Citizens for Change #4
JANUARY - APRIL 2020
The two months of state emergency and a bit more to stop the spread of the new Corona virus have imposed new forms of communication, rules of behaviour, and ways of working. We all had to set new priorities in our private and professional lives. Nowadays, everything seems to start and end with Covid-19. Nevertheless, we all try to maintain a sense of normality in our environments when it comes to our activities, perceptions and expectations of our lives during and after Corona.
This issue of Citizens for Change has been prepared in this way. Initially, it was our intention to dedicate it to civic participation but, as almost everything else in our lives, it was overtaken by Covid-19. In the end, it appears in front of you as a combination of both, in scope (civic education, Corona) and in timeframe. It is also a bit bigger than usual.
CSOs managed to organize in this state of emergency and worked in the front lines to help the citizens, those that were most in need of help. The first response was humanitarian assistance to the elderly and disabled, homeless and other vulnerable people. However, the assistance consisted not only of the provision of food and hygienic products. Some organizations also provided or made protective masks, for health workers and then for other citizens. The Red Cross, Food Bank, True Acts of Kindness, Hera, LGBT United, Moon, Focus, Bright Future, Star-Star are only a few examples of CSOs that distributed humanitarian assistance. The close following of the decisions of the government regarding Corona, the dedicated fight to protect those whose rights have been violated also contributed to the victory of the coalition of 11 CSOs which convinced the government to change the decree which allowed for firing of workers from the companies using government subsidies for overcoming the economic consequences caused by the pandemics. “We continue to act together”, said they in their press releases, “because it is the only way to build a more just and humane society based on solidarity”. We are happy that four of these organizations are also part of the larger Civica Mobilitas community.
Civica Mobilitas also responded to the Corona crisis by providing information on civil society’s responses to it, and opening up the small grant programme to CSOs wishing to roll back the Corona virus and combat Covid 19. Civica Mobilitas opened a special page on its website (e-Platform) reporting on CSO activities. This page now features more than 180 activities for humanitarian assistance where the assistance comes to hundreds of tons of food and higienic products. This list called Covid-19 is updated on daily basis, and besides humanitarian assistance it also contains activities related to health, labour rights, children and youth etc. Everybody gives his contribution in his areas of expertise in order to help our country overcoming the Corona crises as painless as possible. By 30 April 2020, Civica Mobilitas has also granted 15 ad-hoc grants to CSOs that will implement activities related to Covid-19. We keep on motivating the CSOs to share their activities related to the pandemic, which are then published on the web page and in the extra issue of the newsletter. Information is important for such moments, not to brag that we have met the needs and demands of the citizens, but to make our activities even more accessible to those that need them.
This fourth issue of Citizens for Change also provides information on the Eurothink resource platform, which should provide continuous information and education on the EU integration process and the inclusion of citizens in it. The issue also informs you on the results of the research of the Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities dedicated to the polarization of our society, the inclusion of Roma demands in political party programs, the latest “Engage”, the “Public Room” case, March for Women’s Rights, Forum theatre as a way of awareness building against peer violence and many others.
