Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect on the UK's funding of civil society programmes and organisations in Egypt of the revision to Article 78 of the Egyptian Penal Code and restrictions on NGO's access to foreign funding; and what contingency plans she has put in place.

During his meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shukri on 27 October 2014, the Foreign Secretary raised the need to safeguard space for civil society in order to fulfil the Government of Egypt’s stated commitment to inclusive governance. At Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review on 5 November 2014, the UK representative to the United Nations recommended that the provisions in the Egyptian constitution for freedom of civil society in Egypt are fully implemented through a revised NGO law that is in line with international standards.