Global Village of Beijing is one of China's best known non-governmental organizations (NGO). Recently its volunteers have been helping to re-house the farming families of Daping Village, Sichuan Province, who were made homeless by the May 12 earthquake. Volunteers have laid a paved road on the muddy mountain and are constructing 50 environmentally-friendly bungalows, whose inside temperature will rise in winter and fall in summer. They hope to complete the project before Chinese Spring Festival which falls on January 26 next year.

Tucked in a corner in the city's northern Fengtai District, the Beijing Legal Aid Office for Migrant Workers provides free legal services for people on low-incomes. Established in 1999, the NGO deals with approximately 6,000 cases involving about 30,000 migrant workers every year.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, at the end of the third quarter this year, the number of non-governmental organizations in China had reached 380,000. Zhang Qun, deputy dean of the Public Management Department at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, said the NGOs play a key role in delivering public services and providing employment. She advocated reforms to regularize the legal standing of the organizations.

Tong Lihua, director of the Beijing Legal Aid Office for Migrant Workers said: "There should be laws to encourage the development of domestic non-governmental organizations." According to Tong, NGOs are an important force in society. They can help government improve its efficiency in dealing with social issues. But it is difficult for NGOs to develop without legal recognition.

Shi Fumao, executive director of the Beijing Legal Aid Office for Migrant Workers, said: "Without a proper legal basis, we feel that we are acting without a clear identity." Moreover, the absence of a legal framework means NGOs have difficulties registering, taking part in government assessments, receiving benefits of preferential policies, and fund raising.

Global Village of Beijing and the Beijing Legal Aid Office for Migrant Workers are influential NGOs. Their offices are based in communities and they have dozens of employees, most of whom earn less than 4,000 yuan (US$581) a month. Tong said the government should introduce laws to govern the funding of qualified NGOs, and added that law reform would allow effective regulation of NGOs.

Inadequate funding means it is difficult for NGOs to attract and retain staff, said Yu Xinbin, office director of Global Village. The organization recently hired a very talented person who had studied abroad after graduating from Peking University, but he left the organization after a short time. "NGO employees have to be highly public-spirited and accustomed to living simple lives," said Yu.

(China.org.cn by Wu Jin, December 10, 2008)