NGO Law - Consultation on 27 August in Multan Dear Colleagues, As you are aware that Federal Cabinet has approved a policy framework for regulation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving foreign contributions. Under the proposed Regulation of Foreign Contributions Act 2014, the NGOs will be required to obtain a prior permission in the form of a certificate of registration from the federal government for accepting foreign contributions. The government will then have the powers to prohibit any NGO from utilizing or transferring the funds if authorities consider it to be “in violation of the law”. The bill also gives power to the government to inspect the accounts or official documents on any ground of suspicion and shall have the right to enter in or upon any premises. Civil society networks across Pakistan have expressed their serious concern on the proposed bill. The proposed law is in violation of United Nations human rights Council Resolution (A/HRC/202/1-13) adopted on March 21, 2013, which specifically bars restrictions on CSOs for accessing foreign funds. This law is also in violation of fundamental constitutional right of freedom of association. The proposed law read with Fair Trial Act and recently introduced Pakistan Protection Bill 2014 is an attempt to control the civil society that will further shrink the space for progressive, liberal voices and pro-democracy institutions in Pakistan. These laws are also an attempt to strengthen the culture of impunity. In this context, a group of civil society organizations & activists is planning to organize a series of consultations to form an alliance so that we can jointly intervene as a pressure group to resist the mentioned laws. The first consultation was held in Islamabad on July 21, 2014 and many important civil society organizations participated in it. The second consultation will be held in Multan. The main objective of this consultation is to initiate a discussion on the proposed oppressive legislation aimed to further shrink the space for the civil society, leading to the formation of a pressure group which can monitor developments and safeguard independent civil rights movement in Pakistan. The consultation will be held as per following schedule: Date: August 27, 2014 Time: 1430-1700 hours Venue: Ramada Hotel, Multan Keeping in view your invaluable contributions to the civil society movement in Pakistan, we request you to please attend this consultation as per schedule mentioned above. Please dont forget to confirm your participation by email to Fatima Saleem or phone 051-2110494, so we can keep a head count and oragnize logistics accordingly. Detailed agenda will follow after your confirmation of attendance. Best wishes and regards Shahzad -- Shahzad Ahmad Country Director, Bytes for All, Pakistan @bytesforall | @sirkup Office Direct Landline: +92 51 8437981
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 12:27:21 +0000
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