He said the draft law was prepared after three meetings with NGOs. “We have accepted almost all proposals. Some of them could not be accepted and we made it known to the NGOs.”
The bill, once approved by the committee, will be sent to parliament for amendments, if any, and approval.
“We have given the ministry our proposals and wait for a response. February is the last month to file documents with international organisations. The ministry has to do it. We will wait to see it happens,” an NGO representative told the Tribune yesterday.
The drafting of the law began in 2007 when in its quest to bring the NGO laws on par with international standards and raise the bar on NGOs, the Ministry of Social Development sought the help of International Centre for Not for Profit Law, an American organisation, to sort out changes needed to be made in the law.
Some of the key areas looked into included funding of organisations, the nature of their activities, registration, forming of emergency committees, monitoring NGO activities and organisation of the agencies.
As per the agreement reached, the government agreed to monitor only those agencies receiving government funds. It was also agreed that the emergency committees formed by the agencies to deal with calamities or other causes would be intimated to the government and disbanded soon after the emergency was over.
