KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

impossible. Even though the Moldovan Parliament pointed to the need to strengthen
the NGOs’ influence in the political decision-making, and proposed to establish a
parliamentary Committee working with NGOs, in practice neither the political parties
nor the NGOs were ready to cooperate.
A specific feature of NGOs in Belarus is the unacceptable separation of civil and
political sectors. As a result, NGOs are performing political functions which they actually
should not do [23].
The situation in Moldova and Belarus is very similar to that of Kyrgyzstan, whose
NGOs have to assume political functions due to the immaturity of the political parties.
The experiences of these countries suggest a trend of politicization of NGOs in many
post-Soviet countries, which primarily reflects the weakness of political parties.
The Arab Countries (Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon)
The experiences of civil societies in Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon are linked to
struggles with “potentially democratic” political regimes [23]. At the initial stage of NGO
development in these countries, the dispute between the NGOs and the state focused
on the management of NGOs and their normative regulation. The state controlled the
number of NGOs and their activities in the country (“Code of Conduct”), which caused
dissatisfaction among NGOs. NGOs in these countries have been trying to follow
the examples of the countries of South Africa, Bangladesh, Eastern Europe and the
Philippines, where the state actively cooperates with NGOs [33].
In Jordan NGOs are seen as “participants” of all ongoing processes, but not as
partners. In Lebanon, the NGOs have been able to become full partners with the state
and the ruling party. Their work, designed to protect human rights and enhance the
political activism of the citizens, fully satisfies the Government’s expectations. Palestinian
NGOs cooperate relatively actively with the state. In this case, the state understands the
importance of the consolidating function of NGOs and is trying to use it for the good of
the state and support of the regime. Both international organizations and the government
support the Palestinian NGOs. In some areas, Palestinian NGOs play a more important
role than governmental bodies; for instance, since 1996 the health services provided by
NGOs amount to more than 60 percent.
In general, such a diverse experience of cooperation between political parties and
NGOs in the Arab countries proves that the cooperation or confrontation do not depend
on any religious or regional context. They are more dependent on the benefits that the
government or the ruling party see in the activities of NGOs, especially in mobilizing
the society under extreme conditions, raising the political awareness and the need for an
objective criticism towards the existing policy.
Russia
The attitude of the Russian Government toward NGOs is mixed. Both the
Government and political parties have repeatedly denounced the activities of
international organizations and their projects to build and strengthen Russian NGOs.
Unlike other countries, Russia imposed a ban on the activities of some international
NGOs. Other organizations are under the strict control of the Russian state.
Russia is one of those post-Soviet countries whose political life never depended
on the activities of NGOs. Therefore, the issue of politicization of NGOs has never
been raised there. This is because, almost immediately after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, the Russian political elite was able to restore the institution of political parties.
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