Commission established to review foreign funding by NGOs – Pakistan

The federal cabinet has announced the establishment of a committee to review foreign funding of both international and domestic non-governmental organisations (NGOs), it was announced on Wednesday.

According to the September 3 notice, a copy of which is available at Dageraad.comThe six-member committee consists of Minister of Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar, Minister of Foreign Affairs Syrus Sajjad Qazi, Minister of Economic Affairs Dr. Kazim Niaz, Minister of Interior Captain (retired) Khurram Muhammad Agha, Minister of Finance Imdad Ullah Bosal and Minister of Law and Justice Raja Naeem Akbar.

The committee will review the channels through which NGOs receive foreign funding and propose concrete measures to ensure transparency and visibility of funding pathways, the notice said.

“The committee will also ensure that all funding received by NGOs “will be used for the purpose for which it was received”.

The notice stated that the commission has four weeks to submit its report to the federal cabinet.

The move was made after sources previously said Dawn that the government had to decide whether or not more than a dozen international NGOs would be allowed to operate in the country.

A meeting of the special committee set up to look into the matter was chaired by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on August 31. The NGOs include those that have either been denied permission to operate in Pakistan and have sought renewal of their registration, or those whose memoranda of understanding – signed with the government – ​​have expired and have applied for their renewal.

During the meeting, the applications of the INGOs against rejection of their registration and for renewal of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were reviewed. The Minister of Home Affairs said that a detailed assessment of each application and relevant documents submitted by the organisations would be carried out.

The policy

In 2015, the government established a policy framework to streamline and facilitate the work of international NGOs in the country.

Under the policy, which was presented by then Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, all international NGOs working or seeking to work in Pakistan had to register with the Ministry of Interior by signing an MoU.

Organizations that did not adhere to the guidelines were no longer allowed to operate in Pakistan.

INGOs were also not allowed to raise funds within or outside the country, nor were they allowed to support their local offices without government permission.

Months before announcing the policy, Khan had revealed that more than 1,000 foreign intelligence operatives had come to Islamabad in recent years disguised as representatives of international NGOs.

In December 2018, the PTI government expelled 18 international charities after their last request to remain in the country was rejected.

The majority of the disbanded aid organizations were based in the US, with the rest coming from the UK and the European Union.

According to a document prepared at the time by the top intelligence agency, some of these INGOs had enormous capital and “an established access from the highest levels of government to the grassroots levels of trade union councils”.

The INGOs had “turned into a mafia,” the document said.

“Following an investigation of the INGOs by state organisations, dozens … were found working against the interests of Pakistan and involved in sensitive issues relating to security and religious affairs,” the document said.

Some of these INGOs were accused of contributing to a “hybrid war” against Pakistan and also “fostering sectarianism, promoting a foreign agenda, supporting enemy intelligence agencies, collecting illegal data and operating without any legal backing”.

The country’s main intelligence agency also accused the INGOs of “acting as front offices of hostile intelligence services, attempting to influence the electoral system, smuggling weapons, illegally collecting data, concealing the presence of foreign workers, and supporting the sub-nationalist and anti-state movement,” among other serious allegations.