Word: ngos
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...blossomed since the fall of Saddam Hussein, who sought to rigidly repress it. There are some 6,250 registered organizations operating in the country today, as well as a Ministry of State for Civil Society Affairs and civil society committees in provincial governments. But there are still limitations. NGOs cannot merge with one another or form networks without the permission of the government. Furthermore, the participation of non-Iraqis, even in international NGOs, will be limited to 25% of an organization...
More worrisome for some groups, the current draft law imposes provisions legalizing monitoring of the finances and accounts of NGOs, as well as their activities. The government must be notified of, and approve donations to civic organizations, giving it leverage over groups that often depend on contributions to survive. Hussain al-Safi, director general of the NGO Directorate, sidestepped a question about why the government should have its fingers on an NGO's purse strings, saying he hadn't read the 12-page draft law in detail. "I've been waiting for the opportunity to have a spare minute...
...fair, Safi has only been in his post for a month and acknowledges that there were "a lot of things out of order" regarding his office's handling of NGOs, including the physical and bureaucratic challenges associated with registering an organization. There is, for example, one telephone number on his directorate's website (and it's out of service). Up until a few weeks ago, there was no internet connection in his offices even though the directorate's website encourages e-mail inquiries...
Safi says he wants to foster greater openness with NGOs and intends to solicit their opinions regarding the draft law. Still, he doesn't think government surveillance of their activities is an infringement on their freedom. "The surveillance authorities follow and watch NGOs because there were a lot of legal breaches by NGOs that resulted in bad things," he says, referring to allegations that some groups supported terrorism or functioned as brothels. "This forced the government to monitor and maintain surveillance of NGOs given the thorny security situation...
...unfair. The security situation is a convenient excuse for ulterior motives. "We speak of a new democratic Iraq that has put the ways of the old regime behind it, but at the same time there are things that make you think that the government wants to try and control NGOs," he says...