Human Rights Watch is extremely concerned by increased restrictions affecting NGO activities in many countries, in particular restrictions to access to funding as highlighted in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.
Adopted in 2009, Ethiopia's Charities and Societies Proclamation is one of the world's most draconian laws regulating nongovernment organizations. The law places excessive restrictions on the work, operations, and funding of organizations working on issues related to human rights, governance, rule of law, and conflict resolution, and limits advocacy activity on behalf of the rights of children, the disabled and women. The law bars international organizations from carrying out human right work--imposing severe fines and criminal penalties for infringements. The law and subsequent directives also severely limit the ability of domestic organizations to fundraise, limiting funding from foreign sources to just 10 percent of income despite the difficulties of fundraising in Ethiopia. The law also established an agency to oversee nongovernmental organizations, giving it broad and overly intrusive powers to monitor agencies, seize assets, rescind licenses and interfere in operations. Since 2009, the law, directives, and agency implementation have forced most independent organizations working on human rights to close or massively reduce human rights work.
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