MoJ of South Ossetia drafts annexes to new wording of law on NPOs

Under the updated version of the law "On Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) of the Republic of South Ossetia (RSO)", the local NPOs will now have to provide information to regulatory authorities about the funding sources of their projects and programmes, says the local Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the MoJ of the RSO that the organizations funded from abroad will have now, according to the new law, to be more transparent in reporting about the sources and amounts of funding.

Lira Kozaeva, the chair of the Association of Women of South Ossetia "For Democracy and Human Rights", said that she "was disturbed by the rumours that the authorities were discussing the adoption of the law on "foreign agents" in relation to local organizations.

"We do what they do in Russia. Maybe Russia has its own logic to adopt such a law, I don't know. But Russia is a world power, a universally recognized state. And what does such a law mean for the partially recognized small South Ossetia? Just that we need no external contacts? But support by international organizations of local ones is important precisely because it creates a precedent of cooperation between the outside world and citizens of our republic," said Ms Kozaeva.

The final version of the law "On Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) of the Republic of South Ossetia (RSO)" can be seen at the end of August 2013 after approval of the additions by the expert council, and the Republic's Government and Parliament.