Erbil, 7 April 2011 The Kurdistan Parliament yesterday passed a draft law which is believed will improve transparency of relations between regional authorities and civil society and clarify the legislative framework for NGOs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
UNOPS and ICNL welcome this as a significant step in the empowering of civil society in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The text of the draft law, which remains to be endorsed by the President of the Kurdistan Region, is in line with international best practices and is the result of a civil society driven process.
For more information please contact Mr. Adam Styp-Rekowski at adams@unops.org or telephone +962 775466010, or Mr. Kareem Elbayar at KElbayar@icnl.org or +1 (202) 684-2528.
The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) have supported the process of developing an NGO law for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq over several years.
Support rendered included expert advisory, raising awareness of international best practices of NGO regulations, and coordination amongst regional stakeholders from Civil Society, Government, Parliament, and the Presidency Council.
In 2010, two roundtables bringing all the stakeholders in the process together, directly contributed to achieving the unified draft law which was submitted for vote at the Kurdistan Parliament. These roundtables were organised by UNOPS and ICNL with funding from the European Union, the Government of Finland and other donors through the UNDG Iraq Trust Fund and from the US Department of State – Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.