The Azerbaijan parliament is proposing a bill to regulate the NGO sector of the nations. If the bill is passed, new laws will be put in place that many have presumed as a means to curtail civil society activity in Azerbaijan.
Some of the new laws in the proposed bill include that: NGOs are required to limit their funds from abroad to about 50% of total finical requirements; foreigners will be prohibited from creating NGOs; any NGO found in violating the new rules will be penalized with outright ban or in some cases years of prohibited operations.
A lot of International NGO operates in Azerbaijan and most enjoy a considerable degree of support from the national government. The government support for civil society over the years had also encouraged various national NGOs to spring up. The positive development in the sector was reflected in the summer report of 2009 by the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC).
Update: A bill has recently been passed in the Assembly based on NGO reforms. But the strict measures in the initial bill for operation of NGO was entirely jetisoned due to pressure exactly on paliarmentaries from various quarters including extablished INGO and civil society groups.
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