Egypt's social solidarity ministry will complete an online NGOs database for 45,000 NGOs in Egypt early December, manager of the database project at the ministry, Abir El-Helw said at a press conference late Sunday. Social solidary minister Ghada Waly said the database aims to make information about NGOs accessible online so that people are able to know which organisations to assist or donate to, as the ministry prepares to set "efficiency criteria". The ministry found out that five to seven percent of existing NGOs are not working, and will be closed down. The social solidarity ministry announced in July that all civil groups must be registered with the government, as per law 84 issued in 2002. El-Helw said 310 ministerial administrative councils gathered information on 32,000 NGOs to this point regarding their activities, board of directors' names, bank accounts, revenues and expenditures, licenses and sources of funding for transparency purposes. "We are at a phase where everyone agrees that the government cannot work alone," Waly stated at the press conference. A government ultimatum for NGOs to register under the current law expired on November 10. Critics of the law say it was used to hamper rights organisations' mobility and freedom under the former Mubarak regime. Source: Ahram Online
