CSOs in Pakistan face severe challenges and gradual loss of their development gains including challenges to their own existence, due to restrictive legal environment, financial viability and public image etc. The organizations involved in the service provision are more comfortable over the advocacy and rights centered CSOs.

Perceiving CSOs as threats to stability and security, the authorities obstructs their activities in the name of ‘national interest’. NGOs and INGOs are subject to extensive regulation involving multiple, lengthy procedures of registration, security clearance, and approvals for funding. The entire process is characterized by an absence of transparency and limited civilian oversight, lack of understanding of government representatives on new policies resulting in arbitrary rejections of NGO applications. 

Therefore, the civil society organizations in the country are very much concerned about the policies of the subsequent governments where it has become impossible for NGOs to operate in an environment of mistrust and complicated procedures for getting approvals and signing of MoUs and obtaining NOCs with the several departments, divisions and commissions.

Freedom of association, assembly and expression are democratic in their vision and essence and are also indicators of a functional civic space. These rights are guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan. Article 16 of the 1973 Constitution guarantees every citizen ‘the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of public order’. Article 17 ensures every citizen ‘the right to form associations or unions’ but it’s not absolute in nature. Article 19 of the Constitution states that every citizen ‘shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press’, but it can be restricted in the name of “national interest or security”.

Pakistan is signatory of almost all major global commitments including CEDAW, CRPD, CRC, ICCPR etc. and has also adopted agenda 2030 for social transformation in September 2015. However, the progress towards adoption and implementation of these global commitments at national level are extremely slow or negligible. The issues like conservativism in youth, extremism, non-democratic culture and misogynistic mindsets against women, girls, religious minorities, socially excluded groups would be improved once our civil society organizations/ NGOs are strengthened and abled to take lead in abolishing civic and human rights violations. Under such circumstances there is a dire need to protect and strengthen CSOs in Pakistan through following demands from civil society organizations and human rights actors & defenders.

We demand that:

1.       MOU with Economic Affairs Division should be for the eligibility of NGOs to receive foreign contributions instead acquiring MOU for every project funded by foreign donors.

2.       Renewal of registration / MOUs should be for at least three years instead on annual basis. 

3.       Registration authority should release letter for the opening of registered NGO Bank Accounts in the scheduled Banks and this should be enough to open the account. The matter should also be notified by the State Bank of Pakistan.

4.       State Bank of Pakistan should write to all Banks to avoid asking EAD MOU from those NGOs which are not getting any direct funding from foreign donors.

5.       Local CSOs/NGOs should be allowed to work freely anywhere in Pakistan on any of the human rights / civic rights challenge or issue. Although the NGOs interventions may be monitored through oversight bodies.

6.       Local civil society need to be strengthened and localization of global commitment be promoted & implemented through local CSOs.