The federal cabinet has established a committee to scrutinize the foreign funding of both international and domestic nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
The six-member committee, officially notified on September 3, comprises Law and Justice Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi, Economic Affairs Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz, Interior Secretary Capt (retired) Khurram Muhammad Agha, Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal, and Law and Justice Secretary Raja Naeem Akbar.
The committee’s mandate includes reviewing the channels through which NGOs receive foreign funding, with a focus on ensuring transparency and proper utilisation of funds for their intended purposes. The committee has been given four weeks to submit its report to the federal cabinet.
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Moreover, this decision follows ongoing deliberations within the government regarding the operations of several international NGOs in Pakistan. A special committee, led by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, met on August 31 to assess the status of these NGOs, some of which had been denied permission to operate or required renewal of their registration.
In addition, the review process of the NGOs’ applications is rooted in a policy framework established in 2015, which mandated all INGOs to register with the Ministry of Interior by signing memorandums of understanding (MoUs). Organizations failing to comply were barred from operating, raising funds, or assisting their local offices without government approval.
