DUSHANBE, June 10, 2015, Asia-Plus – A regular sitting of the first session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) is taking place in Dushanbe today and parliamentarians are expected to consider amendments proposed to the country’s law on public associations.

These amendments reportedly provide for tightening control over financial revenues and expenditures of public associations.

We will recall that non-governmental organizations in Tajikistan expressed concern about new legislation that restricts their access to foreign grants in November last year.  Participants at an international conference in Dushanbe said on November 18 that according to legal amendments recently adopted by a parliament, NGOs in Tajikistan will only be able to receive grants from foreign entities if they have approval from the government.  They noted that the change would have substantial effects on the activity of NGOs and would probably force some of them to close.

On November 26, more than 90 NGOs from Tajikistan and other countries have signed the appeal, calling on the government of Tajikistan to drop this draft legislation and to respect the right of NGOs to have unhindered access to funding for their work, including from sources abroad.