The Charity Commission has held meetings with the new governments in Egypt and Libya to explore how it might help them develop effective regulation for each nation’s fledgling civil society sector.

The meetings were disclosed in the regulator’s annual report, published today.

Under the heading ‘Responding to the Arab Spring’, the report states:

“This year, the Commission met with delegations from the new civilian governments in Egypt and Libya, which are keen to develop systems of regulation that promote accountability while allowing NGOs the freedom and independence they need to work effectively.

“We are in talks with both governments, as well as other UK departments, to discuss how we might collaborate formally.”