Barriers to charity

Barriers to Charity Overview

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Date: 
April 26, 2011

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"Terrorism" Toolkit Will Offer Guidance to Charities

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Date: 
July 20, 2009

As counterterrorism measures continue to evolve, the UK Charity Commission has begun collecting information for developing a toolkit for charities on how to deal with terrorism legislation and related measures in their sector.  They are requesting charities and NGOs to submit examples of situations and issues affecting them that the Commission should examine and possibly include in the toolkit.  More information is available from British Overseas NGOs for Development

Sen. Franken Supports Restoration of Money Transfers To Somalia

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Date: 
February 1, 2012

A small number of Minneapolis-area Somali money transfer shops have reopened amid heightened scrutiny from banks, reports the Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan. 25, 2012. Though the amount transferable is limited to $500, the services are the only means many Somali-Americans have available to send remittances to family living in Somalia, a country lacking a functioning government or banking system, and plagued by drought and civil strife for almost 20 years. The inability of nearly 70,000 Somalis that live in the state to send money home had drawn strong criticism from Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and other Minnesota legislators. At the end of December, the state's 14 Somali money transfer shops were shut down after the last Minnesota bank to wire money to Somalia closed their accounts.

Inaction and Delayed Response to Famine Cost Thousands of Lives

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Date: 
February 1, 2012

Despite early warning signs many months in advance, the international response toward the 2011-2012 famine in the Horn of Africa region has been inadequate to meet the needs of nearly 13 million people at risk, says a January 2012 report from Oxfam and Save the Children. A Dangerous Delay says the scale of death and suffering, and the financial cost, could have been reduced if warnings from 2010 had triggered an earlier, more substantial response. The report calls on governments, donors, the UN and NGOs to adopt different response strategies to future emergencies by managing the risks, not the crisis. This means orchestrating meaningful action partly based on information learned through early warning systems and tackling the root causes of vulnerability through long-term development strategies.  

Report: Inaction and Delayed Response to Famine Cost Thousands of Lives

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Date: 
January 19, 2012
More than 13 million people are still affected by the crisis in the Horn of Africa. Despite early warning signs many months in advance, the international response has been insufficient, says a new joint report from Oxfam and Save the Children.
 
A Dangerous Delay says the scale of death and suffering, and the financial cost, could have been reduced if warnings from 2010 had triggered an earlier, more substantial response. The report calls on governments, donors, the UN and NGOs to adopt different strategies to future emergencies by managing the risks, not the crisis.  This means orchestrating meaningful action on information learned through early warning systems and tackling the root causes of vulnerability.  Read more…

Backlash Over Somali Money Transfer Refusal in Minnesota

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Date: 
January 17, 2012
Nearly 100 Somali-Americans rallied outside a Minneapolis area bank on Jan. 13, 2012, protesting the bank's refusal to deal with Somali wire transfer businesses that send money to Africa. The money wire outfits, also known as hawalas, are the primary, and sometimes only, means of transferring money to people living in the Horn of Africa, where widespread insecurity and famine have left millions of people in need. More than a dozen Somali money transfer businesses were forced to stop doing business in late 2011 after banks began refusing service, fearing they might inadvertently violate anti-terror laws. 

Report: Terrorist Lists Impede Peace Processes

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Date: 
December 20, 2011

A November 2011 report from Berghof Conflict Research analyzes the impact and effectiveness of terrorist ‘blacklisting’ regimes on peace processes with non-state armed groups, and argues that they interfere in finding political solutions to armed conflict. Anti-Terror Legislation: Impediments to Conflict Transformation says the inconsistent and secretive application of terrorist designations by governments is also commonly being used to blur the distinction between legal and unlawful political activism.  The report offers a range of recommendations to reform the terrorist listing process, including the development of more transparent listing regimes and carving out protected space for peacebuilders to ply their craft without fear of prosecution.

Treasury Denies Request for General License for Aid to Somalia

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Date: 
December 20, 2011
The Department of Treasury has rejected a request from InterAction, an association of over 200 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that provide aid and development services around the world, to issue a General License that would authorize U.S. NGOs that receive no funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide famine relief on the same terms as NGOs that do receive such funds. Treasury's letter says it will give priority consideration to applications by individual NGOs that apply for specific licenses to work in al-Shabaab controlled territories in Somalia. This process has a reputation for inefficient, lengthy and burdensome response from Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. A General License would eliminate the need for this process for NGOs that stay within the terms in the license.

Report: How U.S. Terrorism Restrictions Make It Harder to Save Lives

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Date: 
December 1, 2011

"The complex legal prohibitions and web of U.S. government lists and regulations create a troubling climate of instability and unpredictability for aid groups,” finds a November 2011 report from the Center for American Progress.  Unintended Roadblocks: How U.S. Terrorism Restrictions make it harder to Save Lives, explains how sweeping counterterrorism measures (CTMs) and lack of clear guidance from the U.S. government over the past decade has restricted the work of aid groups overseas.  It recommends a comprehensive approach “to roll back more than a decade of overly broad legal definitions and ad hoc agency positions,” including amending the legal authorities behind many of the measures (e.g. the material support statute and Executive Order 13224), scrapping USAID’s Partner Vetting System, and engaging in meaningful dialogue with U.S. civil society to find a better way forward.

Unintended Roadblocks: How U.S. Anti-terror Laws Make It Harder to Save Lives

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Date: 
December 1, 2011

Over the last decade, U.S. counterterrorism measures have greatly restricted the work of humanitarian organizations working overseas. These groups are repeatedly subject to vaguely defined laws and a growing list of constantly changing vetting requirements. Equally concerning, many of the measures now being developed, including USAID’s Partner Vetting System (PVS), are not effective in combating terrorism.

A November 2011 report from the American Center for Progress presents much of the legal framework and presents a better approach that relies on testes methods and the expereicne of the U.S. nonprofit sector. Report highlights here…
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