NA panel: INGOs draw renewed calls for strict curbs

Lawmakers point out lack of notable development where these INGOs carry out welfare work

ISLAMABAD: Members of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights expressed on Monday concern over actions of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), especially foreign ones, and proposed stringent curbs on their activities.

The meeting was presided over by Babar Nawaz Khan.

Members of the committee severely criticised the NGOs’ welfare, financial and administrative activities, which they said were “shrouded in mystery”. A member of National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), Shafiq Malik, who attended the meeting on special invitation, said that there were no checks on NGOs’ functions except for the interior ministry’s routine background verification.

Citing the example of an international NGO on human rights, he said it received a funding amounting to 40 million euros, “but nobody knows what the NGO is doing and in which areas,” he said.

Secretary of the Ministry of Human Rights Nadeem Ashraf said there was a lot needed to be done in terms of regulating NGOs, “but the government must focus on INGOs”.

“There are as many as 140,000 NGOs in one province alone, so let us focus on finalising terms of engagements for INGOs,” he said.

Stressing the need for prioritising the activities of such INGOs, Ashraf said there were several organisations which claimed they carried out welfare work but were actually involved in “other activities”.

MNA Munaza Hassan asked the member of the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) to provide details of the mechanism for granting no-objection certificates (NOCs) to INGOs. The member EAD, who was unable to give a clear reply to lawmakers’ questions, said that the Ministry of Interior looked into the initial procedures of such bodies. Currently, he said there were as many as 30 INGOs which have applied for NOCs.

He also pointed out that the proposed ‘foreign contribution bill’ for monitoring INGOs was pending with the law ministry.

MNA Asiya Naz Tanoli asked the chairperson why there were no clear answers to questions raised by lawmakers. The chairperson sought to invite top officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Ministry of Interior and the Economic Affairs Division in the next meeting to share details about activities of NGOs.

Stressing the need to take stricter action, lawmakers pointed out that INGOs were apparently carrying out welfare work in Sindh and Balochistan, but there was no notable development in either province. They also demanded of the government to share agenda and prioritise areas for such organisations, instead of letting them follow their own courses without transparency.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2016.