NGOs can receive foreign funding, says UN rep

There should be no restriction on how NGOs derive their funding, whether it is from local or foreign sources, said UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, Maina Kiai.

He told a public forum today that funding is vital in exercising the right to freedom of association, and the same standards for funding governments and corporations should apply to NGOs as well.

“I know Malaysia received a lot of foreign funding in its early days and it should now be a provider of funding. Nobody ever accused the government of being a foreign agent.

“Similarly, the same goes with associations. You cannot exercise that right (to association) if there is no funding,” said the prominent lawyer from Kenya.

Kiai added that many businesses in Malaysia have access to foreign funding as well, and such is the reality of how the modern world works.

The UN special envoy was speaking on the international standards and practices in exercising the freedom of assembly and association during a forum at the Bar Council’s office in Kuala Lumpur.

Kiai’s remarks were targeted at the recent investigation launched by the authorities into the sources of funding of human rights group Suaram, which include agencies from the United States and Germany.

[More to follow]