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| Tightened Spaces for Human Rights | Date: 19-03-2004 |
| Author: EMHRN | |
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Tightened Spaces for Human Rights – A Discussion Paper on Palestinian NGO Work The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network is happy to announce the release of a new EMHRN paper ’Tightened Spaces for Human Rights – A Discussion Paper on Palestinian NGO Work’. The discussion paper explores the working conditions of Palestinian civil society in the light of the al-Aqsa Intifada and the 11 September 2001 attacks. It finds that the human rights situation is deteriorating and that the work of Palestinian NGOs is severely hampered. The situation for Palestinian NGOs today is two-handed. Despite the fact that the human rights situation and working conditions of NGOs have steadily deteriorated, particularly since the al-Aqsa Intifada, governmental donors have not changed their policies concerning human rights with respect to NGOs and civil society. On the one hand donors sponsor Palestinian civil society, including human rights groups. On the other hand they silence the need to respect and promote human rights and international humanitarian law as part of the peace process. At the same time NGOs face stricter and more frequent demands of detailed reporting to donors. Along this line, US governmental donor, USAID, has implemented a clause in their funding agreements, whereby NGOs have to certify that they do not support “terrorist activities”, making funding increasingly conditional. There is clearly a lack of dialogue and confidence between the donors and the NGOs. This is detrimental to the strengthening of civil society, human rights, and democratic principles. The EMHRN provides concrete recommendations on how to improve the relationship between donors and NGOs, and by extension to enhance Palestinian civil society. The EMHRN calls for an immediate conference of donors and the Palestinian NGO community in order to discuss and clarify implications of increased use of conditional funding and changing financial management procedures, and to prevent additional hampering of the work that NGO’s do. The EMHRN also recommends the setting up of regular consultations between government donors and the Palestinian and Israeli NGO communities. Such consultations would aim at mainstreaming fundamental standards of international human rights and humanitarian law into a general, coherent approach to peace and civil society building in Israel and Palestine. This could entail a series of seminars on how to collectively strengthen the role of human rights institutions and NGOs in promoting peace and security, and in contributing to an end of occupation. Means of fostering the results of these efforts into the peace process should be recognised. The EMHRN further calls for establishing a dialogue between donors and Palestinian NGOs on how donors can up-date their policies in response to the situation on the ground through the support of long-term NGO-to-NGO projects and partnerships. The discussion paper is based on an EMHRN mission to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in July 2003. The paper contains views from representatives of Palestinian and Israeli NGOs and donors. For further information, please contact: Marita Roos, Coordinator Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network Tel: +45 32 69 88 88 |
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