Bernd von Jutrczenka/DPA/PA Images. All rights reserved.In late May, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi enacted a law imposing strict regulations on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), accelerating Egypt’s on-going crackdown on human rights and civil society. This law, in short, will mean the end of some of Egypt’s leading NGOs, including those working to advance the rights of women and girls.
The law places all civil society operations, funding, and activities under the authority of a new government entity, the “National Authority for the Regulation of Non-Governmental Foreign Organizations.”
The name, however, is misleading; the regulations will apply to both foreign organizations and local Egyptian organizations receiving foreign funding. The law bans organizations from engaging in any work that the government considers harmful for national security, public order, public morals, or public health.
