OSCE Presence in Albania helps country's civil society groups work better together

The just-concluded project, launched in June last year, is now helping people like Dhionis Kotmilo, who runs an institute for democracy and co-operation in Korça, a city of some 60,000 people located 180 km south-east of the capital Tirana.

"I have been trying for years to co-ordinate the work between the 20 local non-government organizations in my hometown, but it was never possible," says Kotmilo.

"Mainly due to the mentality inherited from the previous regime, concepts such as volunteerism, collective action, responsible citizenship and charity work are still hardly practised," he adds.

Needs assessment

The first of the project's three phases was a needs assessment report carried out by the six OSCE-supported Civil Society Development Centres (CSDCs) in Durrës, Korça, Vlora, Kukës, Shkodra and Elbasan, in co-operation with the United Nations Development Programme. The report, funded by the Embassies of the UK, Germany, Norway and Sweden, surveyed about 350 organizations in six regions in Albania.

"The report found that although one of the main features of Albanian civil society was its ability to swiftly create organizations and alliances in response to a perceived need, these groupings were not stable or sustainable, dissolving very easily," says Christian Marius Stahmer, Project Manager with the Presence.

Another of the report's findings was that the lack of co-operation between organizations sometimes led to duplication of projects. And while they benefited from foreign funding, there was little effort to adapt to the needs of the local communities.

"As a result, we drew the conclusion that one of the things civil society organizations most needed was co-operation and networking, followed by mediation skills, training on project cycles, plus organizational and financial management," says Stahmer.

Public awareness campaign

Based on the report's findings, the second phase of the project was a public awareness campaign calling on NGOs to take part in a voluntary three-part training programme. Several ads aired on local television and were published in newspapers encouraging civil society groups to participate in the programme.

The training was carried out by the six CSDCs, and was co-ordinated by the OSCE Presence with the support of the Netherlands Development Agency. Subjects covered included management skills, civic participation and co-operation with local government, gender mainstreaming, and advocacy and lobbying.

Resulting from this, six projects that could serve as models for NGOs were developed and implemented in various regions of the country. Civil society organizations were encouraged to work closely together in their areas through 500-euro grants provided by the donors of the six CSDCs.

"From the outset, it was an important objective of the project to strengthen volunteerism, encouraging Albania's civil society groups to participate in the political and social reform process," notes Stahmer.

The third phase of the project paved the way for the creation on 25 October this year of a national network of CSDCs, which will assist in co-ordinating local networks. The aim is to strengthen civil society organizations and community-based groups by encouraging greater contacts and supporting citizens' participation in public life.

Tangible improvements

People like Dhionis Kotmilo in Korca can already see the benefits: "I can now consult and co-ordinate my activities with a network of over 100 local NGOs and community groups around Albania," he says.

The project is having other concrete results too:

• In Korça, more than 20 local groups have formed the Alliance for Civil Society and their representatives will participate in municipal council meetings to address issues of interest.
• In Vlora, local NGOs have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the municipality committing the latter to increase green areas by up to 15 per cent, as well as including a civil society representative in the municipal budget commission.
• In Kukës, a similar MoU has been signed under which awareness-raising activities on environmental issues will be included in the 2007 budget.
• In Shkodra, local NGOs have agreed with the municipality to monitor cleaning services in the city.
• In Durrës and Elbasan, local NGOs will participate in the budgeting process in the respective municipalities.

"These are the type of results we wanted to see, as the agreements with the municipalities focus on tangible improvements for the citizens," says the OSCE's Stahmer.

"Follow-up projects are already being designed in order to assist citizens' participation in the social and political life of the country."