Draft law aims to regulate NGO operations

Manama: Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) activities will be restricted if the parliament passes without amendments a draft law that regulates their operations, a social activist said yesterday.

According to the draft law, donations and financial aid from inside or outside the Kingdom cannot be accepted by societies without the approval of the Ministry of Social Development. The societies would also be closely monitored during fund-raising activities to ensure that money collected is being spent on a good cause.

Restrictions

"NGOs worldwide are promoted to enhance their activities and to contribute to the development process ... so I don't know why Bahrain is moving towards restricting our activities," President of the Bahrain Women's Society, Dr Wajeeha Al Baharna, told Gulf News. The Bill consists of 60 articles to regulate the operation of societies in terms of memberships, board activities and general meetings.

"The draft law bans giving licences to societies with the same objective if they are located in the same area to avoid a clash in interests, but such a move is not realistic since both societies might adopt different approaches to achieve their missions," she said. "Societies would also be forbidden from joining international associations without the approval of the ministry and such a move would control the development of NGOs." The merging of two societies or more into one organisation is supported by the draft law, to reduce the huge number of NGOs in the kingdom.

The government has been defending the draft law by saying that the large number of NGOs could affect the smooth operation of voluntary work because each society has a few members who are not able to organise efficient programmes for the public, Dr Al Baharna said.

According to the Ministry of Social Development's statistics, the increase in the number of societies to around 380 establishments, costs the government 500,000 Bahraini dinars (about Dh4.8 million) annually for providing them financial assistance and appointing manpower to follow up on their activities.

The writer is a journalist based in Manama.