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Regional hub of non-governmental organizations of Podravje – Nevladna.org

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Co-financed projects strengthen the capacities of NGOs and their cooperation in the policy making.

Under the priority orientation Promotion of the development of NGOs and of civil dialogue there are projects of horizontal networks of NGOs, regional hubs of NGOs and content/field networks of NGOs that are co-financed.

In the long run, non-governmental organizations contribute to higher employment in the non-governmental sector with the development of new services. The Ministry of Public Administration started to implement this priority orientation in 2008 and by the end of 2010 it co-financed 32 projects of NGO. It is estimated that in addition to direct effects expressed in several thousands of participants in more than 400 workshops the indirect effects are even more important resulting in more active connections on the non-governmental sector and its strengthened institutional capacity.

The implementation of the Regional hub of the non-governmental organizations in Podravje project helped to realize the priority axes originating from the key development issues of the NGO sector. The Regional hub of the non-governmental organizations in Podravje project connects and strengthens the non-governmental sector and increases its recognizability and influence. With enriched knowledge and capacity of the employees and volunteers this sector has become more and more competitive.

The regional hub realized the priority axes by ensuring support environment for the operations of NGOs and providing them with services in a form of consultancies and professional technical assistance (accountancy, taxes, search for adequate financial resources, dealing with legal issues concerning the functioning of NGOs, assistance in preparation of tender applications), connecting and networking of NGOs (organization of meetings, a fair, a conference of NGOs in the Podravje region), informing members of the hub and other non-governmental organizations (setting up and maintaining web-sites, e-information, leaflets) and promoting civil dialogue (provision of professional assistance to informal regional NGO

network).

Various training sessions (project management, public appearance, acquisition of funds, the application of software and tools – e.g. ICT – Google office) strengthened the capacity of those working in the NGOs strengthened their capacities and supported the introduction of new training methods (the establishment of a virtual educational platform).

Co-financed projects strengthen the capacities of NGOs and their cooperation in the policy making.

The implementation of the Regional hub of the non-governmental organizations in Podravje project helped to realize the priority axes originating from the key development issues of the NGO sector. The Regional hub of the non-governmental organizations in Podravje project connects and strengthens the non-governmental sector and increases its recognizability and influence. With enriched knowledge and capacity of the employees and volunteers this sector has become more and more competitive.

In the field of raising awareness of the public about the role of NGOs the 3 issues of Nevladna (25,000 copies) should be mentioned that were published in agreement with the Večer publisher presenting the non-governmental organizations and the obstacles in the development of this sector. Since a lack of the awareness of the importance of NGOs with civil servants and politicians in local self-government authorities was identified as one of the barriers to faster development of the NGO sector, a part of activities was focused on the search for systemic solutions to include NGOs into the processes of public decision making via providing initiatives and proposals and the

exchange of positions and ideas.

With the project implementation covering among other activities also the organization of 12 meetings and 16 training sessions for NGOs, the introduction of 4 new ICT solutions, preparation of 2 electronic collections of papers and an e-manual of support services the hub was established as the driving force connecting NGOs in the Podravje region being their promoter, representative and supporter.

Statement of a beneficiary:

»As a particularly important result it should be mentioned that within the initiative My Society together with the mayor, Mr Franc Kangler, we laid foundations for further activities related to the establishment of the commission for the development of non-governmental organizations within the City Municipality Maribor aimed at connecting members of NGOs in Maribor with the representatives of the local self-government in order to find solutions for more rapid development of NGOs and better cooperation and in doing so the NGOs entrusted us with the role of a coordinator.«