DUSHANBE, June 10, 2015, Asia-Plus — Members of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament have unanimously voted for amendments proposed to the country’s law on public associations by the government. The amendments provide for tightening control over foreign grants awarded to local NGOs.
A regular sitting of the first session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the fifth convocation, presided over by its head, Shukurjon Zuhurov, was held on June 10.
Presenting the draft law, the Minister of Justice Rustam Shomurod said that it was aimed at, first of all, ensuring transparency of spending of money, providing security of state, and preventing financial crime, terrorism and money laundering.
“To date there has been no mechanism of controlling spending of money received by local NGOs from sources abroad,” the minister said.
According to him, more than 2,600 public associations have been registered in the country. “Amount received by local public associations from sources abroad in 2013 is estimated at 4.5 billion somoni, but there is doubt about accuracy of the mentioned figure,” Mr. Shomurod said.
He also noted that they were currently working out a mechanism for notification of received and spent money.
We will recall that non-governmental organizations in Tajikistan expressed concern about new legislation that restricts their access to foreign grants in November last year. Participants at an international conference in Dushanbe said on November 18 that according to legal amendments recently adopted by a parliament, NGOs in Tajikistan will only be able to receive grants from foreign entities if they have approval from the government. They noted that the change would have substantial effects on the activity of NGOs and would probably force some of them to close.
On November 26, more than 90 NGOs from Tajikistan and other countries have signed the appeal, calling on the government of Tajikistan to drop this draft legislation and to respect the right of NGOs to have unhindered access to funding for their work, including from sources abroad.
