Citizens for Change #12

ЈANUARY-MARCH 2022

Welcome to the new issue of Citizens for Change. At the very end of last year, the government adopted the Strategy for Cooperation with and Development of the Civil Society. The civil sector received the fourth strategic document for the period of 2022 – 2024. Those who have followed these processes closely and have been involved in them say that unlike the previous document, this one has improvements in defining the success indicators. This should enable the interested parties to more closely monitor if the strategic goals are being implemented. And there are many of those. In the three priority areas there are 12 strategic goals and 26 operational ones.

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CSOs requested, and the government has agreed that it will be dedicated to promoting the state funding system. In the indicator that concerns this strategic goal, the government is obliged that that the state funding from the central budget and the municipal budges for 2022 will be 20% of the total CSO revenues, and in 2024 it will reach 30%, i.e. around 2 billion denars. As a comparison, in 2020, the participation of the state funding (at central level) amounted to 5% of the total revenue of the CSOs, or in absolute figures, around 5.5 million Euro. Even if it remains at the same level as the funds allocated at local level, it amounts to around 11 million Euro, or around 10% participation in the revenues.

Is the Action Plan indicator in the Strategy ambitious? It is probable, if one takes into consideration that the planned budget for CSOs have not survived more than three months, amounting to around 9 million Euro at central level (Item 463). If one assumes that the same amount of money would have been allocated for CSOs at local level and that the total budget for the CSOs would remain at the 2020 level, the level of financing would be lower than the one indicated in the Action Plan. However, these calculations are no longer valid now. The finances started to be reallocated as early as the first quarter with an explanation that it is necessary at a time when the country faces several crises.

Apart from the Ukraine war, all other crises were also active at the time the state budget was planned, as well as the municipal ones. The finances invested in CSOs at the end go to the citizens – which is a common interest of both parties. The question is how seriously the government understands the CSOs? What does it “buy” with promises that they know they cannot meet? And what does it gain by this situation which looks like a child’s game “Now You Can – Now You Can’t”?! And maybe we need to make a step backwards and ask if the Government knows what they voted for when they adopted the fourth Strategy for Cooperation with and Development of the Civil Society and its Action Plan? This is how seriously CSOs will take the Government and its promises.

I wish you a pleasant reading.

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