Last year, foreign funding for Tajik public associations amounted to 124,507,732 somonis, which is 33 million somonis more than in 2020, senior representatives of the Ministry of Justice told reporters in Dushanbe on February 2.
Last year, the Ministry of Justice reportedly received reports from 2,556 public associations on how much funding they received (in 2020, 2,0204 public associations reported how much funding they received).
In 2021, the Ministry of Justice inspected the statutory activities of 115 public associations (in 2020, 75 public associations were inspected).
The Justice Ministry noted that last year, 1,148 public associations (in 2020 – 1,505) and seven political parties reported to ministry on continuation of their activities.
Last year, 105 public associations were denied registration because their documents did not comply with requirements of the country’s legislation. In 2020, 111 public associations were denied registration for the same reasons.
The Minister of Justice Muzaffar Ashouriyon told reporters on February 1, 2021 that foreign funding for Tajik public associations last year amounted to 90.707 million somonis, which is more than 23 million somonis more than in 2019.
In 2019, foreign funding for Tajik public associations reportedly amounted to 67 million somonis.
In all, 80 new public associations were officially registered in Tajikistan in 2020.
103 public associations and 16 branches of them were liquidated in 2020.
Meanwhile, some experts consider that many NGOs in Tajikistan still rely on foreign agencies and international organizations for funding, which if stopped will disrupt their activities.
Recall, a new law that was adopted in 2015 restricted the activities of charity organizations. Amendments to the existing law on non-government organizations (NGOs) were passed by both houses of Tajikistan’s parliament in June and July 2015, and received the final sign-off from President Emomali Rahmon on November 23, 2015.
The amendments give the Tajik government greater powers to examine NGOs’ funding streams, including grants from foreign donors, as well as to track their expenditure. NGOs are under an obligation to report to the authorities how much funding they receive.
These steps are justified, it is said, not only to make a proper assessment of aid but also to ensure that funds are not used for any biased mobilization.
