New law soon to ensure NGOs' transparency, accountability
Saturday, 5 September 2009
S M Jahangir
The government moves to enact a new law to bring about greater transparency and accountability in transactions of foreign-aided non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in Bangladesh.
The NGO Affairs Bureau under the Prime Minister's Office has already drafted a new law titled 'Foreign Donation (Voluntary Activities) Act 2009', blending the country's existing age-old laws.
"We have taken initiatives to formulate a new law in a bid to make the regulatory process of utilising foreign funds by NGOs more effective and time-befitting," a senior government official told the FE.
The proposed act is being made through unifying the two existing laws - The Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Ordinance 1978, and the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Ordinance 1982, said the official.
The current move on framing a new law has been initiated, because the existing ordinances are not sufficient enough in the present perspective, he said.
"The NGO Affairs Bureau faces difficulty in properly dealing with irregularities in the transitions of foreign funds or donations."
Authorities will soon seek opinions and suggestions from the NGOs concerned and other stakeholders for fine-tuning of the proposed law, the Bureau sources said.
The final draft will also be sent to the Prime Minister's Office for taking consent, and then it will be placed before the law ministry for vetting.
One of the objectives of making such a new law, according to sources, is to help prevent financial irregularities, aiming to make the NGOs' activities more transparent and accountable.
"The key purpose of enacting the new law is to check whether or not the external funds received by the local NGOs are used properly," said a senior official.
Citing the existing Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Ordinance 1978, the NGO Affairs Bureau sources said it is expedient to regulate receipts and expenditures of foreign donations for voluntary activities.
Under the ordinance, a person or organisation receiving or operating any foreign donation for purpose of undertaking or carrying out voluntary activities will register himself or itself with such authority and in such manner as the government may specify, they mentioned.
On the other hand, the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Ordinance 1982 is set to regulate receipts of foreign contributions.
According to the ordinance, no citizen or organisation of Bangladesh can receive any foreign contribution without prior approval of the government.
Besides, no government, organisation or citizen of a foreign state is able to make any donation, grant or assistance, whether in cash or in other forms, including ticket for journey abroad, to any citizen or organisation of Bangladesh without the prior approval of the government.
"Since the purposes of both the ordinances are almost identical, the authorities are considering enactment of a fresh law, blending the existing two ordinances," said an official.
Several years back, the authorities undertook an initiative to bring about major change in the existing Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Ordinance 1978, but it could not be accomplished due to multifarious reasons including some procedural complexities.
At present, some 2,373 NGOs - 2,156 local and 217 foreign - have so far been registered with the NGO Affairs Bureau.
The government moves to enact a new law to bring about greater transparency and accountability in transactions of foreign-aided non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in Bangladesh.
The NGO Affairs Bureau under the Prime Minister's Office has already drafted a new law titled 'Foreign Donation (Voluntary Activities) Act 2009', blending the country's existing age-old laws.
"We have taken initiatives to formulate a new law in a bid to make the regulatory process of utilising foreign funds by NGOs more effective and time-befitting," a senior government official told the FE.
The proposed act is being made through unifying the two existing laws - The Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Ordinance 1978, and the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Ordinance 1982, said the official.
The current move on framing a new law has been initiated, because the existing ordinances are not sufficient enough in the present perspective, he said.
"The NGO Affairs Bureau faces difficulty in properly dealing with irregularities in the transitions of foreign funds or donations."
Authorities will soon seek opinions and suggestions from the NGOs concerned and other stakeholders for fine-tuning of the proposed law, the Bureau sources said.
The final draft will also be sent to the Prime Minister's Office for taking consent, and then it will be placed before the law ministry for vetting.
One of the objectives of making such a new law, according to sources, is to help prevent financial irregularities, aiming to make the NGOs' activities more transparent and accountable.
"The key purpose of enacting the new law is to check whether or not the external funds received by the local NGOs are used properly," said a senior official.
Citing the existing Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Ordinance 1978, the NGO Affairs Bureau sources said it is expedient to regulate receipts and expenditures of foreign donations for voluntary activities.
Under the ordinance, a person or organisation receiving or operating any foreign donation for purpose of undertaking or carrying out voluntary activities will register himself or itself with such authority and in such manner as the government may specify, they mentioned.
On the other hand, the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Ordinance 1982 is set to regulate receipts of foreign contributions.
According to the ordinance, no citizen or organisation of Bangladesh can receive any foreign contribution without prior approval of the government.
Besides, no government, organisation or citizen of a foreign state is able to make any donation, grant or assistance, whether in cash or in other forms, including ticket for journey abroad, to any citizen or organisation of Bangladesh without the prior approval of the government.
"Since the purposes of both the ordinances are almost identical, the authorities are considering enactment of a fresh law, blending the existing two ordinances," said an official.
Several years back, the authorities undertook an initiative to bring about major change in the existing Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Ordinance 1978, but it could not be accomplished due to multifarious reasons including some procedural complexities.
At present, some 2,373 NGOs - 2,156 local and 217 foreign - have so far been registered with the NGO Affairs Bureau.