Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Ministry Of Economic

Directorate of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Home / Guidelines for the registration of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Guidelines for the registration of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

According to the NGOs Law, National and International Organizations have been defined as:

National NGOs: The organization that has been established for achieving its goals nationally is known as National NGO.

International NGOs: the NGOs that have been formed outside Afghanistan and have been established according to the laws of foreign countries and to accept the NGOs Law in Afghanistan.

However, it should be noted that the directorate is to reform and adjust the NGOs Law any moment with the New NGOs Law which will be published soon.

Terms and Conditions for Establishment of NGO:
An NGO can only be established when the President or Vice President brings a request letter to the Ministry of Economy mentioning department of NGOs in the subject line. Later, complete the documents as required by the department. President, Deputy President, deputies ministers, members of the Attorney General and independent commissions chairmen, heads of government departments, heads of political parties are not allowed to establish non-governmental organization.

Registration Form:
At first, the applicants are required to choose a name for establishing an NGO. The name must not be similar to an active or inactive NGO either by full name or abbreviation.
Printed application forms can be downloaded from the NGOs website or can be taken from the Directorate of NGOs, NGOs Registration Department. Full name, abbreviation, address and objectives of the NGO must be mentioned in the Form.

Documents Required for NGOs Registration:
The following documents are required for registration of an NGO:

  • Request for registration to the ministry of economy
  • Completion of a standard form to be received either from the NGOs website or from MoEC.
  • Charter of organization (bylaws) as per the article No.14 of NGOs law
  • Introduction of NGO’s key staff with their salaries and signatures
  • List of board of directories (at least five persons) who will voluntarily work as board members. Also state their complete details including their photos and signs.
  • List of the NGO tools and equipment at least to be enough for their  work.
  • Preparation and submission of preliminary work plan
  • Copies of the educational and ID documents of all members of boards and the founding members of the NGO.


International NGOs has to submit the following documents in addition to the above:

Valid documents of registration outside Afghanistan, original charter along with its Dari or Pashto translation from a registered translation office, processed via ministry of foreign affairs to MoEC.
Completion of a standard from provided  and verified by ministry of foreign affairs and its submission to MoEC.

Applicant for the registration of national NGOs has to cross check the names and abbreviations of their chosen names with the NGO database of national NGOs to avoid duplication and do not chose a name which already exists in the database.

Inclusion of close relatives and family members are not allowed in both board of directors and executive board.  This is to avoid conflict of interest and remove their influence on making decisions and accountability.