Institutional framework for supporting civil society development in Croatia A PLAN C FOR EUROPE: CITIZENSHIP, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, CIVIL DIALOGUE 17 September 2010 Igor Vidačak Government of the Republic of Croatia Office for Cooperation with NGOs

Towards a more enabling environment for civil society development Strategy and policy documents Structures for supporting civil dialogue Standards of consultation in policy making Sustainable funding of CSO programmes

National Strategy as common platform National Strategy for Creating an Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development and Operational Plan for Strategy Implementation Broad consensus among civil society and government representatives about the strategic priorities in the period More than 30 institutions involved in the implementation of measures Annual reports on the Strategy implementation adopted by the Government

National Strategy - content Citizen’s participation in the creation of public policy Education for democratic citizenship and human rights Legal, institutional and financial framework for the activities and development of CSOs Regional development Development of volunteerism, philantropy and foundations International context (EU accession, regional cooperation, development aid, social diplomacy)

Structures for supporting civil dialogue Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs Council for Civil Society Development – 2002 National Foundation for Civil Society Development – 2003

Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs Coordinating the work of public administration bodies on developing cooperation with NGOs Improving standards of consultation with NGOs in public policy making processes Monitoring the compliance with standards for the financing of NGOs from the state budget EU project implementation unit – pre-accession funds to civil society Contact Point for Europe for Citizens Community Programme in Croatia

Council for Civil Society Development Consultative body of Croatian Government Composition – 27 members  12 representatives of NGOs  12 representatives of State institutions  1 representative of trade unions  1 representative of employers association  1 representative of foundations

Council for Civil Society Development 1. Protection & promotion of human rights 2. Health protection & improvement of quality of life 3. Disabled persons care 4. Child care 5. Environmental protection & sustainable development 6. Social welfare 7. Youth 8. Democratization & social development 9. Culture 10. Homeland war-veterans care 11. Sports 12. Technical culture 12 elected representatives of NGOs 1. Union 2. Employers Association 3. Foundation 1 Trade Unions 1 Employers 1 Foundations 1 Ministry of Science, Education and Sports 2. Ministry of Health and Social Welfare 3. Ministry of Culture 4. Ministry of Family, War Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity 5. Ministry of Finance 6. Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction 7. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration 8. Ministry if Administration 9. Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship 10. Office of Prime Minister of Croatia 11. Government Office for Human Rights 12. Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs 12 appointees from state administrative bodies

Council members – procedure of selection of NGO representatives 12 areas of activities: 1.Protection and promotion of human rights 2.Health protection and improvement of quality of life 3.Disabled persons care 4.Child care 5.Environmental protection and sustainable development 6.Social welfare 7.Youth 8.Democratization and social development 9.Culture 10.Homeland war-veterans care 11.Sports 12.Technical culture

Council members – procedure of selection of NGO representatives Two stage procedure -public call for nominations of candidates for members of the Council -public call for voting for eligible candidates

Council members – procedure of selection of NGO representatives public call for nominations - each NGO nominating only one candidate (for its particular sub-sector/ area of activity) -nominations sent by post using a standard nomination form with a set of required supporting documents -independent Commission checks the eligibility of candidates -list of candidates with valid nominations published on the Internet

Council members – procedure of selection of NGO representatives public call for voting - NGOs voting for eligible candidates – submitting a standard voting form available on the Internet (1 organisation - 1 vote) by regular post -Independent commission counting votes -Candidates with the biggest number of votes proposed to be appointed members of the Council -Detailed information on all valid and not valid votes by candidates available on the Internet

How the Council works? Monthly meetings Own initiative opinions and statements on draft laws, national programmes and plans regarding civil society development in the widest sense President elected from among Council members (from NGO representatives) Three Standing Working groups Administrative and expert support provided by the Office for cooperation with NGOs

Increasing number of structures for civil dialogue more than 100 Government advisory bodies involving around 800 representatives of CSOs 25 Parliament working committees involving more than 100 representatives of CSOs Increasing number of local charters of cooperation between CSOs and local governments

The National Foundation for Civil Society Development Public foundation established by the Parliament Operational grants, CSO capacity building, training, research, awareness- raising Regional foundations – local community building Regional CSO support networks

Institutional framework supporting civil society development in Croatia CSOs Government Of Croatia Council for Civil Society Development Office for Cooperation with NGOs Local and Regional Self- government Regional Networks Regional Foundations National Foundation National programmes and strategies Citizens participation Support & education

Standards of Consultation in Policy Making -Code of Practice on Consultation with the Interested Public in Procedures of Adopting Laws, Other Regulations and Acts -adopted by the Government on 21 November Guidelines for the implementation of the Code developed

Putting the consultation standards into practice -to ensure the harmonized application of the Code, consultation coordinators appointed in central state administration bodies and in the Government offices -first training session for nominated coordinators on the implementation of the Code held in July 2010 in the Civil Service Training Centre

Sustainable funding of CSOs programmes and projects Decentralised system of public funding - 20 public bodies providing funding for CSOs Law on games of chance (2002) – 50% revenues from lottery for CSOs Code of Good Practice, Standards and Benchmarks for the Allocation of Funding to Programs and Projects of CSOs – 2007 Transparency of funding – all data on grants awarded accessible through internet

EU support to civil dialogue IPA 2008 Developing Capacities of CSOs for Systematic Monitoring and Advocacy of Sustainable Development Policies and Integrated Approaches to Waste and Water Management, Transport, Energy Efficiency, Regional Development, Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (<1 MEUR) IPA 2008 Enhancing the Participation of the CSOs in Monitoring of the Implementation of the EU Acquis in the Field of Fight Against Corruption and the Overall Transparency, Openness and Accountability of Public Administration Bodies (<1 MEUR) IPA 2008 Enhancing the Capacities/Roles of the CSOs in Monitoring of the Implementation of the EU Acquis in Field of the Comprehensive Anti-discrimination Strategy (<1 MEUR)

PHARE 2006 Enabling the Civil Society Sector for Active Contribution in the Pre-accession Process - Grant Scheme in the area of: Democratization and Human Rights, Environmental Protection and Sustainable development, Youth Participation: overall 36 Actions in the sub-sectors of democratisation and human rights, environmental protection and sustainable development, and youth participation contracted (<3 MEUR) CARDS 2003/2004 Good Governance and Rule of Law grant scheme (1,2 MEUR); several projects under CARDS 2004 Grants to Civil Society Organizations Active in Environment and Sustainable Development and Social Services Delivery (2,7 MEUR) EU support to civil dialogue

Key challenges Strategy - need for a strong policy coordination Structures - Institionalisation of civil dialogue - an incentive and not an obstacle for genuine, spontaneous civic engagement (structures are not substitute for real dialogue) Standards – need for systematic capacity building of civil servants and promoting good practice examples Sustainable funding: strict criteria for EU and national public funding of CSOs –danger of shifting focus from people/beneficiaries to papers)

Contacts: Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs