4. Egypt's Law of Associations
Associations - non-profit, non-governmental, developmental, and other private voluntary organizations - are governed by Egypt's Law 32 of 1964. An association, according to this law, "is defined as each group having an organization that... consist(s) of normal individuals not less than ten... for purposes rather than acquiring a materialistic profit." In addition to preventing for-profit groups from using this law to get legally sanctioned, political associations are likewise proscribed. This includes (by implication) religious associations that seek to promote a specific cause. Yet, there are thousands of "religious" associations in Egypt that get around this by simply avoiding political issues. While the Muslim Brothers - the most powerful of the Muslim political forces - were banned as an association before Law 32 came into existence, they continue to be denied legal acceptance in the realm of social activity because of this clause. (They are also denied legal recognition as a political party.) Yet, the Islamic Medical Society (al-jamciyya al-tibbiyya al-islamiyya) with branches throughout Egypt is legal because it confines its activities (theoretically) to the field of health care.
There are approximately 14,000 registered NGOs in Egypt. While this is small by Western standards (the U.S. has approximately 1,400,000 NGOs with New York City alone having some 18,000), this figure is much more than the total for all other Arab countries combined. Many of these 14,000 are thought to be inactive. Still, Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) "records indicate that over one million Egyptians are annual dues-paying members of NGOs and approximately 300 NGOs have memberships in excess of 100 individuals."
Political sensitivity aside, use of the terms "Private Voluntary" and "Non-Governmental" to describe charitable, development, non-profit, and other organizations is done with a great deal of skepticism in Egypt. Virtually all participants in and observers of NGO activity in Egypt recognize that these organizations are far from being independent of the government and many in fact are creations of that government.
This is hardly unique to Egypt. NGOs are established in many developing countries by governments themselves or by officials of those governments. Still, the relationship between NGOs and the state can be tentative and conflictual as much as it can be cooperative, even cooptative.
"NGOs are often distrustful and critical of governments and wary of forging close contacts. These sentiments are often reciprocated. ...[H]owever, NGOs comprise a broad spectrum and such a generalization is dangerous."
There are numerous examples from Egypt about this distrustful and conflictual nature of state-NGO relations. In addition to a host of examples where the state has closed down NGO operations, especially those that are Islamic in orientation, one of the more recent and prominent cases is that of AWSA, the Arab Women's Solidarity Association led by physician and author Dr. Nawal el-Saadawi (see below).
Examining the historical development of NGO activity in Egypt helps to explain the reasons behind the state's dual approach to dealing with private associations. For example, due to the state-dominance of welfare activities since the 1960s, private voluntarism had gradually declined. As government began to regulate strictly the activities of NGOs after 1964 - especially its legislative restrictions governing fund-raising - donations to these organizations declined as well as private participation. The government then moved to create agencies to help the poor and other needy groups. The wihda (social unit) was an early version of the state's attempt to promote health care, education, and social development throughout Egypt. In many areas of Egypt, the wihda eventually merged with the CDA, community development association (in Arabic jamciyya tanmiya, CDA is a type of NGO).
This combination of state control and the resulting private retreat from voluntary and benevolent work led many government employees and former employees to fill in the gap by taking over the leadership of NGOs, including CDAs. While this element of leadership by government employees would lead many to conclude that this factor "clinches" the government's control over NGO activity, others would disagree strongly. LaTowsky, in his report to CRS in 1990, admits that "some CDAs remain almost totally dependent upon annual government grants for all program and administrative expenses" and that "certain CDAs - those 'created' by [MOSA] and still closely tied to its Social Units [wihda] - are yet but minimally 'private' and 'non-governmental'".Still, he emphasizes that
"many CDAs have been independently founded by local citizen initiative and operate completely apart from government structures as truly voluntary associations. ...[Their] services are actively directed by community members and the organizations themselves are publicly recognized as local, community-based associations."
He later emphasizes that just
because NGOs and CDAs and Regional Federations have "a civil
service 'majority' in their General Assemblies and Boards of
Directors" this does not mean that they are
"'dominated' by government.... It is far more accurate to say that Egypt's private, non-profit associations are - like nearly all of their counterparts in other, less developed countries - middle class in character and membership. Not all members... are government employees but Egypt's middle class is indeed still largely made up of civil servants... The point here is that the prevailing character of most NGOs, CDAs and the Federations is more truly middle-class than "quasi-governmental."
NGOs are extensive throughout Egypt, from Aswan to Alexandria, from Siwa to El-Arish and virtually everywhere in between. Because of the standards imposed by MOSA, such NGOs make for interesting comparisons. While the structures are the same and the functions are quite similar as well, the "culture" of the organizations vary. The variance is very much dependent upon who has established the NGO, who runs it, who supports it (financially and otherwise), who are the clientele of the NGO, and what services it performs.
4. 1 Law 32 of 1964 (The Law of Associations)
The legal and bureaucratic structures that regulate NGO activity in Egypt are enshrined in Law 32 of 1964. The Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) and the "administrative entity" (which is usually the MOSA directorate in each governorate) discussed throughout the text of this law are entrusted with sweeping powers of registration, control, supervision, regulation, oversight, management, direction, appointment, etc.
MOSA may refuse an association permission to be formed (Book One, Chapter One, Article 12 [I,1,12]); prevent money from coming to an association from abroad (I,1,23); appoint a temporary board of directors (I,1,28); dissolve an association and transfer its money to another (I,4 is devoted entirely to this); merge two or more associations doing similar activities (I,1,29); deny permission to raise funds through donations "and other methods of collecting money for social purposes" (I,1,25). The authorization granting such control and oversight goes on and on throughout the text of the law.
In general, Law 32 discusses how "the respective administrative entity has the right to" do such and such; how MOSA can, may or shall do thus and such; and how associations "can not", "are prohibited from", and "shall not" do this or that; and how they "are subjected to authority of" MOSA and its subunits. In short, the government gives itself rights and puts constraints on the public from freely associating to promote their own individual and collective rights, e.g., basic human rights, community development, and so on.
Associations are also subject to other administrative entities. Even if they are successful in getting MOSA approval for their intended activities - e.g., primary school, day care, job training, primary health care, family planning, teaching the Qur'an - they generally must get permission fromanother agency. For example, if a community development association (CDA) wants to establish a primary school next to a mosque (or even on its own), it must get permission in the form of a license from the Ministry of Education. A health center must be licensed by the Ministry of Health. Any association tied to a mosque must also get permission to operate from Ministry of Awqaf (Endowments). Thus, a CDA involved in education and health care is regulated by MOSA as well as the ministries of Education, Health, and Awqaf.
Governorates also have control over NGO activity. Law 43 of 1979, the law of local administration, allows the governorate to dissolve a NGO's board of directors and prevent the association from collecting money. In many respects, then, it is the government, its administrative agencies, and its geographic sub-units which exerts a significant degree of control and oversight over NGO activities. Some of this control is recognized as necessary and even "good" by NGO advocates; much of it is seen as detrimental to the freedom of association, expression, and economic enterprise which the same government is saying is allowed in Egypt (see below).
4. 2 NGO Structure and Activities
As we see from Law 32, an NGO is formed by "not less than 10" individuals. In reality, MOSA will not take seriously any group smaller than 20. This group constitutes the General Assembly. Sizes of general assemblies in Egypt range from 50 to 600. From this assembly, a board of directors is chosen. The Law mandates that at least 4 officers be appointed - a president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary. The total number of board members "are not to be less than 5 or more than 15". (I,3,46) The Law gives MOSA the authority to appoint "a representative of the ministry as well as representatives of each concerned administrative agency [e.g., Health, Education, Awqaf] as members in the board." (I,3,48) The board must meet one time each month. Membership is valid for 3 years with election of 1/3 of the members occurring every year.
Quite often, it is the board of directors that comes first and the general assembly which follows. That is, a group of people who are committed to a particular cause - e.g., an issue, a specific community, a grand ideal - come together to achieve similar goals. They build up the would-be general assembly, form an NGO and get it registered with MOSA (and whatever other authority) and get themselves elected as the board to execute their plans. From the board, they appoint a director to serve as their representative.
The clientele of each NGO is as similar and as different as the communities served and the ideas propagated. For instance, Islamic training centers have much in common with Christian and other (i.e., non-religious) training centers, given the legal requirement that NGOs not discriminate on basis of religion. In the Coptic Benevolent Society of Macadi, a mixed-class suburb of Cairo popular with the foreign community, has a training center that caters more to under-class Muslim girls and young women than Christians of the same ages and socio-economic status. The secular Bulaq Social Service Association provides similar training for females of all ages as do thousands of similarly constituted associations throughout Egypt. The common denominator among the overwhelming majority of associations is the attempt to satisfy an urgent need for skills training, literacy, health care, among a host of other critical needs.
4. 3 Charitable Associations and CDAs
NGOs, or associations, registered under Law 32 are divided generally into two categories: (1) Jamciyy_t Khayriyya (or Rac_ya) referring to charitable associations and (2) Jamciyy_t Tanmiya, the (community) development associations. Charitable associations generally must perform only a limited number of activities. MOSA does register charitable NGOs to get involved in more than one activity. Still, they are confined to working in 14 types of services. And they must work within the field for which they are registered. If an NGO wants to add or change fields, it must go to the MOSA directorate in the field and get permission. The fields of activities include help for: children, families, social assistance, the handicapped, and prisoners' families. Other activities which MOSA permits include cultural (and this includes religious), literary, international friendship, administration and organization, and "defense of society." In many cases, this category of NGO includes the "advocacy groups" of Egyptian society, whether that be religious, feminist, capitalist, or other interest groups.
The second category, CDAs, are allowed to do
"anything they want. There are no limits on the type of services they provide. They can start a school or day care, pave roads, construct waste water, sewage, etc. There is a philosophical difference between CDAs and welfare NGOs. CDAs are of more recent vintage and seek to develop their community. Welfare NGOs are usually born out of religious motivation and/or to provide health care, education, or other services - for welfare purposes, not necessarily for development."
Still, relief and welfare activities are seen as foundations of development.
CDAs are often "public" in nature, not private. The chairman of the board of directors is often a public official, such as the cumda (village head) or the president of the district (ra'iis al-hayy). Out of six districts in Alexandria Governorate, each has a CDA which is chaired by the ra'iis al-hayy. It is easier to register a CDA than a welfare NGO - especially the religious ones. The government has begun to be more careful about religious groups, including welfare NGOs, for fear of an increasing Islamic influence in society.
To some, it would appear to be easier to register a welfare NGO since its activities are often limited to one (or a few at most) of the 14 allowable services. But, the governmental preference which is apparent may be due to the fact that the CDA is more influenced and controlled by public officials. Also, the welfare NGOs, though limited in activity, are more often driven by religious or otherwise committed groups, usually outside the influence of government.
4. 4 Federations
An important link between the grass-roots development associations and welfare organizations on the one hand and the arms of the state on the other is the federation. The government cannot directly control the approximately 14,000 associations directly from the center of power in Cairo. To achieve government objectives of control and monitoring of activities, intermediate agencies are used. These agencies are the federations and the directorates.
"The Regional Federation of NGOs (RF) is the sole representative in each governorate of all private voluntary organizations - including CDAs - registered with (MOSA). Like its constituent NGOs and CDAs, the Federation is itself a private, non-profit association with its own charter and financial accounts. The Federation is thus a governorate-level NGO, legally defined and regulated by Law 32."
Until 1979, all NGOs were supervised by the central MOSA headquarters in Cairo. At that time, MOSA decided it needed to decentralize its operations in order to achieve more intensive monitoring and control. It then set up directorates, or MOSA offices, in the 26 governorates throughout Egypt. Some directorates are further subdivided due to the large numbers of NGOs to be monitored. Cairo, for instance, has 19 districts.
And where does MOSA fit into this? In effect, MOSA and its directorate offices stand above the structure of the NGOs and its various federations. Moreover, these governmental organizations of control are more often than not directly involved in these NGOs. Again, NGOs and NGOs are nominally unrelated to the government. But the Minister of Social Affairs, Dr. Amal Osman, is herself the head of the General Federation of NGOs making it, as the head of one of the specialized federations puts it,
"in effect a department for MOSA. I and other members of the general federations choose to not attend meetings because we view the general fedeas in fact a governmental organization, a branch of MOSA."
4. 5 Governmental Acceptance: Procedures and Pitfalls
Receiving the Egyptian government's permission to operate legally entails a group of individuals (representing the NGO) approaching MOSA and working with a MOSA official to assure compliance with Law 32. In other words, this group must specify a non-political, non-profit goal to serve a specific community (their own or others') where no other group is meeting a specific need (goal). Once MOSA accepts the application from this group, which pays a fee of 5 Egyptian Pounds (L.E. 5; about US$1.50), it must conclude the registration process within 60 days. If it is not completed in this time, the association is considered to be legally promulgated without further action and notice must be published in the official gazette, Al-Waq_'i' Al-Misriyya.
The Ministry of Social Affairs "has the right to refuse the promulgation of an association's system" (I,1,12), after consulting the respective federation, if it determines that a community does not need its services, other associations exist, it threatens state security, or other equally vague reasons. What generally happens is not that MOSA will refuse to promulgate the association but that it will not even accept their papers in the first place. If it accepts the papers and then refuses promulgation, the association's leaders can complain and if their complaint is not answered in sixty days, it is considered accepted and they are then registered. Given the bureaucratic delays in Egypt, MOSA officials surely recognize that the odds are against them in a case of accepted papers, rejected registration, and the likely complaint from founders of a NGO. Thus, they simply discourage a group from applying.
4. 6 Goals and Finances of a NGO
Finances often determine goals. If money does indeed talk, then it can also dictate. Many NGOs in Egypt develop out of mainly philanthropic efforts. The initial resources of such groups are primarily the time, effort and ideas of individuals committed to a particular cause, such as community development (potable water, skills training, or health care), group maintenance (teaching the Qur'an to children), or a combination of these and other goals.
Once a group determines its objectives, it turns to a larger audience for financial and material support. In Egypt, as with many numerous developing nations, that audience can be both local and international, governmental and non-governmental (public and private). The five primary avenues for resource generation in Egypt are:
The first two avenues are "close" to the association itself and are in keeping with the developmental theme of self-reliance. The latter three, which are in keeping with the norm in developed world NGOs and other Third World settings, are necessary to keep NGOs afloat in Egypt but may nevertheless go against the goal of self-reliance (juh_d th_tiyya). The first two are primarily financial but could include volunteer work from either members or clients. The next two are often a combination of financial contribution and technical assistance. The last item is almost entirely in the form of money and material (buildings, equipment) donations.
One of the primary ways in which NGOs raise funds is by going directly to the public, i.e., its own members and others in the community who, if they do contribute, become members. This is known as ishtir_k_t, or member subscriptions. The ishtir_k_t is also considered a form of partnership in the NGO so that shareholders (contributors) attend the yearly meeting and participate in the elections of the majlis al-id_ra, board of directors. Subscriptions are of varying denominations. The range of contribution is either set by the NGO or can be whatever a person can afford to pay. It could be a monthly fee of 25 piasters (approximately 8 cents) or a LE 3 yearly payment. More wealthy individuals pay LE 25 per month while others contribute hundreds of Pounds per year. Contributors often have a booklet of payment forms from which they tear out a monthly reminder sheet (and leave a stub) and include with their payment. The concept is similar to both car-payment booklets in the United States and tithing envelopes in various Christian church settings.
Fees for service include payments for tuition (for day care, private elementary school, training programs in computers, tricot [knitting and weaving], carpentry), doctors, hospitals, trash removal, water, agricultural extension services, among others.
The Egyptian government donates financial, material and human resources for use in NGOs. These donations are in many cases inadequate but they are also quite often the difference between survival and extinction for certain associations. The primary dispute over government contributions is that it is recognized as the state's way of keeping tabs on social organizations and in many cases dictating the types of services these groups will provide to their communities. The dispute centers on whether this is a good or bad thing in terms of independence of local communities or private groups from the controls of the national government. Does this national involvement in local affairs inhibit private initiative, self-sufficiency and self-reliance? Or, as many would argue, does it enable such initiative while enhancing cooperation between the national and local communities?
The types of assistance provided by government include direct payments, technical assistance, and material support. The latter refers to equipment, books, and supplies. Quite often medical equipment is made available from the government because it has received foreign assistance to be used specifically for this purpose. Technical assistance is often in the form of MOSA secretaries or management assistants being seconded to work (full time, part time, or on temporary basis) for the NGO. Such employees of the state get their full salaries from the government plus an additional one-third of this salary paid to them by the NGO. This is, therefore, a preferred position to have since an employee will enhance his or her salary and still maintain the security of government employment (which is permanent until retirement).
Direct financial contributions from the government may range anywhere between zero and thousands of Pounds (LE). An official at one of the most famous, both within Egypt and internationally, NGOs said that his organization is supplied with "very little from the government through MOSA, maybe 1%" of his society's budget, which in 1990 was LE 1,220,957.93 This incredible level of revenues is a result of grants from foreign embassies, international "friends" and Egyptian philanthropists as well as revenues from tuition, membership fees (ishtir_k_t), and sales from food and clothing produced at the society. That the government would have supplied LE 12,209.57 (1% of revenues) is quite a substantial figure for 1990. Other NGOs say that they used to receive anywhere from LE 3000 in recent years to LE 10,000 in previous ones but that even the LE 3000 is declining sharply. LaTowsky, in his report to Catholic Relief Services in 1990, says:
"The real value of MOSA funding support for NGO programs and administrative expenses declined sharply throughout the 1980s as high inflation outpaced the very limited increases in grant monies available each year... Newly registered CDAs [were] added to the bottom of grant review lists... New associations in distant rural villages were lucky to receive even the smallest MOSA grants - less than LE 500 ($200)."
Other NGOs turn down government funding which, according to a member of an NGO devoted to helping poor women in the City of the Dead, has the added potential benefit of keeping a MOSA representative off the board of directors. Still other NGOs are forced into self-reliance, juh_d th_tiyya, at least in the sense of not relying on the government for financial support. An NGO which runs a hospital and elementary in Qalyub in the Delta region has received support from a one-time supply of money from USAID (which did come through MOSA channels) as well as financial and material contributions from the local community, zak_t (tithing), the local Islamic Computer Co., and wealthy families in Qalyub. There is a definite distrust of the government in this community. A member of the board of this NGO says that the deteriorating economic and social structures "is what comes of socialism and nationalism. And so, given the poor quality and insufficient services of the government, we built our own hospital, day care, and primary school. The government can't or won't help us so we do for ourselves. Here, in the village, the government is ignored or even hated. What counts for these village people is what is here for them, not the government but their own community. 'The Government' means the central government and they are far away and only care for themselves or care only to stop us from doing as we wish."
The notion that the government "gives us nothing" even when it is the conduit of foreign assistance is a sentiment heard quite often among NGO officials in Egypt. In addition to the mosque-hospital and school in Qalyub, a Coptic association in Cairo also was funded by USAID local development program. Here as well, the sentiment regarding MOSA was as strong - if somewhat exaggerated, justifiably or otherwise - as it was in the Islamic context in the Delta:
"MOSA has never donated anything to Christian societies. AID donated money to MOSA to give to us. With this we bought a refrigerator, stove, washing machines, sewing machines and knitting machine. For every single Christian society the government helps, it helps 10 or 20 Muslim societies. Then they use this minimal assistance to say they are helping our [Coptic] societies."
Statistics reported by Berger (1970) might indicate that not much has changed since the time of his book. More likely, they probably indicate that despite the changes that have occurred in the last 30 years (his data are from 1960), things are returning to the point they were before the government became more involved in controlling NGOs in the 1960s and 1970s. Those statistics indicate that over 74 per cent of associations received no amount of funding from the government and nearly 25 per cent did receive some funding, especially in the range of LE 100 to LE 1000 (in 1960 currency).
Private donations come from a wide array of sources, both local and international. They include international churches, foreign governments using informal channels (e.g., Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), philanthropists, and foundations. The Bulaq association has something quite unique among Egyptian NGOs. It has the "Friends of Bulaq" association in Switzerland selling its goods and raising money on its behalf. While many Egyptian NGOs get help in the form of international aid contributions, most do not have the added advantage of a sister association working outside Egypt for the benefit of Egyptians. Coptic associations, in particular CEOSS in al-Minya, also have these international "friends" or "sister" associations which work on their behalf and are a source of financial support, but these are the exception, not the rule, in the indigenous NGO community in Egypt.
The Mustafa Mahmud Association of Mohandiseen is also the beneficiary of a very generous group of foreign friends. In this case, these friends are individuals, not groups as in the case of Bulaq and CEOSS. This Islamic Association has received considerable support from a Kuwaiti entrepreneur with close personal ties to Dr. Mustafa Mahmud. One of his donations included a building in Mohandiseen which has become an important component of the Association's sprawling medical complex.
Any donations, whether they be from foreign governments or philanthropists or indigenous groups or individuals, must be reported to MOSA. Again, this is part of the government's desire to keep tabs on all aspects of NGO activity in Egypt.
Fund-raising in Egypt - through carnivals, raffles, or other methods of asking local communities to support a certain NGO - is difficult but not impossible. Still, it is not considered one of the primary avenues for revenue enhancement due to the fact that government controls whether a NGO can do it. Between 1985 and 1990, none of the 20 CDAs in Gharbeya Governorate
"obtained the approval of the Directorate of Social Affairs to hold such fund-raising events. Nor is it likely that CDAs in the Upper Egyptian Governorates [Assiut, Minya, and Qena] had organized these activities. Rather there, as in Gharbeya Governorate, it is most probably the same few, experienced NGOs best known to MOSA officials and located in the governorate capital that regularly receive official permission for such fund-raising."
Security concerns is the primary rationale for this continued government rejection of applications, throughout Egypt. Bureaucratic delays and repeated visits to MOSA and security (Ministry of Interior) offices are related deterrents to NGO officials even contemplating seeking permission for such activities.
In recent years, there have been increasing calls from politicians, human rights activists, donor representatives, and NGO members to amend Law 32 of 1964. Perhaps the most prominent case has been that of Parliamentarian Mona Makram Ebeid who, in her maiden speech before the Majlis al-Shacb in 1991, called on Parliament to amend Law 32 and allow more freedom of association and expression:
"Societies Law 32 of 1964 in particular represents the uttermost organizational hegemony on the part of the state over social activities. Moreover, it no longer represents the official attitude of the state or responds to present and future aspirations... The law represents a flagrant example of disbelief in the vital role that could be played by national organizations in pushing forward the wheel of development, serving society, and facing the chronic challenges it confronts. Therefore, I call upon the government to urgently develop [tat.w_r, i.e., amend] these laws to give individuals the chance to establish firms and societies without any unconstitutional restrictions and constraints."
The pressure to amend Law 32 is also beginning to come from some international sources, e.g., human rights organizations and USAID. Middle East Watch in New York has joined the challenge to Law 32. While proponents of amending this law see it as an indispensable part of the overall reform process being pursued (however slowly) in Egypt, government officials appear to consider this as a separate and less pressing issue.
While the mini-debate over Law 32 continues within the overall debate over economic reform, structural adjustment, privatization, and public sector revitalization, the activities of NGOs continue despite the inability of policy makers to provide a more appropriate climate.