Building civil society resilience through trusted projects and partnerships

While some countries have managed to make notable progress in increasing collaboration between authorities and civil society, others face obstacles that limit their development. To alleviate these difficulties and exploit opportunities to streamline the relationship, People in Need has launched an initiative that has been tested in many countries. Based on human rights principles, this holistic approach aims to support civil society organizations (CSOs) to become more resilient, inclusive and trusted governance partners, thus contributing to democratization in the region.

Through the project "Resilient Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Region", People in Need contributes to the development of CSOs' organizational, technical and strategic communication capacities, enabling them to interact with citizens, participate in policy discussions and support projects that respond to priority issues.

"Civil society is more rigid in putting forward innovative proposals and ideas. We, as civil society organizations, see both sides of the coin, on the one hand we hear the opinion of the society, on the other hand we understand what directions of development we can offer. And, thanks to the trainings organized by People in Need, we have the opportunity to exchange experiences with other associations, to learn from each other and to take up organizational capacity building models, so that we become more resilient"

explained Viorica Său, founding member of A.O. Social Innovations.

At the same time, the project enhances resilience and adaptability to growing challenges by promoting cooperation between CSOs at both national and regional levels, supporting joint actions to support democratic processes and create solutions to regional problems.

"After the structured programme of People in Need, the organizations gain experience in different areas: policy development, evaluation, project implementation, reporting, budget planning. And the most valuable part is that the final impact and our organizational development in turn helps us to contribute to the growth of the community. Our results can be multiplied, passed on and projected further to our community, including other CSOs"

said Irina Bejan, founder of A.O Regional Center for Community Development.

One of the activities of People in Need is to provide project writing training sessions to the 11 civil society organizations that have been selected under the regional call for proposals. Thanks to these informative sessions, the representatives of the civil society organizations have discovered useful techniques and tools for developing sustainable and innovative development strategies.

"With the experience gained through the training provided by People in Need, within the project "Resilient Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Region", we hope to be accredited at a more advanced level and to be able to develop more types of social services for the elderly and people with "special abilities", so that they can benefit from equal opportunities and equal rights as all citizens of this state"

, said Elena Crismari, President of A.O Alliance for Dolna.

"Resilient Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Region" is a regional project dedicated to strengthening the capacities of civil society organizations and is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic under the Transition Cooperation Program.