Jonathan Benthall has published widely on Islamic charities and has served since 2005 as an advisor to the Islamic Charities Project (formerly the ‘Montreux Initiative’) sponsored by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and administered by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, taking part in recent field research on zakat practices in the Palestinian Territories. He was Director of the Royal Anthropological Institute for 26 years and Founder Editor of the successful international journal Anthropology Today. He is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Anthropology Department, University College London. He will contribute an overview of the Islamic Charities Project, with emphasis on issues of accountability, governance and regulation in the post 9/11 context.