Civil society members should actively engage in national dialogue over NGO Act

To effectively reform the contentious NGOs Act, the prevailing conception of NGOs as a thorn in authorities’ side must be done away with, Ziad Bahaa El Din writes for Al Shorouk. Bahaa El Din notes that this change in perception is the first stepping stone in creating a new version of the law that will no longer act as a chokehold for civil society. He also stresses the importance of allowing civil society to actually engage in the national dialogue on the proposed amendments, which he says may seem like a given but was not a priority when the law was originally drafted.