After the launching of ZCP (Zakat Core Principles) document during World Humanitarian Summit 2016 in Istanbul last May, The National Board of Zakat of Indonesia (BAZNAS) and Bank Indonesia in collaboration with IRTI – IDB arranged the first international working group on zakat discussing technical notes (TN) on Friday (10/28) in Surabaya, East Java. This working group attempted to discuss two technical notes, i.e. good amil governance and risk management for zakat institution, as the follow up of ZCP document.

Among the members attending the working group were Syed Zafar Mahmood (Zakat Foundation of India), Amin Ibrahim (Lembaga Zakat Selangor – LZS, Malaysia), Azrin Abdul Manan (Pusat Pungutan Zakat – PPZ, Malaysia), Abdallahi Mohamed (representative of the IRTI – IDB), Nana Mintarti (Board Member of BAZNAS) and Rifki Ismal (Bank Indonesia). From Puskas BAZNAS, Irfan Syauqi Beik, Muhammad Hasbi Zaenal and Khonsa Tsabita were also joining the meeting.

The objective of this technical notes discussion was to ensure that amil governance could be improved for better management of zakat institution. The members of working group agreed that one of the aspects that should be globally standardized was amil govenrnace.

Puskas BAZNAS director, Irfan Syauqi Beik, who chaired the session, stated that the use of the term “amil governance” instead of “corporate governance” was to show that there were fundamental differences between amil and corporate terms philosophically and practically, although the two might have the same core values such as professional and accountable. Nana Mintarti hoped that the outcome of this meeting could improve the quality of global zakat management.

The working group was able to discuss 13 dimensions of good amil governance along with their indicators. The technical notes document was jointly prepared by BAZNAS, Bank Indonesia and IRTI-IDB. This document will be made available and accessible to public after completion of editing process. (PUSKAS NEWS)