulence in the context, with its clear direct ion and concrete mission that the
NGO is aiming for.
The vision provides the flow and direction of all activities and procedures implemented by
the board/presidence of the NGO, as well as he lping the membership overcome any doubts and
uncertanties. It is a good idea to ma ke it clear that the vision is something that should be shared by
the NGO volunteers and employees.
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NGO’S AND THE MISSION

Every NGO member of ACORM should have a formulated mission.
The mission of a non-government organization is re flected in its standpoint on all objectives
projected by its Statute and progr am assignments, as well as in the main approach explaining the
reason for the existence of the or ganisation, what it was set out to accomplish and by what means.
The mission enables the NGO to define and operationalise its program activities and its
strategy for their implementation. A good mission allows for giving directions to the NGO as to what
it is not supposed to do. Every member, on joining the NGO, should be introduced to the mission.
The program assignments and the Statute of the NGO’ s where the mission is stated, are prepared for
the purpose of informing the members, as well as to create the feeling of a shared ideology and
direction, a shared paradigm of values.

NGO’S AND THE DEVELOPMENT CYCLE
NGO’s, in accordance with their mission, ar e aiming for a sustainable organisational
development. The dedication to the mission, the en thusiasm, the professional operating approach, as
well as the involvement of a large number of volunteers with previous educational training, all
ensure that the phase of consolidation and maturing will not be replaced by a phase of birocratisation.
With their membership, the founders of NGO’s make the effort to provide maximum authorities,
constancy and success in the NGO’s operations,employing fresh ideas and involving a large number
of student-volunteers in the opera tions of the NGO. The sustainable cycle of the NGO represents
progress and elimination of external and inter-per sonal obstacles in the realisation of the mission.

THE NGO STANDPOINT ON A PROFESSI ONAL APPROACH TO OPERATIONS

Within the framework of their program activities, NGO’s, anticipate a continuous
improvement of the human potential with te chnical and general knowledge about the non-
government sector. For this purpose it practices: exchanging experiences and ideas with other NGO’s
both domestic and abroad, education of its membership through seminars, training, as well as
through collaboration with profession al and technical organizations in accordance with the activities
of the particular NGO.
The NGO activists involved in ACORM are selfle ssly transferring their knowledge onto other
NGO’s. NGO activists/volunteers have the virtue of caring for the reputation of the organisation that
they represent at any time or place of residi ng and working. The NGO activist/volunteer nurtures all
humane and human values as a top moral standard for every NGO-activist in the framework of the
traditional NGO standards.

NGO’S AND RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITIES
The responsibilities of an NGO should fall on a ll members who have been assigned a task for
the realisation of given activities.
The authorisations of an NGO represent control over the execution of particular tasks.

NGO’S AND CRISIS SITUATIONS

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Every NGO in a crisis situation, depending on its mission, human resources and material
resources, should act by providi ng help, support and protection of children struck by war, natural
disaster, earthquake…All regular ac tivities are ceased, and all capacities are directed towards the
elimination or isolation of the conditions resulting from the cris is situation at hand. Other NGO’s
should be involved in co-ordinati on with the government and the bus iness sector for the purpose of
overcoming the situation.
Furthermore, every NGO, if it decides to, may:
• Stand aside and observe the situation or become active at the moment it believes it could make a
contribution; not undertake any activities
• Act solo without thereby bearing respons ibility for mistakes caused by another NGO
• Act in co-ordination with all other NGO’s on a local, national, state and regional level,
regardless of their power (financial , human and material resources).
• Join any more powerful organisation (financial, human and material resources), that is more
experienced in operations in the particular area

NGO’S AND THE MEDIA

In order to successfully establish a contact with the media, a strategy has to be built as to the
way of approaching and developi ng relations with certain media houses. For this reason, every NGO
needs to have a person responsible for public relations.
To succeed in its mission, the NGO has to contin uously keep the media informed via press-
conferences, information, announcements, joint campai gns, descriptive and statistical data, bulletins,
publications, tribunals, seminars, symposiums, we b-pages etc. The public relations person has to
inform the media via contemporary communicati on systems: e-mails, faxes as well as through
personal contact with the press. The public relatio ns person should find journalists who have worked
with problems similar to the particular mission of the NGO involved in ACORM.

a) Communication

All contacts with the media regarding issues such as personnel, relations within the Board,
the budget, relations with financiers etc., have to be transferred to the Executive Director or to the
Board itself.

b) Public information and data
The organisation’s annual report and its fina ncial reports are public documents accessible to
every member of the organisation. In accordance w ith leading views, every employee and volunteer
should ensure that the information presented to the public is complete, comprehensive and true.

NGO’S AND FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

NGO VOLUNTEERS’ AND EMPLOYEES’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS MATERIAL PROPERTY
AND CONTEMPORARY COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

a) Care responsibility:

Every employee and volunteer is obligated to take care of the property of the organization,
including both files and informati on. Inadequate utilization or neglec t of this property could mean:
• Exposure to costs;
• Failure to accomplish or co-ordinate basic fina ncial controls;
• Failure to provide security for the NGO property.

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b) Additional utilization of equipment and property

Every NGO member of ACORM should establish its own Bylaw of operations.

Employees must not make any changes to software or hardware w ithout authorisation.
The e-mail, the office computer network and other assets are property of the organisation and
should be treated adequately. Usi ng the Internet or e-mail for personal needs during working hours is
not acceptable. This includes logging on, downloading, and sending offensive and inappropriate
materials from the Internet.

v) Ownership:

All information and materials collected, acquired or identified during operations for the organization
are property of the orga nization, unless decided differently by the Executive Director, the President
or the employees.

VOLUNTEERS’ AND EMPLOYEES’ ATTITUDE TO CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Both employees and volunteers are obligated to keep confidential any events and decisions
within the organization. If, while working for the or ganization, they receive confidential information,
they must not spread and transfer this information.

Employees should be careful when electro nically transmitting, exhibiting or leaving
confidential information where othe rs can see them. Confidential information should be kept under
codes or physical locks. The following are considered as confidential information (with no
limitations):
• Information for the target groups;
• Situations when a volunteer or staff member is o ffended, affected by some legal issue or is under
investigation;
• Personal files and information, including home telephone numbers;
• Personal information on volunteers;

NGO VOLUNTEERS AND EMPLOYEES AND PERSONAL BUSINESS

Employees and volunteers are expected to gi ve 100% effort and to, limit their personal
business during working hours, as far as possible. They also must not use the assets of the
organization for personal needs.

NGO’S STANDPOINT AND REGULATIONS IN SI TUATIONS OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The organization’s integrity depends on intelligent, well informed and fair made decisions
within the organization. There are times when the decision making process is influenced by others’

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interests (personal and professional) or by the individual. One person cannot eliminate the conflicts
of interest. They are a common part of the or ganization’s life and of professional life.

The organisation will openly handle any current, possible and projected conflicts of interests.
This kind of politics provides protection from and handling of situations that could damage both the
integrity of the organisation and the public trus t. The focus will be on addressing issues and
developing a plan for their adequa te resolution. The basic premise in every conflict resolution is a
discussion considering all attr ibutes and standards in a humane and non-governmental moral
standardised code of communication.
Principles:
Certain principles refer to the process of conflict of interest. Employees and volunteers
should:
• identify, address and realistically discuss the possible and predictable conflicts with their
supervisor or with the Executive Director or the President;
• avoid situations which involve or could possibly involve conflicts related to another person or
organization;
• avoid situations that could involve conflicts be tween the best interest of the organization and
personal interests;
• work with authorized staff on the development of a plan for resolving any possible conflicts of
interest, emphasizing that the iden tification and observance of such identifications could, in and
of itself, be sufficient in certain cases.

VOLUNTEERS, EMPLOYEES AND POLITICS

Political activity of employees and volunteers and NGO’s

The Code of ACORM includes the basic standa rd of the non-government sector i.e. no
simultaneous functions are allowed. All NGO employ ees and volunteers that have functions in
political parties are required to resign their position in the NGO.
The basic principles of non-party, non-governme nt, non-profit and humanitarian engagement
of employees and volunteers in the NGO cannot be connected with a political engagement of these
individuals.

NGO’S STANDPOINT ON SELF-FINANCING

Every NGO should aim towards a sustainable de velopment and organisational growth, above
all, through various forms of self-financing. Fo r every NGO that acquires assets through self-
financing, and invests these assets in current NGO activities, these asse ts are not considered as profit
oriented, but rather as assets in tended for self-sustaining purposes.

NGO’S AND FINANCIERS

Every NGO involved in ACORM provides high standard performance and a professional
approach to financiers.
Apart from submitting both descriptive and financ ial reports, every NGO user of program assets
from a given foundation, has to file and document its operations by filing press articles, photographs,
personal experiences and impressions of volunteers and heads of projects, as well as surveys and
interviews of children-users of the services provi ded by the NGO as an executor of a project cycle.

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NGO’S AND GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS

The NGO collaborates and is involved in project and program activities with government
institutions only in cases when the basic principl es and regulations of the NGO mission as well as the
standards established with the signi ng of this Code are not broken.

NGO’S AND THE BUSINESS SECTOR

The NGO collaborates and is involved in project and program activities with the business
sector only in cases when the basic principles and regulations of the NGO mission as well as the
standards established with the signi ng of this Code are not broken.

ATTACHMENT B

WHAT THE ASSOCIATION OFFERS

The Association is no more than a communi cation and co-operation with non-government
organisations dedicated to a number of shared issues. Significant accomplishments are achieved
when the non-government organisations are interc onnected solely through their shared dedication
and decisiveness. The Association is establishe d for the purpose of achieving both temporary and
permanent objectives, as defined by the Code, the long-term objective being the implementation of
the Children’s Rights Convention in Macedoni a. The involvement of NGO’s in ACORM is
decentralised, whereby all member-participants are equal.

This association in ACORM is ex pected to result in the realisation of such objectives that
require individual initiatives, fast re actions, flexibility and risk taking.
The ACORM provides high capacities of critical human resource potentials, organisational
structure, mobilisation of institutional resources, visibility and respect.
ACORM contributes to the collection and sharing of critical views in the process of building
and development of a citizen’s society.

WHY AN ASSOCIATION

By working together, NGO’s can act more effici ently, and they can focus their joint energies
on influencing changes. When work ing on an individual basis, without co-ordination, organisations
end up duplicating their efforts, sometimes even working against each other.
In the framework of ACORM, every organisatio n becomes a part of one larger group whose
united voice is actually heard. The Association mu ltiplies the assets, professionals, connections, it
expands the geographic network an d it influences authorities.
In the development of its strategies and t actics, the Association can, based on its united
experts, create a lobby team th at would be responsible for the media, the government and the
business sector. In the Association, apart from the joint investment of human potential, material
potential is also invested in the realisation of certain activities.

The more non-government organisations are in volved in the Association, the greater their
influence becomes, which results in attracting an increasing number of new organisations or groups.

The role of the Association of Children’s Or ganisations of the Republic of Macedonia:

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• The Association protects the valu es, objectives and interests of its members, representing them
before the authorities, the public and other forums.
• The Association promotes co-operation and ne tworking between its members and other non-
profit organisations, as well as the identification of a way to eliminate any duplication of efforts,
programs and activities of its members.
• The Association provides support services, includi ng information (libraries, newspapers, data
etc.), training, counselling, professional and technical advice, group discounts…
• The Association promotes and strengthens the high standards among its member-organisations.
In the strengthening of these standards, each or ganisation takes into consideration some of the
following methods:
1. A condition for membership in the Association is the signing of the Code, whereby acceptance of
the standards, as adopted by the membership, is required.
2. An annual written report from each NGO – member of ACORM, showing that this member acts
in compliance with the standards.
3. In its further activities, ACORM does not include any organisation that for a reasonable time and
for unacceptable reasons has failed to act in compliance with the standards.
4. It regularly issues acces sible lists to its members and it public ly disclaims itself from any member
that is in breach of the standards.
5. ACORM is open to any NGO that has the sa me mission and that accepts THE CODE.

I have read, understood and agreed with the Code of Conduct of NGO’s in ACORM. By signing
the Code, I agree to be a member of ACORM.

Date:_______________________
Signature:___
____________________

First and Last Name of the NGO Member________________________

NGO_____________________ Seal of the NGO

Prepared by:
MA Dragi Zmijanac

Skopje, 04. September, 2001

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