1. Bilateral Relations under The Active Citizens Fund Slovakia
Csilla Czimbalmos
22. October 2018

2. Norwegian Helsinki Committee
Why are we involved? The purpose of the NGO Funds corresponds with the working fundament of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee:
- Empowerment of civil society
- Support of democratic processes
- Promotion of human rights

3. NHC’s role
Contact point coordinating information-sharing and promoting bilateral cooperation between civil society organisations in Norway and the beneficiary countries.
Tasks:
Facilitate bilateral partnership
Distribute information
Maintain and update
Coordinate Norwegian participation at NGO Fund launches and matchmaking seminars
Arrange seminars, workshops etc.
Voice interests and needs of Norwegian civil society in connection to the EEA grants

4. Civil society in Norway
NGOs
Large, dynamic and innovative sector
80 % of Norwegians are members of one or more organisations
Characteristics:
Many organisations combine professional staff with active members who do voluntary work
Half of the population participates in voluntary work annually
Total contribution of Norwegian volunteers is equivalent to full time employees

5. Recognized role of civil society
Establish channels of political influence
Evaluate and criticise the work of the government
Engage and educate the public
Train members to understand democracy and its rules
Provide a wide range of services
Represent the interests of different groups in the society
Constructive criticism:
Take part in public debates
Give advice to the government and propose alternative actions
Comment on draft legislation
Provide new services

6. Areas of most interest

7. Competencies and contribution
Advocacy, awareness raising and outreach to citizens
Citizen activism, volunteering and civic participation
Capacity building of civil sector, including sustainability, networking and accountability
Partnership between NGOs, public and private sector entities
Participation in policy and decision-making processes, including promoting an enabling environment for civil society  
1. advocacy, awareness raising and outreach to citizens
2. citizen activism, volunteering and civic participation
3. capacity building of civil sector, including sustainability, networking and accountability
4. partnership between NGOs, public and private sector entities
5. participation in policy and decision-making processes, including promoting an enabling environment for civil society  

8. Why a Norwegian partner?
Volunteerism and professionalism combined
Evaluate, give advice to and criticise the work of the government and authorities
Interest-representation
Umbrella organisations
Membership organisations
Resource mobilisation

9. Before you start, consider…
Do you really need a partner?
Why do you need a partner?
What would you like to learn?
What is your capacity?
What are your strenghts and weaknesses?
What can you offer?
Are you compatible with the partner?

10. Contact and cooperation
Start early!
Good information about your project idea
Specification of requested competence
What kind of partner you want
Partner’s role and contribution to the project
Where do you find a partner? Database and ngonorway.org
Be clear, accurate and open – good information about project and requested competence from a partner
Be open and clear about your expectations from the process and cooperation
Involve your partner in all stages of project development and implementation
Have an open dialogue and clarify all details of the project that involve the partner

11. Tools for partnerships www.ngonorway.org

14. NGO database

15. REGISTER FROM NOVEMBER 13!

16. Experiences from 2009-2014 20 projects with Norwegian partners
Role of Norwegian partners:
Provide expertise and training
Mutual competence building
Exchange of experiences

17. Dobre – Dobré
Norwegian-Slovakian cooperation for capacity building in work with homeless people

18. Key elements of success
Common understanding of important values
Common understanding of content and strategy
Developing the project together
Good project planning
Building good and sustainable relations
Long-term perspective
Agreement of financial framework

19. Moving forward, avoiding pitfalls
Language challenges
Norway is an expensive country
Different administrative and bureaucratic cultures – dialogue is essential
Capacity-challenge: 3 donor countries, 15 beneficiary countries

20. ngonorway.org

21. More information
NGOPartnershipPortal