Foreign funding of NGOs (non-government organizations) is a controversial issue in some countries. In the late Cold War and afterward, foreign aid tended to be increasingly directed through NGOs, leading to an explosion of NGOs in the Global South reliant on international funding. Some critics of foreign funding of NGOs contend that foreign funding orients recipients toward donor priorities, making them less responsive to the communities they work in.

In 2013, a study published in Journal of Democracy surveyed 98 countries and found that "51 either prohibit (12) or restrict (39) foreign funding of civil society".[1][2] The United Nations considers foreign funding of NGOs to be a right of freedom of association; however, critics argue that restrictions are justified in order to protect national sovereignty from corrosive foreign influence.

Background

In the late Cold War and afterward, foreign aid tended to be increasingly directed through NGOs, leading to an explosion of NGOs in the Global South reliant on international funding.[3] Between 1994 and 2015, many countries passed laws limiting foreign funding of NGOs, which were usually justified by rhetoric of national sovereignty and the desire to ward off foreign influence. According to a 2019 study in Social Forces, "new funding laws are part of a growing backlash against the liberal international order", especially by illiberal and/or anti-Western governments.[4] In 2006, Thomas Carothers termed this phenomenon "the backlash against democracy promotion", which he dates to Chinese and Russian restrictions in the early 2000s.[1] In 2013, a study published in Journal of Democracy surveyed 98 countries and found that "51 either prohibit (12) or restrict (39) foreign funding of civil society".[1][2]

By country

Africa

Egypt

A 2002 law restricted the activities of NGOs which received foreign funding, prohibiting them to engage in any political or policy related work.[5] Egypt–United States relations were seriously disrupted by raids on NGOs which occurred in July 2011, several months after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. Civil society organizations had criticized the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' handling of the power transfer.[2][6] In 2013, 42 employees of various NGOs including Freedom House and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation were convicted of "operating an organization without a license and receiving illegal foreign funding".[7]

Ethiopia

Ethiopia introduced restrictive anti-foreign NGO legislation, the Charities and Societies Proclamation, in 2009, but substantially relaxed it in 2019.[8][9]

Kenya

In 2013, a Kenyan law which would have imposed a cap on foreign funding was rejected by the legislature. However, in 2014 President Uhuru Kenyatta stated that he would not allow "organizations advancing foreign interests to destabilize the government".[9]

Nigeria

Foreign funding of NGOs, including newspapers, also occurs in Nigeria.[10] Nigeria adopted a law restricting foreign funding in 2017, closely modeled on a similar law adopted by Sierra Leone in 2016. Freedom House stated that the law could lead to "improper state control of NGO programs, if not outright co-optation of NGOs".[9]

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe prohibits foreign NGOs from engaging in any work related to governance and limits the activities of local NGOs which accept foreign funding.[11] In 2004, ZANU-PF passed a bill which would have banned foreign NGOs, which was not signed by the president.[12][9] Zimbabwe also cracked down on foreign NGOs prior to the 2008 and 2013 elections, claiming they were too involved in politics.[13][14] Jeanne Elone wrote that Zimbabwe's constitutional guarantee of freedom of association is "obstructed by prohibitions against unregistered groups, complex registration procedures, vague grounds for denial, re-registration requirements, and barriers for international organizations".[11][15]

Americas

Nicaragua

A study of NGOs in Nicaragua concluded that foreign funding increased professionalization, and caused NGOs to focus more on delivering services than policial activism, compared to grassroots membership organizations.[16]

Venezuela

In 2006, Venezuela rejected a law which would have forbidden foreign funding of NGOs entirely. A less restrictive law was passed in 2010. In the interim, Venezuela redirected its foreign policy and was no longer allied with countries which disapproved of such restrictions.[1]

Asia

Cambodia

A study of foreign funding in NGOs operating in Cambodia found that donors prefer organizations with more professionalization, but do not prioritize those which have strong grassroots connections and local legitimacy.[17]

India

Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 is the law that governs foreign funding in India [18][19] According to a 2014 Intelligence Bureau report, certain NGOs (such as Greenpeace, Cordaid, Amnesty International, and Action Aid) reduced India's GDP by a few percent each year. The Modi government cancelled the licenses of almost 20,000 NGOs by 2018, which led to a 40% reduction in foreign funding to NGOs.[20][21][22]

Israel

Israel has laws requiring NGOs to disclose the source of their funds. Those NGOs which receive over 50% of their funding from foreign sources must report on this funding to the authorities and publish relevant information on their websites and "in any other way selected by the Ministry of Justice". The list of foreign-funded NGOs is also published on the Ministry of Justice's website.

Certain left-wing NGOs receive disproportionate funding from the European Union and Western European countries, which is perceived by opponents to undermine the policies of Israel's democratically elected government.[23][24]

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has legislation which obliges entities receiving "money and/or other property" from "foreign source" to provide the tax authority with information on each receipt of foreign funding. The information is published on the tax authority's website. Materials published and/or distributed at the expense of foreign funding must include information about the foreign source.

Europe

Hungary

In 2017, Hungary passed Law No LXXVI of 2017 on the Transparency of Organisations which receive Support from Abroad, which restricted foreign funding of NGOs. On 18 June 2020, the European Court of Justice ruled that the law violated European Union law by "introduc[ing] discriminatory and unjustified restrictions", violating free movement of capital and other guaranteed rights.[25][26]

Poland

In May 2020, Law and Justice environment minister Michal Wos announced that the Polish government was considering a law to require NGOs to disclose foreign funding, because "Poles have a right to know whether they are indeed organisations that work in the interests of Poles". The proposed law was criticized by the opposition; critics argued that the government was trying to suppress criticism.[27]

Russia

The Russian foreign agent law requires foreign-funded NGOs to register as "foreign agents" (Russian: Иностранные агенты), a Soviet-era dysphemism for Soviet dissidents.[28][29][30][22]

Georgia

On 7 March 2023, the Georgian Parliament passed the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence in the first reading, which requires NGOs receiving foreign funding to register as "agents of foreign influence" if the foreign support amounts to 20% of their total revenue.[31] The bill requires NGOs to disclose the source of their funds but does not imposes any restriction on their activities. The draft law was criticized by the US State Department, United Nations and European Union. The proposed law caused protests, due to which the parliament suspended further discussions of the bill.[32]

Belarus

In 2001, Belarus introduced a mandatory authorization system for foreign funding of NGOs.[33] Funds transferred from abroad, regardless of their value, have to be registered with the government. The registration may be denied for a broad number of reasons. The only exception of the requirment to register funding is when it is provided in accordance with programs approved by the President of Belarus or with international treaties ratified by Belarus. Since 2011, the violations of rules regarding receiving foreign funding may result in criminal liability.[34] Foreign funding of NGOs can not be used for promoting political material, preparing or conducting elections, meetings, protests and other assemblies, conducting other types of political and promotional work with the population and etc.[35]

Azerbaijan

In 2014, Azerbaijan adopted amendments and additions regulating foreign funding of NGOs. Any grant agreement, donation or service contract must be registered with the Ministry of Justice.

According to Azerbaijani law, unlike a "donation", a "grant" is always given for a specific purpose and can be attached to specific conditions. A right to issue a grant in Azerbaijan must be obtained by registration. It is required to have a registered office in Azerbaijan and an approval from the Ministry of Finance in order to be allowed to issue grants to NGOs.[36]

Pros and cons

Restrictions on foreign funding of NGOs are more common in hybrid or authoritarian states compared to liberal democracies.[37]

In 2013, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, Maina Kiai, stated that "The right to freedom of association includes the right to seek, receive and use resources – human, material and financial – from domestic, foreign, and international sources."[38] In 2014, The Economist reported that "More and more autocrats are stifling criticism by barring non-governmental organisations from taking foreign cash", citing Hungary as an example.[39]

A 2020 study found that African countries which allowed foreign funding of NGOs had a higher voter turnout; the authors argued that this effect was because laws against foreign funding implied a democratic recession.[3]

A 2015 study found that local human rights organizations in non-repressive developing countries often relied on international funding as the path of least resistance instead of seeking local funding. The authors of the study also stated that "excessive reliance on foreign aid is rarely healthy over the long term; it can easily weaken, distort, and divide domestic civil societies".[40]

One argument against foreign funding is that it might cause NGOs to reorient their objectives to what donors are looking for at the moment, at the cost of local priorities (mission drift).[41][42][43] However, foreign funding might not have as strong a crowding out effect as local government spending because the money is coming from foreigners, rather than tax money.[43]

Supporters of foreign funding restrictions argue that they undermine national sovereignty and that NGOs may push political agendas while claiming to be neutral. Because foreign-funded NGOs are accountable to foreign donors rather than local communities or voters, with a lack of democratic checks and balances, they lack accountability from citizens of the countries that they operate in.[23] Shaoguang Wang has argued that, "foreign donors often use their own preferences, priorities, and concern rather than local needs to dictate which types of local NGOs will dominate the scene".[44][45] John Feffer stated that "Civic groups committed to universal values will sometimes (inadvertently or deliberately) work on behalf of the interests of foreign states."[46][45]

Neo-Marxists have argued that foreign NGOs use their money to promote neoliberal policies that benefit United States and European elites at the expense of anti-imperialism.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gill, Timothy M. (March 2016). "The Venezuelan Government and the Global Field: The Legislative Battle over Foreign Funding for Nongovernmental Organizations". Sociological Forum. 31 (1): 29–52. doi:10.1111/socf.12224.
  2. 1 2 3 Christensen, Darin; Weinstein, Jeremy M. (2013). "Defunding Dissent: Restrictions on Aid to NGOs". Journal of Democracy. 24 (2): 77–91. doi:10.1353/jod.2013.0026. S2CID 154309738.
  3. 1 2 Dupuy, Kendra; Prakash, Aseem (6 January 2020). "Why Restrictive NGO Foreign Funding Laws Reduce Voter Turnout in Africa's National Elections". Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 51: 170–189. doi:10.1177/0899764019897848.
  4. ↑ Bromley, Patricia; Schofer, Evan; Longhofer, Wesley (20 December 2019). "Contentions over World Culture: The Rise of Legal Restrictions on Foreign Funding to NGOs, 1994–2015". Social Forces. 99: 281–304. doi:10.1093/sf/soz138.
  5. ↑ Herrold, Catherine E. (1 June 2016). "NGO Policy in Pre- and Post-Mubarak Egypt: Effects on NGOs' Roles in Democracy Promotion". Nonprofit Policy Forum. 7 (2): 189–212. doi:10.1515/npf-2014-0034. ISSN 2194-6035.
  6. ↑ Truwit, Marjorie (2015). "Article 78: Egypts's Institutionalized Attack on the Right to Access Foreign Funding". George Washington International Law Review. 48: 679.
  7. ↑ Abuzaid, Reem Awny (1 July 2019). ""Foreign Funding" Case No. 173/2011". Journal of Middle East Women's Studies. 15 (2): 237–243. doi:10.1215/15525864-7491157. S2CID 199173638.
  8. ↑ Hailegebriel, Debebe (2010). "Restrictions on Foreign Funding of Civil Society: Ethiopia". The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law. 12 (3).
  9. 1 2 3 4 "The Spread of Anti-NGO Measures in Africa: Freedoms Under Threat". Freedom House. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  10. ↑ Myers, Mary (22 June 2018). "Nigerian Newspapers: The Attractions and Drawbacks of Foreign Aid Funding". African Journalism Studies. 39 (2): 30–41. doi:10.1080/23743670.2018.1473273. S2CID 158561553.
  11. 1 2 Chikoto-Schultz, Grace; Uzochukwu, Kelechi (1 June 2016). "Governing Civil Society in Nigeria and Zimbabwe: A Question of Policy Process and Non-State Actors' Involvement". Nonprofit Policy Forum. 7 (2): 137–170. doi:10.1515/npf-2015-0051. ISSN 2194-6035.
  12. ↑ Moore, David (2005). "ZANU-PF & the Ghosts of Foreign Funding". Review of African Political Economy. 32 (103): 156–162. ISSN 0305-6244. JSTOR 4006918.
  13. ↑ "Zimbabwe suspends NGOs as possible election looms". Reuters. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  14. ↑ Dugger, Celia W. (4 June 2008). "In a Crackdown, Zimbabwe Curbs Aid Groups". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  15. ↑ Elone, Jeanne (2010). "Backlash against Democracy: The Regulation of Civil Society in Africa" (PDF). Democracy & Society. 7 (2): 1–10.
  16. ↑ Chahim, Dean; Prakash, Aseem (12 January 2013). "NGOization, Foreign Funding, and the Nicaraguan Civil Society". VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 25 (2): 487–513. doi:10.1007/s11266-012-9348-z. S2CID 153671370.
  17. ↑ Suárez, David; Gugerty, Mary Kay (1 December 2016). "Funding Civil Society? Bilateral Government Support for Development NGOs". VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 27 (6): 2617–2640. doi:10.1007/s11266-016-9706-3. ISSN 1573-7888. S2CID 255109411.
  18. ↑ "Foreign donations cannot be an absolute right".
  19. ↑ "Supreme Court of India upheld Validity of FCRA".
  20. ↑ Kumar, Sujeet. "India has been hostile to NGOs for decades. Modi made it worse". Quartz India. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  21. ↑ Jalali, Rita (30 May 2008). "International Funding of NGOs in India: Bringing the State Back In". VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 19 (2): 161–188. doi:10.1007/s11266-008-9059-7. S2CID 153686350.
  22. 1 2 Matejova, Miriam; Parker, Stefan; Dauvergne, Peter (4 February 2018). "The politics of repressing environmentalists as agents of foreign influence". Australian Journal of International Affairs. 72 (2): 145–162. doi:10.1080/10357718.2017.1421141. S2CID 158283630.
  23. 1 2 Steinberg, Gerald; Wertman, Becca (2018). "Value Clash: Civil Society, Foreign Funding, and National Sovereignty". Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations. 24 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1163/19426720-02401001. S2CID 158904636.
  24. ↑ Steinberg, Gerald (24 June 2018). "Foreign-Funded NGOs, Political Power, and Democratic Legitimacy". Lawfare. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  25. ↑ "CURIA - Documents". curia.europa.eu. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  26. ↑ "Hungary law on NGOs' foreign funding found to break EU rules". AP NEWS. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  27. ↑ "Polish government considers law forcing NGOs to declare foreign funding". Reuters. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  28. ↑ "Russia to label some journalists 'foreign agents'". BBC News. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  29. ↑ Romanov, Pavel; Iarskaia-Smirnova, Elena (15 September 2015). "'Foreign agents' in the field of social policy research: The demise of civil liberties and academic freedom in contemporary Russia". Journal of European Social Policy. 25 (4): 359–365. doi:10.1177/0958928715594539. S2CID 156217587.
  30. ↑ Sundstrom, Lisa McIntosh (2006). Funding Civil Society: Foreign Assistance and NGO Development in Russia. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-5443-9.
  31. ↑ "Law on "Transparency of Foreign Funding" Passes 76-13 in the First Reading". Civil Georgia. 7 March 2023.
  32. ↑ Ritchie, Rhea Mogul,Sophie Tanno,Niamh Kennedy,Hannah (March 9, 2023). "Georgia withdraws 'foreign influence' bill but opposition vows more protests". CNN.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ↑ "Foreign funding in Belarus: Some trends and possible legal novelties". Lawtrend. 6 June 2023.
  34. ↑ Oleinikova, Olga (2017). Foreign Funded NGOs in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine: Recent Restrictions and Implications. Sydney, Australia. p. 4-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  35. ↑ Assessment of the Legal Framework for Non-Governmental Organizations in the Republic of Belarus (PDF). September 2013. p. 64-68.
  36. ↑ Guluzade, Mahammad; Bourjaily, Natalia. Foreign funding in Azerbaijan: challenges and perspectives (PDF).
  37. ↑ Reddy, Michelle (2018). "Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbours? Neighbourhood Effects of Foreign Funding Restrictions to Ngos". St Antony's International Review. 13 (2): 109–141.
  38. ↑ Gould, Gabrielle (2013). "Maina Kiai's Second Thematic Report Focused on Foreign Funding Restrictions". International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law. 15: 61.
  39. ↑ "Donors: keep out". The Economist. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  40. ↑ Ron, James; Pandya, Archana; Crow, David (25 November 2015). "Universal values, foreign money: funding local human rights organizations in the global south". Review of International Political Economy. 23 (1): 29–64. doi:10.1080/09692290.2015.1095780. S2CID 55499724.
  41. ↑ Parks, Thomas (April 2008). "The rise and fall of donor funding for advocacy NGOs: understanding the impact". Development in Practice. 18 (2): 213–222. doi:10.1080/09614520801899036. S2CID 13717447.
  42. ↑ AbouAssi, Khaldoun (3 April 2012). "Hands in the Pockets of Mercurial Donors". Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 42 (3): 584–602. doi:10.1177/0899764012439629. S2CID 145653074.
  43. 1 2 Wasif, Rafeel; Prakash, Aseem (20 December 2017). "Do Government and Foreign Funding Influence Individual Donations to Religious Nonprofits? A Survey Experiment in Pakistan". Nonprofit Policy Forum. 8 (3): 237–273. doi:10.1515/npf-2017-0014. S2CID 158361838.
  44. ↑ Wang, Shaoguang (1 December 2006). "Money and autonomy: Patterns of civil society finance and their implications". Studies in Comparative International Development. 40 (4): 3–29. doi:10.1007/BF02686301. ISSN 1936-6167. S2CID 154115937.
  45. 1 2 Szałek, Benon Zbigniew (2016). "The blurred problem of foreign funding of civil society organizations in the light of political marketing, praxiology and hybrid warfare". Reality of Politics. Estimates - Comments - Forecasts. 7 (7): 195–211. doi:10.15804/rop201613. ISSN 2082-3959. S2CID 248900711.
  46. ↑ Feffer, John (8 April 2015). "Foreign Agents - FPIF". Foreign Policy in Focus.
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