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Draft reforms to NGOs Secretariat by mid-2022

16 Dec 2021

BY Pamodi Waravita National Secretariat for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Director General Attorney-at-Law Raja Goonaratne said yesterday (16) that the final draft of the reforms to strengthen the Secretariat will most likely be ready by June 2022. “We are in the drafting stage at the moment. We have completed consultations with many stakeholders, including written consultations. We hope that the final draft will be ready by June 2022,” Goonaratne told The Morning yesterday. Goonaratne claimed that opposition to reforms to the National Secretariat for NGOs is seen on the part of certain NGOs and international NGOs (INGOs) that are opposed to transparency and accountability within the NGO sector. “They are unhappy that they have to show us how their money is being spent and what activities that they are doing. Although they are already required to inform us through progress reports on how they spend their funds, a very select number of powerful NGOs do not adhere to this requirement,” he alleged. News reports claimed that Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris was attempting to replace Goonaratne as the National Secretariat for NGOs DG. Although the National Secretariat for NGOs was previously under the Ministry of Defence, it was brought under the purview of the Foreign Ministry in late November this year. “I was appointed for my first term in April 2020 and it lasted one year. My second term ended on 7 November 2021. Currently, I am serving as per a gazette notification by the Defence Ministry and my approval to serve another term is pending with the Cabinet of Ministers at the moment. I am doing a service to the country and I have no issue with leaving if my services are no longer required. However, I deny harmful gossip about my position,” said Goonaratne, in response to these claims. Prof. Peiris was unavailable for comment.


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