EU: Over 200 NGO's warnt EU not to create register for foreign funded organisations

A planned European Union directive to create a register for foreign-funded organisations could have "unintended consequences" and limit the bloc's ability to support human rights defenders globally, scores of NGOs have warned in a joint statement to the European Commission.

Some 230 civil society organisations including Transparency International EU, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International signed the statement sent on Wednesday to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in which they lambasted the plans for a Foreign Interference Law.

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com

Hungary: EU commission warns Hungary on 'foreign-funded' NGO law - by Eszter Zalan

The EU Commission has told Hungary to bring its domestic legislation on civil organisations into line with EU rules, after a Hungarian law on foreign-funded NGOs was struck down by the EU's top court in June.

Despite the ruling, civil organisations say Hungary continues to apply the legislation deemed as breaking EU rules.

"The EU Commission on 29 October sent a second letter to urge them [Hungarian authorities] to inform the commission of the measures taken, to ensure that the law is not applied, and to share also the draft modifications to the existing law and provide a clear timeline when they would adopt the necessary legal modifications," commission spokesman Chirstian Wigand said on Tuesday (3 November).

Hungary now has one month to respond.

Read more at: EU commission warns Hungary on 'foreign-funded' NGO law

Christianity: are some Christian NGO's on the payroll of the US Government?

A Christian Church Service in Vietnam

In March 1996 the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) adopted a resolution at its convention condemning collaboration between missionaries and intelligence agency employees.

In 1977, the CIA was prohibited from the recruitment of journalists, academics, clergy, and missionaries. However, speaking before a Senate intelligence committee, John Deutch, who was the CIA director during that time  testified that the spy agency could waive the ban in cases of "unique and special threats to national security."

The NAE has requested that Congress "correct this intolerable situation" of soliciting religious workers for covert activity. "For intelligence agencies to seek any relationship whatsoever with our religious workers must be unequivocally prohibited," says the  NAE.

Allowing such a loophole, endangers missionaries as well as church, relief, community development, and refugee workers in politically sensitive areas abroad.

The NAE has also urged missions organizations, not to provide information to any intelligence agency, although many already have such restrictions in place.

"Any foreigner living in a foreign culture already comes under a natural suspicion," says the Southern Baptist Convention Foreign Mission Board. "If this policy is reversed, it would totally erode the ministry of missionaries."

Regardless, however, statements by the Baptists or the NAE , a Christian non-governmental organization funded by the Pentagon was used to smuggle spy equipment into North Korea.

Investigative journalist Matthew Cole of the The Intercept has done lots of work in

ferreting out the details, of what must surely be one of the most ill-conceived military intelligence operations of all time, and that is saying quite a lot.

And Congress was reportedly fully briefed on North Korea , though that has been denied by at least one member of the Intelligence Oversight Committee, who accuses the Pentagon of never pausing to consider the potential blowback that it might produce.

NGOs are fair game for infiltration and cover by intelligence organizations, but their exploitation in that fashion is extremely uncommon. That is because it is impossible to control all the unwitting players in an NGO and any such operation would be susceptible to eventual exposure, with the damage derived from potential blowback far exceeding any possible gain. 

The United States government does in fact impose a ban on recruiting certain categories of individuals as spies. Clergymen are off limits partly for ethical reasons, but more because the exposure of such a relationship would be devastating both to the religious organization itself and to the United States government. Use of the U.S. taxpayer-funded Peace Corps is also banned because exploiting it would potentially turn its volunteers into targets for terrorists.

Recruitment of journalists whose reporting potentially might appear in the U.S. media is also forbidden because the distribution of intelligence agency-produced stories could be construed as an attempt to covertly influence opinion and policies inside the United States. Ironically, the federal government officially opposes spy agency disinformation even though it does the same thing through the judicious leaking of information from the White House and Pentagon.

Bottom-line: whatever way you want to look at it, NGO's, including religious ones, which operate overseas still remain one of the best resources for Government intelligence services as a collection point for intelligence information. From the ground level right up to the top political hierarchy.

In order to avoid this from happening, all Christian NGO's, wherever their global headquarters are, should make sure that they include in the preamble of their statement of purpose the wording "to bring the Gospel without any external , political, or foreign interference.

EU-Digest

EU Populist Rebels: Hungarian and Polish NGOs urge EU funds against crackdown - by Eszter Zalan

Civil society groups under attack in Hungary and Poland urged the EU on Tuesday (9 January) to set up a fund geared towards NGOs that are protecting European values in member states.

NGOs in the two central European countries, where what Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban once boasted was 'illiberal democracy' has taken a hold, have called for the creation of a so-called "European Values Instrument" that would support civil society groups that are promoting democracy, human rights and rule of law.

"We should be putting our money where our mouth is," Marta Pardavi, co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, which has recently been the target of a government campaign against NGOs, said at a European Parliament hearing.

She said foreign funding has been the key in maintaining the independence of her organisation.

The Helsinki Committee partly focuses on protecting the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, which has made the NGO a target for Orban's government, which vehemently opposes taking in refugees.
"European institutions should set up a instrument to defend civil rights organisations," Pardavi said, adding that there were such mechanisms for accession and third countries, but not for EU member states.

Read more: Hungarian and Polish NGOs urge EU funds against crackdown

Saudi Arabia: British High Court green lights arms sales to Saudi Arabia

"Putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank"

London's High Court ruled on Monday that the British government's arms sales to Saudi Arabia were lawful and could continue.

Human rights activists are outraged by the ruling and plan to appeal Britain's highest court. The judges ruled there was insufficient evidence of a "clear risk" of the weapons being used for "serious" rights breaches.

The case revolved around a part of the UK's Export Control Act, which states that the British government "will not grant a licence if there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law."

The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) - a group of NGOs including Oxfam, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch - brought the case to the court, arguing that exports to Saudi Arabia currently breached this condition, given the likelihood of the weapons being used in the Saudi campaign in Yemen.

The plaintiffs slammed the court's ruling, saying they would appeal to the UK's Supreme Court. Oxfam said the decision "sets back arms control 25 years."

Note EU-Digest: Scandalous and inhumane  decision by the British High Court and a victory for the British weapons industry. Unfortunately this decision will eventually  come and haunt the British population as a whole in the form of terrorism sponsored by the same nation Britain sold their weapons to.
 
Read more: British High Court green lights arms sales to Saudi Arabia | News | DW | 10.07.2017

EU ready to help Italy in NGO dispute

Italy's threat to stop NGOs from unloading rescued migrants at sea will be discussed next week among interior ministers, amid broader internal political stakes ahead of general elections.

 EU-Digest

Russia: Five Foreign Organizations (NGO's) Declared 'Undesirable' in Russia This Year

Five foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been labelled “undesirable” by the Kremlin in the past year, the Vedomosti newspaper reported Wednesday.

Russia’s Prosecutor General Yury Chaika told the State Duma that investigations into the NGOs are continuing with the help of the Foreign Ministry. The investigations seek to establish if the NGOs pose a threat to national security and the constitutional system, the TASS news agency reported.

Four of the organizations recognized as undesirable were American, while a fifth charity was from Lichtenstein. The group included the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), who describe their work as “strengthening democratic institutions around the world.”

The NED released a statement on their website after the organization was declared undesirable in July 2015.

They criticized the 2015 law as “limiting the freedom of Russian citizens,” claiming that the it “contravened Russia’s own constitution as well as numerous international laws and treaties.” The Kremlin maintains that the law aims to curb foreign influence rather than democracy
.
Chaika said that the organizations were working to discredit Russian authorities and that they financed the planning of protests in the country, TASS reported.

A Russian law passed in 2015 allows prosecutors to limit or halt the work of foreign organizations deemed to be “undesirable.” Punishment for breaking these limits can result in fines or prison terms lasting up to six years.

A previous law passed in 2012 required NGOs receiving foreign funding while engaging in political activities to register as “foreign agents.”

Read more: Five Foreign Organizations Declared 'Undesirable' in Russia This Year | News | The Moscow Times

Sustainable Global Development: First draft of sustainable development goals exposes gaps, warn NGOs

The new set of development goals that will address global poverty, inequality and climate change over the next 15 years are strong on vision, but weak on the methods to make them a reality, NGOs warned this week.

After months of negotiations among UN member states, the first official – “zero” – draft of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) was published on Tuesday June 9.

As widely expected, the number of goals (17) and number of targets (169) have not changed since they were first proposed by a UN open working group last year. Some of the targets have been recommended for revisions.

The SDGs will replace the current millennium development goals, which expire at the end of the year. However, concerns have been raised about how the new goals will be measured.

“WaterAid is concerned that while there is a target to reach everyone everywhere with sanitation and hygiene, there are presently no indicators to measure whether, for instance, homes or healthcare facilities have soap and water for handwashing,” said Margaret Batty, the NGO’s director of global policy and campaigns.

“Without these indicators, the sustainable development goals will not succeed in the goal of leaving no one behind.”

Helen Dennis, Christian Aid’s senior adviser on poverty and inequality, added: “We have yet to see strong enough plans for how the ambitious vision will be achieved. It is clear that the sections of the document on financing and implementation, and on follow-up and review, need to be beefed up before September. Achieving the vision will also depend on an ambitious, legally binding climate deal later this year.”

Read more: First draft of sustainable development goals exposes gaps, warn NGOs | Global development | The Guardian

Russia - Putin enacts law banning ‘undesirable’ NGOs

Russian President Vladimir Putin officially enacted a controversial law banning “undesirable” non-governmental organisations, the Kremlin said Saturday, in a move condemned by human rights groups and the United States.

The law allows authorities to bar foreign civil society groups seen as threatening Russia’s “defence capabilities” or “consitutional foundations” and go after local activists working with them, the Kremlin statement said.

Supporters presented the law as a “preventative measure”, necessary after the wave of Western sanctions put in place over the Ukraine conflict.

Under the law, passed by the Russian parliament this week, authorities can ban foreign NGOs and go after their employees, who risk up to six years in prison or being barred from the country.

It also allows them to block the bank accounts of the organizations until the NGOs “account for their actions” to the Russian authorities.

Lawmakers cited the need to stop “destructive organisations” working in Russia, which could threaten the “value of the Russian state” and stir up “colour revolutions”, the name given to pro-Western movements seen in some former Soviet republics over the last several years.

Note EU-Digest : The move by the Russian government might also be a reaction to the CIA recently announced sweeping changes to how it operates, in the biggest shake-up in the US intelligence agency’s 70-year history. Ten new mission centres and the re-assignment of thousands of spies. The new units or ‘mission centres’ are intended to focus on specific challenges or geographical areas.

Insiders say competition between agencies whitin the CIA has led to intelligence hoarding and the re-organization aims to increase the flow of information which previously fell through bureaucratic cracks. Under the current structure spies and analysts are kept separate.

It is not clear when the changes will be implemented but the re-organization is likely to take several years.

Read more: france 24 - Putin enacts law banning ‘undesirable’ NGOs - France 24

Work in global development — without heading overseas - by Kate Warren

 Many professionals choose a career in international development precisely because they want to live and work abroad. But there are many reasons why aspiring aid workers should consider a career in their home country, even if positions may seem less glamorous. 

If you come from a major donor country like the United Kingdom, Australia or those found in North America or Western Europe, chances are you can find a job working in global development without packing your bags. NGOs, consulting firms and donor agencies that fund them typically have significant headquarters locations that employ hundreds of development professionals at all career levels.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking to make your next career move or reaching the final chapter of your career, here are seven reasons you should consider a domestically based development job.

Read more: Work in global development — without heading overseas | Devex

China’s future: Enter the Chinese NGO

 The rulers of China have always seen its history as binary. Long divided, the empire will unite, goes a famous saying; long united, it will divide. Today, under the Communist Party, fear of division is strong. Determined to avoid the fate of the Soviet Union, party leaders strive to hold China together.

But the country is no longer a socialist paradise where the party dictates and the masses toil. A bourgeois class of perhaps 300m people has emerged—and they have their own views on the sort of place China should become. At the same time, the party has retreated from most people’s daily lives, no longer even pretending to provide cradle-to-grave benefits. Many weaker, poorer members of society are suffering.

Enter the Chinese NGO. A vast array of new non-governmental organisations are trying to meet both middle-class aspirations to participate and also society’s need for services (see article).

 Some 500,000 NGOs have registered over the past 25 years, a figure that some think will double over the next couple of years, as rules are relaxed. Many of these, admittedly, are quasi-state bodies, like an official youth foundation, or businesses in disguise, like private schools, but a growing number are the real deal.

And a further 1.5m-odd NGOs operate without being registered, including some that the party suspects of being too independent or confrontational. They include everything from self-help groups for the parents of autistic children to outfits defending the rights of migrant workers to house-church groups looking after the elderly.

Read more: China’s future: Enter the Chinese NGO | The Economist

Business Should Talk To Europe To Cut Red Tape?

It’s the time of the year  when business leaders proclaim yet another ‘Cut Euro Red Tape’ campaign.

Different spokesmen for business queue up to say they want to see less regulation from Europe that they claim is holding back British business.

These are serious men who make serious money. Their view should not be dismissed. As North America and Asia grow strongly Europe does need to ask if every aspect of the way it regulates its economy adds or lessens growth. Europe does have a great number of regulations as do national administrations, professional bodies, regional employer federations and regulatory agencies. But as the more important business leaders troop into Downing Street to tell cabinet ministers what needs to be done they may be making the category error mistake of missionaries throughout the ages – that of preaching to the converted.

Like churches and third world NGOs arguing over the years that the Common Agricultural Policy did damage to third world farmers the UK’s preferred missionary position on EU reform almost always fails to provide satisfaction. The real targets for the CBI, EEF, Marc Bolland of Marks and Spencer, or Simon Walker of the Institute of Directors and other business bosses should be their fellow business leaders in Europe. Telling Iain Duncan Smith or Chris Grayling or Teresa May or the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail there is something wrong with Europe is preaching to the converted.

Oxfam, Cafod, Save the Children and other excellent campaigners against poverty in developing countries also wasted years of lobbying time telling each other how iniquitous EU trade policies were. They should have caught a flight to Dublin or the Eurostar to Paris to convert the churches and pro-poor lobbies in Ireland or France to call for an end to the CAP. That would have been real missionary work. Similarly, British business needs to find support in German or Dutch or Belgian employers circles for their views. Picking up a megaphone in London and hoping you will be heard in Brussels is a low-return option.

Business leaders also need to ask themselves some tough questions. The most obvious one is to ask why, if EU rules, are so destructive of business do so many competitor firms on the continent thrive on them? If it is EU regulations holding back Britain from competing in the world why are German, or Dutch or Swedish firms operating under the same rules able to export so much more than the UK does?

Read more: Business Should Talk To Europe To Cut Red Tape

Russia cracks down on U.S.- linked NGOs : by Kathy Lally

Two months ago, a civic-minded history professor in the picturesque city of Kostroma invited a U.S. diplomat to take part in a roundtable about Russian-American relations. The event was open, the conversation spirited — and Monday the professor’s organization goes to court, accused of being a foreign agent.

The Kostroma Center for the Support of Public Initiatives has run afoul of a new law requiring organizations that receive funds from abroad and engage in political activity to register as foreign agents.

The center’s chairman, and civic activists across Russia, says his group is neither political nor in the pay of foreign governments.

The law, they say, is being used to silence advocacy groups and frighten supporters, and it reminds some of the Cold War era, especially since many of the targets have U.S. connections.

Note EU-Digest: Most US states require individuals and organizations (NGO's) to register before soliciting contributions there. nternational organizations might qualify for more funding opportunities if they work with fiscal sponsors or start their own 501(c)(3) charities. This is especially true if they want to solicit tax-deductible charitable contributions from individual donors, who cannot claim this benefit if they donate to most foreign organizations. However, these new charities should be formed to support a mission and not act only as a conduit to send funds abroad.

 Read more: Russia cracks down on U.S.-linked NGOs - The Washington Post

Globalization: Biopiracy rips off native medical knowledge

For centuries, Catharanthus roseus - also known as Madagascar periwinkle - has been used as medicine in Africa and beyond. In the Philippines, indigenous groups use the plant as an appetite suppressant. Because Madagascar periwinkle causes a sharp drop in white blood cells, it can help against leukemia.

Today, it's a component in many medications patented and sold by pharmaceutical companies. Companies that use Madagascar periwinkle and other plants in their drugs can often earn large profits by selling them. But those who have long used the biological properties of the plants generally walk away with nothing. That has led many development organizations to argue big drug companies are engaging in biopiracy.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers aren't the only ones accused of product piracy. Companies that purport to develop new fruit and vegetable varieties have faced similar criticism. In 2000, the US company DuPont received a patent from the European Patent Office that encompassed all types of corn plants that exceed a certain quotient of oil and oleic acid. But these sorts of corn plants had already existed, as critics including the Mexican government and environmental organization Greenpeace pointed out.

In October 2010, the Nagoya Protocol was approved as part of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity. An internationally legally binding treaty, it aims to divide profits from resources, such as medicinal plants, in a way that benefits the populations which originally used and grew them.
But this binding treaty has scarcely been implemented in laws, said Sven Bilbig of the organization Bread for the World.

Lack of implementation is a complaint that can also be leveled against the EU, one of the signees of the Nagoya Protocol. Just 15 states have established the protocol in their national legal systems, and EU members are not among them. In order to achieve binding status worldwide, it must be implemented by 50 countries.

Read more: Biopiracy rips off native medical knowledge | Globalization | DW.DE | 10.04.2013

Russia: NGOs Facing Stiff Fines Amid 'Crackdown' - by Alexander Winning

Nongovernmental organizations across the country are being threatened with fines stretching to $20,000 or more, as authorities press on with sweeping checks that activists are calling a government-orchestrated crackdown on civil society.

Prosecutors have said the checks are aimed at uncovering extremist activity and are routine, but NGOs fear they are part of a wider campaign to bring the nongovernmental sector to heel. Many independent organizations say they would be forced to close if prosecutors follow through on threats of hefty fines.

"Several NGOs are being raided by prosecutors as we speak, and about a dozen have been sanctioned. But this is only the start. Eventually, I estimate that hundreds will be fined or sanctioned in other ways," said Pavel Chikov, a member of President Vladimir Putin's human rights council.

Russian prosecutors have strongly refuted claims that the NGO inspections are biased, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said during his weekly press briefing Thursday that authorities were "simply trying to bring discipline to the activities of foreign NGOs" and acting within the realms of Russian law.

U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul told the Russian Public Chamber on Thursday that, although he hoped the NGO checks would not strain U.S.-Russian relations, Washington was concerned about the "new challenges to contacts between our societies," Interfax reported.

Read more: NGOs Facing Stiff Fines Amid 'Crackdown' | News | The Moscow Times

Egypt's NGO Crackdown May Mean Icy Reception For Military Delegation On Capitol Hill

A visiting delegation of Egyptian military officials, in the United States for a routine tour and consultations, are likely to receive a rough welcome when they arrive on Capitol Hill this week for the last leg of their American venture.

On Sunday, the Egyptian government indicated that they would press ahead with criminal prosecutions in the case of some 40 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, who stand accused of working without proper licensing. Many had been repeatedly rebuffed when attempting to register with Egypt's convoluted bureaucracy in the past.

Officials with the NGOs have denied the charges ever since armed security personnel raided their offices in Cairo in late December.

The visiting military delegation -- part of a regularly scheduled and routine tour of meetings with American governmental officials and defense companies that contract with the Egyptian government -- can expect their reception to be less diplomatic than on previous trips to the Hill. Under normal circumstances, the visits are low-profile affairs, with the delegation meeting staffers or perhaps a legislator from a district hoping to secure a military contract, according to people familiar with the visits.

For more: Egypt's NGO Crackdown May Mean Icy Reception For Military Delegation On Capitol Hill

Global Warming: Europeans, Africans and nonprofits attack US for holding back UN climate talks

Leading American environmentalists complained to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Wednesday that her negotiators at U.N. climate talks risked portraying the U.S. as an obstacle to fighting global warming because of its perceived foot-dragging on key issues.

Separately, European delegates and the head of the African bloc at the 192-party talks also denounced U.S. positions at the talks, which are seeking ways to curb the ever-expanding emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

For more: Europeans, Africans and nonprofits attack US for holding back UN climate talks - The Washington Post

Marketwatch: 3PAR and TechSoup Global Serve Up Technology Savings for Nonprofits

For the complete report from MarketWatch click on this link

3PAR and TechSoup Global Serve Up Technology Savings for Nonprofits

3PAR, the leading global provider of utility storage, announced today that nonprofit TechSoup Global has chosen 3PAR Utility Storage to lower their own IT costs while delivering an estimated $312 million in annualized IT savings to other nonprofits in more than 190 countries. Over the past two decades, TechSoup Global's innovative programs have supported social benefits organizations on the international, national, and local level by helping them address unmet technology needs. With their entire donation program managed online through the TechSoup.org Website, the nonprofit chose 3PAR Utility Storage to build a resilient, high-performance storage infrastructure that would enable future scalability while keeping costs to a minimum. "The other platforms we looked at had serious drawbacks such as complex management interfaces, inability to stand by performance numbers, and lack of fully-developed thin provisioning capabilities," said Tim Suttle, Director of Information Systems Infrastructure for TechSoup Global. "3PAR are the innovators of thin provisioning, and although other vendors are now trying to catch up, they just can't match 3PAR."