Draft law okayed: Registration must for NGOs

The Cabinet has approved a new law that would require NGOs to register to receive aid from foreign sources. It also proposes prior approval of development projects to be adopted and implemented by them. The draft of The Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act, 2014 was shown the green light at a Cabinet meeting on Monday. Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said that NGOs were currently operating under 2 ordinances passed in 1978 and 1982. ‘A registration will be mandatory from the NGO Affairs Bureau (NBA) to operate,’ he said. The new law will entitle NGOs registered for 10 years to the foreign fund facility, but the permission can be revoked if laws are flouted. According to the Cabinet secretary, NGOs will have to get an approval from the NBA before adopting and implementing a project. A security clearance from the home ministry would be needed to appoint foreign consultants. NGOs will have to maintain a separate bank account dealing with foreign aid, and its accounts must be audited before being submitted to the NBA. ‘If an NGO is found involved in criminal offences like terrorism and militancy, financing or cooperating with them, women and child trafficking, drug-related crimes etc, they will be tried according to the existing laws,’ Bhuiyan added, according to a news agency.