Egypt’s president ratifies new NGO law

Egypt’s president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ratified on Monday a new law regulating the work of civil society organisations in the country which passed in parliament last November, state news agency MENA reported.

The Cabinet will issue the bylaws of the new bill within two months from the date of its publication, according to article 6 of the law.

The new law will replace Law 84 of 2002, which previously regulated the work of NGOs.

The new NGO law gives civil society organisations one year to comply with its provisions. Those unable to do so will face dissolution, according to article two.

In the new NGO law, Article 70 stipulates that a new body- the National Foreign NGOs Regulation Apparatus (NFNRA)- will oversee all the activities of foreign NGOs in Egypt, including all forms of their cooperation with governmental and non-governmental institutions inside the country, as well as supervise all forms of foreign funding given to local Egyptian NGOs and civil society organisations.

In November, two-thirds of Egypt’s MPs approved the new 89-article law, which was drafted by parliament’s social solidarity committee.

The Cabinet also presented a draft law on the topic to parliament, which did not include the establishment of the NFNRA, but MPs voted to pass the legislature’s version. Source: Ahram online