Sudan: The NGO Act Passed

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000852 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR AF/SPG and DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV EAID PREL PHUM SOCI SU SUBJECT: Sudan: The NGO Act Passed ¶1. (SBU) On March 16, the President signed the Organization of Humanitarian and Voluntary Work Act. The NGO Consortium has indicated that it plans to challenge the law in the Constitutional Court. The UN also plans to offer technical assistance in implementing the law to help minimize the negative affects on the NGO community. ¶2. (SBU) In an attempt to persuade the government to reconsider the strict implementation of the Act, the U.S., along with 10 other donor missions-- Canada, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission - signed a joint letter of concern drafted by the Norwegians. The letter was forwarded to Foreign Minister Lam Akol on April 6. ¶3. (SBU) The letter highlights the insufficient institutional structures in place to implement the Act, international NGOs difficulties in working with local NGOs in rebel held areas of Darfur, and the heavy burden placed on the Commissioner to approve all international funding, which could produce delays in providing assistance to needy populations. The European Union has already sent a "non-paper" to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, on March 6, highlighting its concerns about the Act. ¶4. (SBU) The following is the full text of the joint letter addressed to Lam Akol, Minister of Foreign Affairs, with copies forwarded to Kosti Manibe, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and Mohammed Ali El Mardi, Minister of Justice. (Begin Text) Your Excellency, We are writing to express concerns over the potential operational and political consequences of the Organisation of Humanitarian and Voluntary Work Act passed by the National Assembly on Monday 21st February ¶2006. The following countries are signatories to this letter: Canada, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the Delegation of the European Commission. We have previously made our concerns regarding certain provisions of the new Act known to the Government of National Unity. Some of the comments previously made were reflected in the final text. However, with this joint initiative, we wish to highlight certain elements that were retained in the Act that will likely substantially hinder the ability of donors, international and national Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to continue providing effective humanitarian assistance and development cooperation in the Sudan. Our first area of concern is that of institutional arrangements. It is our understanding that the Act has now entered into force. However, we have not been able to confirm this and kindly ask your assistance in providing information as to the status of the Act. In this regard, we wish to convey to you the concerns raised by NGOs, INGOs and donors alike that the institutional structures entrusted with implementation of the Act seem not to be in place. As changes in regulation will have a significant impact on operations, it is crucial that there is information available with regards to when new regulations will enter into force and how they will be implemented. We strongly encourage you to make such information available at the earliest possible time. Secondly, the requirement of prior approval of funding under article 7 puts an extremely heavy administrative burden on both voluntary organisations and the Commissioner. This will have a strong negative impact on the efficiency and timeliness of the provision of humanitarian aid in Sudan, not least because of the unacceptable administrative delays it will produce. Thirdly, from an operational perspective, the obligation for international NGOs (INGOs) to operate in collaboration with local partners, stated in Art. 9-3 h), negatively affects the current context of humanitarian assistance in Darfur and in the rebel-held areas, where, due to the complexity and urgency of the situation, INGOs have been working as main implementing actors. We would also like to inquire how the implementation of this Act will affect the specific measures taken to facilitate the work of international NGO's in Darfur, namely the KHARTOUM 00000852 002 OF 002 moratorium which has officially been extended until January 2007. We understand that these concerns have also been raised on a number of occasions by others such as NGOs and the UN in addition to donors. We express our strong hope that the new law will be implemented in a manner which will ensure effective humanitarian assistance and development co-operation in the Sudan in accordance with the Geneva convention and international humanitarian laws and principles. We acknowledge the desire of the Government of National Unity to ensure effective coordination among the numerous NGOs in their country. However, these organisations provide much needed relief. They assist with the implementation of the CPA in the south and provide basic needs to millions of displaced persons throughout Sudan. We understand that the Government of National Unity is in the process of creating a regulatory framework including institutional arrangements and rules and regulations that are needed to implement the new Act. In this respect, we refer to comments made by H.E. Mr. Kosti Manibe, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, during the Paris Consortium meeting that opened up for consultations with donors and NGOs during the preparation of the new regulations based upon the Act. Many NGO's and donors have experiences with this type of regulation from other countries and we highly welcome an initiative where best practices can be shared. We are requesting a meeting as soon as possible to establish this important dialogue. We look forward to your early reply. Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of our highest consideration. Regards, Alan Bones Charge d'affaires a.i. Embassy of Canada Christine Robichon Ambassador Embassy of France Georgios Veis Ambassador Embassy of Greece Lorenzo Angeloni Ambassador Embassy of Italy Elisabeth Schwabe-Hansen Charge d'affaires a.i. Royal Norwegian Embassy Corina van der Laan Charge d'affaires a.i. Embassy of the Netherlands Jens Odlander Charge d'affaires a.i. Swedish Embassy Office Andrea Reichlin Charge d'affaires a.i. Embassy of Switzerland Andrew Steinfeld Charge d'affaires a.i. Embassy of United States of America Hugh Evans Charge d'affaires a.i. Embassy of United Kingdom Kent Degerfelt, Ambassador, Head of Delegation Delegation of the European Commission (End Text) STEINFELD