IRIN
AFGHANISTAN: Concern at ministerial proposal to dissolve 2,000 NGOs
14 December 2004


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

KABUL, 14 December (IRIN) - Afghan planning minister Dr Ramazan 
Bashardoost resigned on Monday, following rejection by the government of 
his proposal that 2,000 aid agencies should be wound up. Bashardoost had 
called on central government last week to close down 80 percent of all 
national and international aid agencies, labelling them ineffective and 
corrupt.

According to the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), an 
umbrella group representing over 90 national and international aid 
agencies in Afghanistan, NGOs were shocked that talk of decimating the 
country's fledgling NGO movement could seriously undermine the 
reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

"The [humanitarian] work will be interfered with, which will result in the 
poor suffering. There will be chaos if there is liquidation of NGOs." 
Mohammad Hashim Mayar, a programme coordinator with ACBAR, told IRIN.

There are over 1,500 national and more than 300 international NGOs 
registered with the Ministry of Planning. ACBAR concedes that many such 
groups are not real NGOs. "We think there are many organisations doing 
good work, but they are not NGOs, they should be registered as private 
companies," Mayar added.

NGOS have long been calling on the government for regulation and 
registration, which would help sort out the real not-for-profit 
organisations from the many shoddy groups trying to capitalise on the aid 
coming into the country in the post-Taliban era.

"Serious NGOs in Afghanistan have been calling for an updated NGO law and 
regulations for years." Paul Barker, Country Director of CARE 
International, told IRIN. "While his [Bashardoost's] intent may be noble 
in his decree to dissolve so many NGOs, the Minister of Planning's 
techniques were reckless and I think could have very well threatened the 
trust and confidence of the international community."

This is the third time in the last two years that Kabul has seriously 
questioned the role of NGOs in national reconstruction. According to 
officials at the planning ministry, draft regulatory legislation has been 
prepared and is awaiting presidential review, as well as scruting from 
NGOs. "The legislation is still in review and it will take some time 
before it is can ratified," an official of the ministry, who declined to 
be named, told IRIN.

There is a lot of political pressure on the fledgling government of
President Hamid Karzai to be seen to be delivering reconstruction to the
people. Clamping down on bogus NGOs could be part of this process,
diplomats in Kabul told IRIN.

Many ordinary Afghans believe that the reconstruction resources they had
heard were available -  more than US $2 billion in aid over the past two
years - have not had much impact on the ground. And NGOs are increasingly
being blamed as implementing partners that often fail to deliver.

But questioning the overall role of NGOs is also problematic, observers
say. Aid workers believe they rely for their security on the trust and
cooperation of the communities where they work. "If the people get
messages from government that NGOs are not doing a good job, then our most
important source of security may be undermined," an aid worker who
declined to be named, told IRIN.


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004


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