Call for NGOs White Paper

A group of 17 non-governmental organisations have launched an appeal to the government for the publication of a White Paper on NGOs.

Because of the fact that NGOs currently had no legal status, these were facing various difficulties. For example, they cannot benefit from bank guarantees while problems were also being faced when they applied for EU funding for projects.

The White Paper should be issued at the earliest and the consultation process should be at least eight weeks long, the NGOs said.

The 17 NGOs said the government should take heed of feedback from all NGOs that submit their views since different NGOs may have different needs and concerns which had to be taken into account so that legislation may be comprehensive and truly representative.

The NGOs believe that rights such as freedom of association and freedom of expression should be guaranteed in the NGO legislation and should not be dependent on whether an NGO enjoys legal status.