New Law on Societies in Jordan awaiting signature
PUBLISHED: JULY 23, 2008
In the past month in Jordan, the government introduced a NGO law to the Parliament that would place harsh restrictions on foreign funding of NGOs and allow Ministry officials to reject NGO attempts to register for almost any reason. ICNL provided analysis to assist local NGOs in presenting their case to Parliament; parts of the analysis were presented to the co-chairs of the 2008 Human Rights Sub-committee under the European-Jordanian association agreement. The documents were also translated into Arabic and presented to the Speak of the House, as well as distributed to Members of the Parliament.
Following ICNL’s assistance, the government and Parliament agreed to allow more time to hear from NGOs about their concerns with the law. However, the law was sent to Parliament for vote only a few days later, and the law has been approved by the Lower House as well as the Senate, and is awaiting signature by the King.