The Humanitarian Aid Commission
The Humanitarian Aid Commission is a Sudanese government body concerned with managing and regulating humanitarian and voluntary work implemented in Sudan, and it is known by the abbreviation HAC. Its roots go back to the National Charitable Societies Registration Act issued in 1957, then to the High Committee for Relief, which was established in 1984 following the drought and famine disaster that struck large parts of the country, and the first unit for regulating and facilitating humanitarian aid was established in 1985.
The Humanitarian Aid Commission Act of 1996, which was first issued as a temporary decree on 12 November 1995, regulated the status of the Commission as an independent public institution with legal personality and an independent seal, headquartered in Khartoum with branches in the states, and operating under the supervision of the competent minister. According to that law, it consisted of the National Council for Voluntary and Charitable Work, the Commissioner-General and the Fund for Supporting Voluntary and Charitable Work.
In 2006, the Voluntary and Humanitarian Work Organisation Act repealed the 1996 Act, and re-established the Commission as a specialised unit, defining its competences and the mechanisms for registering organisations. Its tasks include raising awareness of the concept of voluntary and humanitarian work, training in disaster management, mobilising resources and preparing lists of needs during disasters, proposing relief projects, seeking to provide a strategic stock for emergencies, and coordinating with the competent foreign and local bodies.
The Commission also, through the Registrar General, registers voluntary and charitable organisations and national and foreign civil society organisations that practise humanitarian aid and issues registration certificates, regulates the work of international organisations through technical agreements and country agreements, and monitors the enforcement of the laws relating to the formation and operation of these organisations, including United Nations agencies and other aid agencies working in Sudan.
(Sources: The free encyclopedia Wikipedia — page of the Humanitarian Aid Commission; Humanitarian Aid Commission Act of 1996; Voluntary and Humanitarian Work Organisation Act of 2006 via the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law and the NATLEX database of the International Labour Organization)
— Editorial Team
