Int’l NGO license increased to 5 years

International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) will now receive registration certificates valid for up to 5 years, following the adoption of a new regulation designed to ease the registration and operations of not-for-profit organisations in Rwanda.According to the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration, the department that issues the certificates of registration to international NGOs, with the new law in place, the organisations will no longer have to undergo the cumbersome procedures of license renewal they have been going through every year.Previously, International NGOs were required to renew their licenses on an annual basis.Speaking to The New Times this week, the Director General of Immigration and Emigration, Anaclet Kalibata, said the initiative comes as a relief to both government and the NGOs that have always sought for easier and more efficient operations.“Under the old law when they were required to renew their certificates every year, NGOs complained that it was difficult for them to source for funds every year because their situation seemed temporary,” Kalibata said.“Now they will be able to operate for five years, which is a positive sign indicating government’s confidence in them and is also enough time for them (NGOs) to implement their action plans.”During the process, an NGO will be required to present an official document - from its country of origin - allowing it to operate, its action plan and the kind of the activities in which it intends to engage in.“Just like previously, the government will require them to disclose their budget and their financiers in order to be more transparent in their activities,” Kalibata explained.He advised that NGOs too should be accountable for their activities to have impact on the intended beneficiaries.However, an INGO may not be registered if it fails to fulfil requirements for registration prescribed in the law.“Those that have already been working in Rwanda are evaluated to check whether they met the targets they stipulated the previous year before they are approved for a new certificate.”All INGOs operating in the country were given 90 days to register, as stipulated in the law, from July 1 to September 28.By press time, only 20 out of 148 NGOs operating in the country had registered, although Kalibata is optimistic that all of them will register by deadline day.“I’m sure for many NGOs it is a lot of work to register every year.The issuing of 5-year license would be a step forward,” a Country Director of one of the Ngo’s operating in the country said.

National

Int’l NGO license increased to 5 years