Ministry of Social Affairs to Charitable Associations and Foundations: Prohibited to Violate the Dignity of Beneficiaries
Ministry of Social Affairs stresses on charitable associations' necessity to adhere to regulations governing media work and advertising projects
Translated by Qiyas from القبس — Original source
Faisal Matar: The Ministry of Social Affairs has stressed the necessity for charitable societies and endowments to adhere to the regulations governing media work and advertising for charitable projects and activities, in order to enhance the principles of transparency and integrity in the media and advertising materials issued by them. The ministry, represented by the Societies Department, specified nine guidelines that charitable societies, endowments, and the International Islamic Charitable Organization must comply with when advertising or promoting their projects and activities.
The guidelines, addressed by the ministry to societies and endowments, mandated that all projects and activities subject to advertising or media coverage must be approved by the ministry, with due diligence, credibility, and transparency ensured in all information and data contained in media and advertising materials.
Regarding the dignity of beneficiaries, the Ministry of Social Affairs required that the content of advertisements match the nature, objectives, implementation location, and target beneficiary groups of the project, as per the issued approval. It prohibited the use of images, videos, or phrases that could undermine the dignity of beneficiaries or exploit their humanitarian suffering for promotional or marketing purposes, while respecting privacy and humanitarian considerations.
The guidelines forbade publishing names, images, or personal data of beneficiaries except within legally permitted limits, and banned the use of inaccurate statements regarding the size of the project, the number of beneficiaries, or the results achieved.
The ministry affirmed that each society is responsible for the content published on its website and official social media accounts, as well as materials published through entities or individuals contracted to promote its projects.
On legal accountability, the ministry stressed that logos or names of government entities or others must not be used without prior approvals. Societies must maintain records of media and advertising materials and campaigns related to their projects and activities, and provide them to the ministry upon request for monitoring and oversight purposes.
The ministry called on all charitable societies and endowments to comply with these guidelines and disseminate them to relevant departments, divisions, and media staff, warning that any violation would expose the charitable society or endowment to legal accountability.
