Arab Laws Reform

Earlier, in October 2009, a number of Arab activists, with the support of the FNF-EU cofinanced project on Freedom of Association, gathered in Broumana, Lebanon and initiated the creation of the “Arab Council for Freedom of Association.” Preparations are on-going to register the Council in Beirut with clear objectives and work plan to influence Arab legislations, to lobby for better laws governing political parties, trade unions and NGOs and to enhance the image and performance of CSOs to better serve the democratic processes in their countries. A number of national coalitions have been already initiated in a number of countries but, restrictive laws, delayed their registration in many countries.

During Cairo conference, the Arab Council for Freedom of Association (ACFA) initiative, seeking to obtain the status of observer at LAS’s Social and Economic Commission, launched its first report analyzing the current status of freedom of association in 10 Arab countries.

With the project outputs: the guiding principles on freedom of association, the three codes of conduct for political parties, trade unions and NGOs, the conference seeks to promote the 3-year’s project results beyond the originally targeted 5 Mashreq Arab countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria) and the 3 Maghreb Arab countries (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco), to reach to other Arab countries in the Gulf and in Yemen, Somalia, Mauritania, Iraq and beyond.

“Throughout our 3-years project on Freedom of Association, we have learnt a number of lessons that we want to share with other organizations and stakeholders,” said Mr. Ralf Erbel, the Resident Representative of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty, Amman office, which is implementing the project.

“We were not alone in the field. There were many initiatives in the region to modernize Arab legislations: Amnesty international, the International Federation for Human Rights, the Euro-Med Human Rights Network, Human Rights Watch, etc... and each initiative has had its success and failure experiences,” said Ubab Murad, the project manager. “We are here today to share the success, learn from our mistakes and draw a roadmap for the future,” she added.

“With more countries initiating national coalitions in their countries, and joining the Arab Council for Freedom of Association, we hope that an Arab house of expertise will be born with the aim of enhancing good governance of CSOs and continuing the dialogue started with government,” commented Mr. Erbel.

Initiated by the Friedrich Naumann office in Amman, in January 2007, the EU cofinanced project on freedom of association has facilitated dialogue between governments and CSOs, and between them and the League of Arab States, produced guidelines for legislators and for CSOs as lobbying and advocacy tools, drafted codes for NGOs, workers’ unions and political parties in the Arab region, and improved networking and cooperation between civil society organizations including political parties and Islamic streams.

The project which ends in February 2010 has created an unprecedented dynamics in the region, being the first of its kind to gather all CSOs component together to cooperate, advocate and lobby for better laws governing freedoms in the region.