Monday, 05.04.2021.
Report on the capacities and needs of civil society organisations and informal groups
Without a stable civil society, there is no democratic society. With this in mind, we conducted a survey on the capacities and needs of civil society organisations (CSOs) and informal groups participated by 177 organisations from 56 towns in all regions of Serbia. The author of the research is Tanja Pavlov PhD.
The key results showed the following:
– CSOs are mostly young associations and initiatives, founded in the last 10 years
– The largest percentage of organisations has few members – up to 10 people
– CSOs often employ one person, and often no one
– Many CSOs were left without donors in 2020, especially during the pandemic
– The largest number of CSOs implements 1 to 3 projects per year, in the amount of up to 10,000 euro
– CSOs in smaller places find it even harder to raise funds
– The COVID-19 pandemic has made work even more difficult
– A large number of people on the territory of the whole of Serbia are ready to change their community for the better and mobilise their fellow citizens in that mission
During the research, we recognised the need to strengthen organisations in five areas: 1) fundraising; 2) developing cooperation with important actors at the local and national level; 3) raising advocacy capacity to change the institutional framework; 4) strengthening organisational capacities; 5) support and development of work strategies during the pandemic.
You can read the complete research here, and the research summary at this link.
The assessment of the capacity and needs of civil society organisations was realised within the project “Local Call for the EU”. It is implemented by the National Coalition for Decentralisation, Group 484, and the Jelena Šantić Foundation with the aim of strengthening local initiatives to contribute to the EU accession process, creating a decentralised society that nurtures cultural diversity and participatory democracy. This project is funded by the European Union.
