WATANI International
31 July 2011
The US spends generously to sponsor ‘freedom and democracy’ in Egypt. Other countries grant Egypt aid too. Egyptians are questioning why, and where the money goes.
The issue of foreign funding, and American funding in particular, to Egyptian rights groups and NGOs has been the topic of heated debate, especially after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared the US had paid NGOs in Egypt some USD40 million since the 25 January Revolution, and that another USD60 million in aid are in the pipeline. Clinton said 600 Egyptian civil and rights organisations have already applied for USAID money. The European Union for its part has granted NGOs the equivalent of USD30 million. According to the US Department of State, the US disburses USD8 million monthly to support freedom and human rights in Egypt. These declarations raged like wildfire on the Egyptian political scene, especially considering the timing they were made. What invested interest does the US have in ‘democracy and freedom’ in Egypt, especially considering the apparent rapprochement between the US and Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which raised not a few eyebrows? Some very public questions were raised as to whether US aid to Egypt was absolutely well-intentioned, or whether it was an attempt to manipulate Egyptian politics.
No free lunch
On the widely-viewed Mihwar satellite channel’s 90 Daquiqua (90 Minutes) talk show, Essam al-Nizamy, member of the organisational committee of the revolutionaries, seriously doubted US intentions on grounds of there being ‘no free lunch’ ever. So, he strongly questioned, what does the US, or for that matter any other country which offers Egypt aid, expect in return?
Lawyer and rights activist Ayman Uqeil who sits at the head of the rights organisation Maat (Maat was the goddess of justice in ancient Egypt) expressed his full support of taking advantage of foreign aid money. He said such aid played a substantial role in the training of youth and raising political awareness. It helped promote activism and foster democracy. Uqeil explained that, thanks to US funds, activists like the 6 April movement came into being.
Dr Nizamy was sceptical. The USAID application form, he said, reeks of American arrogance and indicates a clear will to steer communities onto a certain direction. It stipulates supporting debate on constitutional amendments, instating civil education and human rights in school curricula, offering technical support to train members of existing political parties and help establish new parties, offering legal assistance for civilians demanding political rights, and making contact with monitoring authorities including the general prosecutor or the Central Agency for Accounting.
“The US, which has huge economic problems at home,” Dr Nizamy reminded, “generously allocates funds for foreign aid. Why? Iraq was devastated under the pretext of establishing a democracy.
“Why is it in the US interest to pour aid money in Egypt?” he asked Mr Uqeil.
“As long as foreign funding is non-conditional, why should we not accept it?” the latter replied. “As to your question, you should ask the US for the answer.”
National funding?
“As a rights organisation,” Mr Uqeil told Watani, “we train youth to monitor elections. We contested the election results in 36 constituencies in the last parliamentary elections prior to the 25 January Revolution. The court, basing on Maat reports, declared them invalid.”
“Some 10,000 young people of the 6 April movement trained with Maat. They were among the young people who set off the Revolution through the Facebook campaign.” Dr Nizamy’s allegation that foreign funding was used to manipulate Egyptians, Mr Uqeil said, was unacceptable; “it is an insult to the honourable Revolution and is unfair to the foreign donors.”
“We get funds not only from the US but from the European Union, France, Germany, as well as some Arab countries including Qatar. Some of these funds go to projects that help raise the living standards of Egyptians, such as projects for drinking water and for sanitary drainage.
“And grants are normally approved by the Egyptian authorities; many of them in fact come through the Ministry of International Cooperation,” he pointed out.
Dr Nizamy said that, to eliminate possibilities of foreign interference, funding for projects sponsored by Egyptian NGOs should be purely national.
“Could you tell me of an Egyptian donor with the financing capacity to pay EGP30 million for the political awareness of young men and women?” Dr Uqeil retorted. “We get some USD300 million to USD400 million a year from the US. To my best knowledge, such sums far surpass the capacity of Egyptian donors.”
Talk of foreign funding spilled over to cover the funding of presidential campaigns, but opinion was unanimous in rejecting such funding which is outlawed in Egypt.