Activists call for amending law to regulate civil society organisations

AMMAN — Foreign funding for civil society organisations (CSOs) is a major challenge that threatens security and stability, but the best reaction is to monitor it rather than ban it, activists said on Wednesday.

At a workshop held by the Institute for Leadership Excellence (ILE) on Wednesday, participants examined needed amendments to the CSOs Law.

“We must amend this law in a way to ensure that this sector becomes stronger without jeopardising national interests,” Deputy Hazem Qashou said, adding that the number of active CSOs in a country reflects its advanced level.

On the other hand, columnist and former senator Jihad Momani said this is not necessarily correct, as “we need quality rather than more CSOs” in Jordan.

More than 4,000 CSOs are currently registered in the country, with many of them working in the same field, according to official figures.

This is a huge number that slows down sector performance and needlessly increases competition among organisations, workshop participants noted.

But Qashou disagreed, stressing that a country is defined as advanced or not based on the number of active CSOs.

Dima Khleifat, secretary general of the National Registry of Societies at the Social Development Ministry, criticised previous laws that govern this sector, calling for a more open and fair law to ensure that volunteerism is encouraged and supported.

Khleifat said CSOs offer capabilities that are not available in the public and private sectors.

“We need to strengthen this sector to ensure that citizens are engaging with their local communities, and to help the public sector respond promptly and efficiently in cases of emergency,” she added.

The government has almost completed the draft amendments to the CSOs Law and “is now putting the final touches on it”, Khleifat noted.

The amendments address registration and licensing; financing, including foreign funding; monitoring; and applying good governance as a means to observe the work of CSOs in the country.

Over the past few years Jordan has witnessed a boom in the number of such organisations.

But some participants at the workshop charged that a few of them have been engaged in “suspicious transactions”, citing examples of CSOs that receive funds from more than one foreign donor for the same project.

Some CSOs have damaged the image of those who seek to work honestly in volunteerism, forcing the government to tighten its measures against them and making international donors reluctant when dealing with them, participants said.

The workshop was held in order to prevent such practices in the future through injecting specific amendments to address loopholes in the law, said Lina Arafat, head of the ILE, which is a nonprofit, non-government entity that works to promote and consolidate awareness of democratic culture and civic education in the community.