When the Giving Gets Tough: Navigating Risk in Sanctioned Locations
CAF America and the Charity & Security Network have joined forces to produce a new report, When the Giving Gets Tough: Navigating Risk in Sanctioned Locations, which aims to provide donors, civil society practitioners, and other stakeholders with an overview of how U.S. sanctions are implemented, the challenges their implementation often poses for civil society organizations, and the risks associated with charitable giving in sanctioned locations—along with strategies for managing those
The Alarming Rise of Lawfare to Suppress Civil Society: The Case of Palestine and Israel
On September 28, 2021, the Charity & Security Network published a new report, The Alarming Rise of Lawfare to Suppress Civil Society: The Case of Palestine and Israel. The report details coordinated efforts by politically motivated actors to silence and shut down the work of civil society organizations that support Palestinian rights and operate humanitarian, peacebuilding and other programs in Palestine. Read the full report here. Executive Summary This
Preventing Peace: How “Material Support” Laws Undermine Peacebuilding
A joint Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) and Charity & Security Network (C&SN) report, Preventing Peace: How "Material Support" Laws Undermine Peacebuilding, offers analysis and examples of the adverse impacts of “material support” laws on peacebuilding programs, and outlines recommendations for addressing them. The report includes an overview of the problem, background on the law, an examination of the problems surrounding licensing and vetting, examples and case studies of negative impacts
Proposals for New Congress and Biden Harris Administration to Support and Facilitate Humanitarian and Peacebuilding Operations Through NGOs
Download the memo in PDF format. Introduction For the past twenty years, policy and legislative reactions to the 9/11 attacks have created a web of laws and regulations that have had the counterproductive effect of restricting important humanitarian, peacebuilding and human rights work. Hundreds of nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have encountered problems accessing funds, halted programs because of concerns that their work would cross legal boundaries, and been shut
C&SN Report on Financial Access for U.S. Nonprofits Reveals Broad Scope of Problem
Download full report * Errata Sheet (March 2017) Download Executive Summary Download individual chapters * The scope and prevalence of challenges that U.S.-based nonprofits face in accessing financial services are far more vast than previously understood, according to a comprehensive report released today by the Charity & Security Network. Two-thirds of U.S.-based nonprofit organizations (NPOs) working abroad are facing problems accessing financial services, the report finds. These include delays in wire transfers,
Safeguarding Humanitarianism in Armed Conflict: A Call for Reconciling International Legal Obligations and Counterterrorism Measures in the United States
A June 2012 report by the Charity & Security Network- Safeguarding Humanitarianism in Armed Conflict: A Call for Reconciling International Legal Obligations and Counterterrorism Measures in the United States- examines how the international humanitarian obligations of the U.S. conflict with domestic counterterrorism measures when applied to charities seeking to aid civilians in areas of armed conflict. While the negative impact of these measures has been criticized as a matter of policy and
Deadly Combination: Disaster, Conflict and the U.S. Material Support Law
National security measures in the U.S. negatively impact the speed and mobility of humanitarian relief in the wake of disasters. Deadly Combination: Disaster, Conflict and the U.S. Material Support Law by the Charity & Security Network considers two cases: The 2011 famine in Somalia and the summer 2010 floods in Pakistan. In both cases, by giving priority to military objective, the U.S. impaired effective aid delivery by humanitarian organizations, exacerbating the
U.S. Muslim Charities and The War on Terror: A Decade in Review
A December 2011 report published by the Charity and Security Network, U.S. Muslim Charities and the War on Terror: A Decade in Review, examines the challenges American Muslim charities have faced since 9/11 and how they have successfully responded. The report is an update to the OMB Watch March 2006 report, Muslim Charities and the War on Terror: Top Ten Concerns and Status Update. The update summarizes action by the U.S. government
Book: Civil Society Under Strain Includes Chapter on U.S. by CSN Staff
A January 2010 book is the first comprehensive examination of the restrictive and punitive impact from counterterrorism legislation on nonprofits since 9/11. Civil Society Under Strain; Counter-Terrorism Policy, Civil Society and Aid Post 9/11 (Kumarian Press) describes the threats organizations conducting humanitarian operations around the world are subjected to by unjust or overbroad anti-terror laws. Each chapter is authored by nonprofit experts or scholars, presenting the common, shared and unique challenges for
CSN: How the Work of Charities Can Counter Terror
The Charity and Security Network presents How the Work of Charities Can Counter Terror and How U.S. Laws Get in the Way. The report explains how ill-advised counterterrorism measures diminish the critical work of humanitarian and development groups and exacerbate some of the root causes of terror, such as poverty, religious persecution, and exclusion from the political process. The roots of terrorism are complex and include the hopelessness of poverty, issues