The Ministry of Social Solidarity is finalizing amendments to Law 48/2002 on civil society organizations to regulate foreign funding, informed sources from the ministry said Wednesday.
The amendments will tackle loopholes that some civil society organizations abuse to obtain foreign funding to serve foreign interests, said the sources, who spoke to Al-Masry Al-Youm on condition of anonymity.
The amendments put the Ministry of Social Solidarity in charge of actively monitoring the groups' funding and grant it authority to also monitor expenditures. The organizations must inform the ministry about how the funds will be spent, according to the source.
The public prosecution is investigating reports alleging that certain civil society groups received funding from countries including the US to work on their behalf in Egypt. Critics have slammed the investigation, saying it is an attempt to smear the work of NGOs here and that foreign funding is nothing new.
The results of investigations are expected to be announced over the next few days, according to Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abouelnaga.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
