Putin Urges to Amend NGO Law

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) --- Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for amendments to a controversial bill that would force non-governmental organizations (NGOs) funded from abroad and engaged in political activity to declare themselves “foreign agents."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“If we see today that these projects must be brushed up, I’m ready to ask lawmakers to introduce relevant amendments,” Putin said on Tuesday at a meeting on the pending legislation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Putin urged the government “not to procrastinate until fall” with discussing the amendments.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Under the new bill, which was approved by the State Duma in its first reading on Friday, NGOs would have to publish a biannual report of their activities and carry out an annual financial audit. Failure to comply with the law could result in four-year jail sentences and/or fines of up to 300,000 rubles ($9,200).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Those engaged in political activity and funded from abroad will be labeled “foreign agents,” a term synonymous with spying and treason in the Soviet era, which has already met fierce criticism from human rights groups.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In an apparent move to soften the upcoming restrictions on NGOs, Putin proposed to boost state funding of non-governmental organizations to three billion rubles ($10 million) from one billion rubles ($3 million).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“If we introduce tougher conditions for the organizations’ activity, we must increase our own funding from the federal budget no less than three times, from one to three billion rubles ,” the president said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He also warned against restricting religious organizations under the new law, in a move that might make life easier for Russian Orthodox Church, a pillar of Russia's establishment.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The country’s oldest rights organization, the Moscow Helsinki Group, has said it will close down its offices rather than comply with the new law in its existing form. Russia’s Public Chamber also said last week that it would not support the bill - which has also been criticized by the Kremlin’s own rights council - in its current form.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The bill was proposed by United Russia lawmaker Alexander Sidyakin, the author of recent legislation that sharply increased fines for violations of regulations governing protests.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Speaking about a bill criminalizing libel that was introduced in the State Duma by a group of the United Russia lawmakers last week, Putin said that the article should return to the Criminal Code but without custodial sentences for offences.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We will keep it in the Criminal Code, but will ask lawmakers to withdraw imprisonment as the liability for this offense,” Putin said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The libel bill in its current format envisages jail terms of up to five years and fines of up to 100,000 rubles ($3,000) for misinformation damaging a person's reputation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Russia’s Human Rights Council advocates, Mikhail Fedotov and Vladimir Lukin, who also attended the meeting criticized re-criminalizing libel as it would spoil Russia’s image.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We may become the only European country that made this step backwards. It’s harmful for our international image,” Fedotov said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“If we set responsibility without imprisonment, it would be right,” Lukin said, adding that “a word should counter a word, but not jail.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: ER; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Putin will submit his proposals voiced at the meeting to the State Duma later on Tuesday, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div></div>

Putin Urges to Amend NGO Law

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) --- Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for amendments to a controversial bill that would force non-government...

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JORDAN: Civil society at heart of Syrian refugee response

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SGXaVAowkzOFX1qjXyWu6Spihd84s6FUfww6tMjGjECdF5srqruNC6FKR_nNak8r0LlL_lTW5oAZDx9XLbbw7BMkRkLrVirEk3xjoaLvOvSPQAl2eZBsPHW7INSL6b9GAgcxgbha-ss/s1600/201204110913460466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SGXaVAowkzOFX1qjXyWu6Spihd84s6FUfww6tMjGjECdF5srqruNC6FKR_nNak8r0LlL_lTW5oAZDx9XLbbw7BMkRkLrVirEk3xjoaLvOvSPQAl2eZBsPHW7INSL6b9GAgcxgbha-ss/s400/201204110913460466.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Photo: <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/photo/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Heba Aly/IRIN</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Members of the Syria Woman Association at their office in Amman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div></td></tr> </tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">AMMAN </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">(IRIN) - Community-based organizations have arguably played the largest role in helping thousands of Syrian refugees pouring into neighbouring Jordan. Until recently, the response had been fairly ad-hoc, or as one aid worker put it, “a mess”, with various players on the ground and many Syrians simultaneously registering and getting assistance from various organizations.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But these civil society organizations are increasingly trying to coordinate, and despite the relative chaos, they have shone in recent months, especially as the first point of contact for many Syrian refugees arriving in Jordan. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Community-based organizations are probably providing most of the assistance going to the Syrians,” one senior international aid worker said. “They should not be underestimated. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“But the government has very serious concerns about some of the groups working there and about what some of their objectives may be,” he added. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here is a sample of the players on the ground at the forefront of the effort: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Civil society:</b> There was a sizeable Syrian community in Jordan before the unrest, and it has been a starting point for many fleeing Syrians. They stay with family or friends in extra bedrooms or living rooms. Some Jordanian landlords have also been very generous, allowing Syrian refugees to stay for free. In the northern Jordanian border town of Remtha, a compound-turned transit facility donated by a Jordanian landlord temporarily houses Syrians who flee to Jordan illegally, until they can find a sponsor and a place to stay. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Muslim organizations:</b> Many Syrians fled to Jordan after their government crushed a revolt by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in the central town of Hama in 1982. Some of the children of that earlier wave of refugees formed the Syria Woman Organization in 2006 to help Syrians in need in Jordan. While their children run around in their office in the capital Amman, women in niqab register new Syrian arrivals and provide them with furniture, medicine, baby food and cash with which to rent apartments. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Another active organization with links to the Brotherhood is the Islamic Charity Centre Society, which has also been registering refugees and distributing aid in border regions. “The Muslim Brotherhood play a big role in aid, but it’s hidden,” said one Syrian activist in Jordan. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Al-Kitab wal Sunnah Association is another active player. These organizations appear to have the greatest reach, and certainly more than the UN. (Some refugees fear registering with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, because they believe identifying themselves as having fled Syria will put them in danger if they try to return; UNHCR can currently only register refugees in Amman). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Syrian activists and diaspora:</b> The Syrian diaspora has played a large role, sending everything from cash to containers of clothes from as far as the USA and Australia. Syrian activists in Jordan receive the items, but they are so busy smuggling aid into Syria that after the month-long shipping period, donations for refugees sometimes end up sitting in warehouses, waiting to be sorted and distributed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Gulf </b>- The Red Crescent Society of the United Arab Emirates has donated 6,000 food parcels, 1,000 hygiene kits, 1,000 heaters and 10,000 blankets. Societies from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait have also done assessments and are planning to help. While Red Crescent aid has been coordinated through the Jordan Red Crescent and the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, other assistance from the Gulf has been less organized. In one case, a Gulf country set up a tent and requested donations for Syrian refugees. What ended up in Jordan was a container of unsorted items, with slaughtered chickens mixed in with clothes, powdered milk, broken tea glasses and medication without an expiry date. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO)</b> - Charged by the government to coordinate the aid response to refugees, JHCO is increasingly getting involved in the response. (Normally, it works externally more than internally, “under Royal guidance”). It is trying to create a master list of refugees registered with different organizations to avoid “double-dipping”. It is too early to tell how well they will play their new role, but they seem to have the respect of international agencies. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>International community:</b> Arguably late to join the effort in a significant way, the UN and other international aid agencies are nowgearing up a larger response, not only in Jordan, but also in Turkey and Lebanon, with an US$84 million appeal. In Jordan, UNHCR is leading the charge, with strong involvement from other agencies like the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which has worked in Jordan for decades. UNHCR’s main goal is to build the capacity of JHCO to coordinate the community-based organizations. But the response plan lays out projects ranging from cash assistance for vulnerable families to psychosocial support for children. The international community is also taking steps to better understand and tap into the activities of the community-based organizations on the ground. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div></div>

JORDAN: Civil society at heart of Syrian refugee response

Photo:  Heba Aly/IRIN Members of the Syria Woman Association at their office in Amman AMMAN   (IRIN) - Community-based organizations hav...

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dot NGO Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) to be Opened Soon

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <h3 style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: small;"><br /> </span></h3><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">By<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><a href="http://www.groundreport.com/weaker41"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"> </span></span>Shreedeep Rayamajhi</a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><span style="color: #333333;">  <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="facibeenhere"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVCLhCIWUpYMmxldLAcLbVJnc-x-k8EAYt1UVwsyerw5a9ZBtTlG_85fOagOxmhZ1ZqcDqkiP1-9efMmR4bjl2pszIoyfTvHQL1EZKwCsMYCaGL6J_N2d2nr4W1Zl2WqnsEnEsG2PKl0/s1600/ng-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVCLhCIWUpYMmxldLAcLbVJnc-x-k8EAYt1UVwsyerw5a9ZBtTlG_85fOagOxmhZ1ZqcDqkiP1-9efMmR4bjl2pszIoyfTvHQL1EZKwCsMYCaGL6J_N2d2nr4W1Zl2WqnsEnEsG2PKl0/s400/ng-.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Photo © <a href="http://www.groundreport.com/includes/ajax/image_popup.php?image=2943480&image_id=1" target="_blank"><span style="background: white;">GroundReport</span></a></span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><i style="line-height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><a href="http://www.groundreport.com/Media_and_Tech/-NGO-Top-Level-Domains-gTLDs-to-be-opened-soon/2943480" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">GroundReport</span></a>-</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: 15.75pt;">The Public Interest Registry, the non-profit company which manages the .ORG domain name space, is proposing a dot NGO domain name extension, for exclusive use by the NGO community. It continues to focus on this global community and seeks its input and support. New top level domains (TLDs) proposals such as .NGO will be submitted to ICANN in January 2012. </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="msonospacing" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br /> </span><br /> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br /> </span><br /> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br /> </span><br /> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">According to ICCAN<span class="apple-converted-space">,</span> “The Internet's domain-name system (DNS) allows users to refer to web sites and other resources using easier-to-remember domain names (such as "www.icann.org") rather than the all-numeric IP addresses (such as "192.0.34.65") assigned to each computer on the Internet. Each domain name is made up of a series of character strings (called "labels") separated by dots. The right-most label in a domain name is referred to as its "top-level domain" (TLD). The DNS forms a tree-like hierarchy. Each TLD includes many second-level domains (such as "ICANN" in "www.icann.org"); each second-level domain can include a number of third-level domains ("www" in "www.icann.org"), and so on. The responsibility for operating each TLD (including maintaining a registry of the second-level domains within the TLD) is delegated to a particular organization. These organizations are referred to as "registry operators", "sponsors", or simply "delegees."<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 12pt;">As a public interest, not for profit company since 2002, PIR is uniquely qualified to manage and promote the .NGO TLD. </span></div>

dot NGO Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) to be Opened Soon

By     Shreedeep Rayamajhi        Photo © GroundReport GroundReport - The Public Interest Registry, the non-profit company which mana...

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Tough Post-Revolution Reality for NGOs in Egypt

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">CAIRO</span></i></st1:place></st1:city><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (NNN-IRIN) -- Egyptian NGOs hoping for greater freedom and more space to operate after the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s government say they have encountered just the opposite: an unprecedented clampdown by the post-revolution military rulers. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Following <st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region>’s historic protests calling for basic political freedom, it is deeply disturbing that the Egyptian military has targeted <st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region>’s democracy and human rights community in ways not even dared during Mubarak’s despotic rule,” wrote Stephen McInerney, executive director of the Washington-based Project on <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place> Democracy (POMED). <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The first parliamentary elections since Mubarak’s fall are scheduled for Nov 28, but NGO leaders say the transitional government led by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has mounted a “smear campaign” against them by accusing them of receiving millions of dollars from foreign donors to destabilize the country -- going so far as to say the violence on the streets of Cairo during and after the revolution was supported by foreign funding channelled through NGOs. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Many of the local organisations being targeted intended to monitor the upcoming elections, but have been prevented from doing so by the Electoral Commission. The SCAF has already banned foreign groups from monitoring the vote. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“This (smear campaign) is yet another episode in the suffering of NGOs in this country,” Maged Adeeb, the chairman of local NGO National Centre for Human Rights, told IRIN (www.irinnews.org). <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“By accusing us of receiving funds and using them in weakening <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s security, the government creates an unbridgeable gap between us and ordinary citizens.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In a recent conference in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cairo</st1:place></st1:city>, Negad Al Borae, a leading civil society activist, said the new government was collaborating with some political powers -- namely members of the former ruling party -- to destroy the nation’s NGOs. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Egypt’s law 84/2002 does not prevent NGOs from getting funding from abroad, but requires them to register with the government and all funding to be approved by the Ministry of Social Solidarity. Last year, the government introduced a bill in parliament (it later became law) which further restricted NGOs and gave state security the power to approve or deny international funding to NGOs. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Ominous signs began in June, when US Ambassador to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> Anne Patterson said the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> had spent USD 40 million in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> to “promote democracy” since the revolution. She said 600 Egyptian NGOs had presented applications for funding. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The government said none of the registered NGOs had informed it about any funds they received in this regard. In July, Minister of International Cooperation Faiza Abul-Naga announced an investigation into foreign funding of unregistered NGOs, saying such funding was considered “an intervention in our internal affairs.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">National and international organisations have received tens of millions of dollars -- one media report put it as high as USD 225 million -- in foreign funding since February. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In September, the cabinet said the government investigation found about 30 NGOs to have been illegally receiving foreign funding because they were not registered. An article in Al-Fagr newspaper named reputable NGOs like the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to be among the “illegal” entities. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According to POMED’s McInerney, many of them had registered instead as civil corporations, law firms or other legal entities which are supervised by less intrusive government ministries and laws. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Minister of Justice Mohamed Abdel Aziz al-Guindi has said these organisations face charges of treason for conspiring against the country by sending sensitive information to foreign parties. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Civil society activists like Adeeb say the government has put their funding under the microscope by asking Central Bank officials to reveal their bank dealings to see whether they match financial statements presented to the government. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">On Oct 9, the Justice Ministry summoned five civil society activists and accused them of using foreign funding to foment violence during the revolution. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Agencies like ours have always been a thorn in the back of dictatorial governments,” said Emad Abdel Qawy, the head of local NGO Justice and Citizenship, which works in the south of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>. “This is why the government will be happy to either stop our work or even tarnish our reputation.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The government however says NGOs need to be more transparent about the funds they receive. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“I cannot understand why civil society activists should be worried when the government asks about funding,” Social Solidarity Minister <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gouda</st1:place></st1:city> Abdel Khaliq said late last month in an interview with private Dream TV. “These organisations should not be afraid as long as they are on the right track.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It is not only civil society activists who are worried. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, an international network of human rights groups, on Oct 9 sent a delegation to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cairo</st1:place></st1:city> to investigate the issue of freedom of association. The network called for an immediate end to what it called the “harassment” of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s NGOs. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Human Rights Watch has also condemned the government’s moves against NGOs and called for it to close “treason” investigations right away. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Even so, the government’s campaign against NGOs seems to have changed the way ordinary Egyptians view civil society. Activists talk about people who approach them not asking about their development programmes or their political awareness campaigns, but about where they get their funding. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“This has become a very common question these days,” said Emad Abdel Qawy, the head of the Minya-based Justice and Citizenship Society. “The funny thing is that none of these ordinary citizens had asked about this funding before.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A few days ago, Abdel Qawy narrowly escaped an attack in the southern governorate of Qena by some people who called him “traitor” and a “paid agent”. He had gone with other activists to present a theatrical show on the importance of political participation when a group of people stormed into the theatre and beat them with sticks. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">There are around 30,000 NGOs in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>, mostly working in political education, human rights and development. -- NNN-IRIN<o:p></o:p></span></i></div></div>

Tough Post-Revolution Reality for NGOs in Egypt

CAIRO (NNN-IRIN) -- Egyptian NGOs hoping for greater freedom and more space to operate after the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s government say th...

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India: Mumbai NGO Creates Guiness Record For Delivering 25,000 Job Letters

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br /> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">MUMBAI (NNN-Bernama) -- Mumbai-based NGO Swabhiman Sanghatana Thursday said it has created a new Guinness World Record by giving jobs to 25,300 unemployed youths, including physically challenged in a day, reported Press Trust of India (PTI). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The appointment letters were issued Wednesday from various private and cooperative banks, call centres, private companies, trading and business organisations, malls and shopping plazas, depending on the qualifications of the applicants. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The effort was recognised by Guinness World Records adjudicators Rob Molloy who awarded the coveted certificate to Swabhiman Sanghatana head Nitesh Rane as thousands of youths cheered. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">While awarding the certificate for the record, Molly said," This was a new record for a new category for me and it was a great experience." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Nitesh, the son of <st1:place w:st="on">Maharashtra</st1:place> state Industry Minister Narayan Rane, said the job fair was envisioned to fulfil the career dreams of youth from underprivileged background, who had not been able to complete education. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"The success was a slap on the face of Mumbai Municipal administration that has failed to do its job despite having a complete control over Mumbai for ages," Nitesh said. -- NNN-BERNAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

India: Mumbai NGO Creates Guiness Record For Delivering 25,000 Job Letters

MUMBAI (NNN-Bernama) -- Mumbai-based NGO Swabhiman Sanghatana Thursday said it has created a new Guinness World Record by giving jobs to 2...

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