Laws Regulating Foreign NGOs: Human Rights Implications

Hearing Notice

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on foreign NGO laws. 

In recent years, an increasing number of countries have passed laws to require transparency or otherwise put limitations on foreign funding of NGOs. Some human rights organizations have characterized such laws as a tool of authoritarian control over society, as stigmatizing and targeting civil society and activists, and limiting freedom of expression and association. It has also been claimed that they inhibit the provision of needed humanitarian, legal, and technical assistance and services, sow distrust, and weaken people-to-people linkages. 

For example, in 2024, five experts from the UN and regional human rights bodies issued the Joint Declaration on Protecting the right to freedom of association in light of “Foreign Agents”/ “Foreign Influence” Laws, which claimed that such laws “cause unjustified and discriminatory interference with the enjoyment of the right to freedom of association and related rights and freedoms, which is disproportionate and unnecessary in a democratic society.” 

Other human rights advocates and governments regulating foreign funding of NGOs have claimed a need for more visibility on financial transactions from donor governments and organizations, that foreign NGOs engage in partisan political activity and that regulation of foreign money in politics is proper to government, that discrepancies of power and wealth between donors and developing countries distort civil society and politics in developing countries, and can lead to a politicized NGO sector dominated by wealthy foreign donors. They also claim that donor governments that require registration of foreign agents apply a double standard when they criticize recipient countries that pass laws regulating foreign funding of NGOs. 

This hearing will examine trends in the application of foreign NGO laws, the relevance of international human rights standards, and particular country cases.

The hearing will be hybrid. Members of Congress will participate in person. Witnesses may participate in person or remotely via Cisco WebEx. The public and the media may attend in person or view the hearing by live webcast on the Commission website. For questions, please contact Todd Stein (for Co-Chair McGovern) or Mark Milosch (for Co-Chair Smith). 

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