The number of registered civil associations in Egypt, among which are
professional syndicates, mosque- or church-based associations and development
organizations, as well as political parties, grew considerably after political and
economic liberalization. It stood at about 14,000 in the 1990s. The govern-
ment considers this expansion as politically risky and fears that it may lead
to a strengthening of the opposition, despite the fact that it tries to promote
economic participation and to put an end to the economic centralization that
had been characteristic of industrial technologies as well as of development
strategies since independence. Some NGOs are not independent and have
to be considered creations of the government. All of them come under the
control of the Ministry of Social Affairs, through which their structures are
supervised and which was given great power over them according to Law 32
of 1964, which was redrafted several times but not changed, although human
rights organizations condemned it strongly, and Law 153, which was meant
to replace it and which also gave the government strong control over the
NGOs’ activities, until it was finally found to be unconstitutional and made
defunct in 2000.