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The Right to Peaceful Assembly and Formation of NGOs
Contradictory of Restriction and Liberalization Philosophy
The new international climate has contributed , either on the scale of NGOs activity or at the scale of international policies encouraging the withdrawal of state from provision of social services, to empower civil society initiatives to meet the societal needs . This also helped people to do collective actions in order to solve their own problems and to pay more attention to public issues. Of course this has an impact on livelihoods and daily life. Civil activity aims to organize active initiatives of citizens aiming at improving conditions of their livelihoods ,and understanding , proposing and implementing various solutions to problems of education, health, culture and environment. So, civil society is a very effective tool to develop democracy in society , deepen belonging among citizens and to develop society. This is reflected in material and moral development of either society and individual. In fact , growth and prosperity of civil society are closely connected with ensuring freedoms of action, activity and expression. Also, bypassing the narrow margin of charitable work to the broader arena of development , protecting individual rights, creating lobbying groups to bear pressures on making –decision centers and empowering the more socially vulnerable are very necessary. On reviewing the case of Egypt we find that civil activity had played a very important role in late of nineteenth and early of twentieth century . It had contributed to modernization of the society and even in the struggle against the British occupation . It had helped in the establishment of the first modern Egyptian university in addition to scores of schools , hospitals , houses of caring for the elderly, the orphans and the disabled , conservation of environment , consumer protection, eradication of illiteracy , education, training, health, increasing incomes, employment, small industrial businesses , improvement of urban environment, afforestation, cleanliness, and advocacy of women and children rights and the right of man to safe and noble life . The relationship between the state and the civil society had passed through different stages . The first one was before the year of 1952. Within such period, NGOs had enjoyed a large space of activity which enabled them to take initiatives and to strengthen their mechanisms and roles in society in spite of the governmental intervention and control. The second phase had begun after the revolution of July 1952. The relationship had been of functional character due to the new socialist orientation of the state. Strategy of functional integration had emerged to be a governmental approach pursued by the state beside its supervisory and censor role. Moreover, organizational integration , through lawful mechanisms , helped the state to control over such NGOs . Thus laws regulating NGO activity had become a framework of regulating the relationship between he state and NGOs rather than the society. Both government and individuals had dealt with such laws in a functional way where the former had sticked to the letter of the law sometimes and ignored some provisions in certain circumstances while the latter resorted to make use of the loopholes to achieve the aims. The state had sought, through strategy of functional and organizational integration, to consider NGOs as a tool of implementation of its public policy and priorities in each stage. In the seventies , the state has launched is new policy of transformation from single-party system to restricted pluralism , economic –open door policy and free- market economy. Therefore, the third stage had began and marked by mistrust between the state and the civil society due to the upsurge of the political Islam capable of infiltrating to civil society, NGOs ,trade unions and professional syndicates. Given social and economical changes happened since 1976 plus political reform efforts, it has become inevitable to issue a new law regulating civil society activity . Also, philosophy of gradual reformation had been articulated as an attempt to control interactions of civil society. Of course, such changes has synchronized with the state withdrawal from undertaking its roles in production and services. It had abandoned providing the essential services and commodities for low income-earners. Market –economy mechanisms has prevailed and hence service prices had soared especially of education , health, housing , transportation and communication . Prices of essential goods had increased while salaries and wages had been frozen leading to higher costs of living. Poverty ratios has risen and reached more than 485 of the population. New serious social phenomena has emerged to threaten the social fabric f society . Unemployment has raged to the extent that more than three millions of young males and females are jobless . Moreover, there is a considerable increase in the marginalized groups especially in the big cities. Due to such economical developments and its adverse effects on stability and cohesiveness of the society, new concepts of social development and of civil society activity .Social development has not become a mere economical business the state undertakes but it means human investment. Human development aims to increase options available to citizens in order to improve quality of life . Government is not able lonely to bear burdens of development. Population should undertake their role in participatory development which should not be confined to receiving aids. A new role of civil society had emerged not limited to either traditional charitable and service activity or providing assistance for those of special needs ; or health and educational services , caring for street children and children labor or addressing the side- effects of structural adjustment. Civil society participation in development is necessary. This new developmental role of the civil society is not only achieved by the direct activities of NGOs but requires their pressures as institutions and collective forces on social policy –makers to follow the proper way. Of fact , development is a redistribution of wealth and haring power , so civil sector as a whole should participate in efforts of development . This affects on public policies of development and help redistribute developmental priorities and investments for achieving justice and society progress. It is of society interest to strengthen civil activity and the role of NGOs as partner with the government. There is an objective necessity for partnership and integration between both governmental and non governmental work. Furthermore, there is no contradiction between the two parties but undemocratic forces within the ranks of the rule or misunderstanding within NGOs may lead to such contradiction. In fact , there is an integration of both governmental and non governmental roles that should be based, by definition , on actual partnership.The actual partener is not a dependent . So equality must govern the relationship between the government and NGOs. This enables NGOs to play a real role in development and converting the existed social negative positions. Astonishingly, given the economical, social and political changes since the eighties and the steady growth in NGOs numbers , constituting 60. 8 out of the total number of NGOs, the application of the law no. 32 of 1964 reflects government willingness , tendency and determination to sting to this law that had been an outcome of economical and social context differentiated to a large extent from the current context. There is a more comprehensive vision of the democratic civil activity consider that it content means helping people to self determination themselves. It is neither a charitable work to take from the rich to give the needy nor an effort to fill the gap generated by the growing withdrawal by the state to satisfy the basic rights of citizens. Democratic work aims, with its social content, to empower people , through solidarity, organization , defiance of all forms of power monopoly and knowledge to extract the right to self –determination and to have the capacity of exercise such right. This is an arena of popular self-organization to practice the right of he management of their own society on the scale of either public policies or local comunities. Therfore, internal democracy of NGOs is not only a desired format but also a raison d'être and a part and parcel of its objectives. Civil work , with this meaning , is of political character , non partisan. It concerns with management of society including public economical , health and environmental policies, women's rights , human rights ; and etc… It is of non –partisan charcter because it is based on voluntary organization of people. Any attempt to subject the civil society to a partisan hegemony is a serious strike to the democratic content of NGOs and a negation of its existence. In conclusion, given the ever-increasing and pivotal role of the civil society in the comprehensive development , democratic evolution and political participation, an objective collision between both philosophies of liberalization and restriction and confiscation. The first one assures the necessity of enactment democratic law to provide NGOs with a large space to launch popular initiatives. Meanwhile the second philosophy of restriction and confiscation proves, through lawful mechanism, the the false claims of democracy and partnership between government and NGOs which the former propagates. This issue will be addressed and analyzed in depth in the following pages. Concluding Vision NGOs What is to be Done ? |