We Need New Legislation to get Better NGOs
During the Djindjic Government term in office, the Draft-Law on Associations was prepared, in cooperation with representatives of the NGO sector. "That draft passed the experts' review of the Council of Europe. Series of public debates were organized, the comments of the third sector were taken into account and the Law was submitted for Parliamentary procedure. Unfortunately, it still has to make it into the Skupstina's Agenda, and the NGOs in Serbia still wait for the new legislation to be adopted," said Vasilevska. The New Government revoked the Draft-Law from parliamentary procedure. Why did it do that? I don't have the reasons for such a behaviour of the Government. The only information in that regard we have from the website of the Ministry for Public Administration and Local Self-Government, which has a single line that the Ministry prepared a completely new draft. In spite of all my efforts, I couldn’t find out anything more about the new draft that is being prepared, nor whether the preparation efforts included NGO representatives. Nongovernmental organizations in Serbia still work on the basis of "ancient" legislation? That is true, and it is ample illustration of the positions of the Government towards the third sector. NGOs in Serbia work on the basis of the 1982 Law on Social Organizations and Citizens' Associations of the Socialist Republic of Serbia; the 1990 federal Law on Citizens' Associations, Social and Political Organizations; and the 1989 Law on Legacies, Foundations and Funds. The overall impression is that the Government doesn't care about the development of the civil sector, or that it remembers it exists only when it can use it for its purposes. Without a legislation that is based on the European standards, which is not that difficult to prepare, we won't be able to talk about European integrations. All countries in the region adopted new legislation years ago, they had the time to improve and correct the defects based on the experiences of implementation of the legislation in the field. We can say, without any doubt, that all Laws on Ngos in the region are better than ours. Don’t you find it paradoxical that, regardless of the prevailing situation, the NGOs in Serbia remain very active, there are many of them and they are active in all segments of society? What would be your comment on that situation? Having in mind the legislative framework that regulates their work, I should say that our NGOs are truly great. It's a real pity that there is no better legislation to assist them in using their capacities for even greater benefit of the society. The NGOs also have the role to control the Government. Is there a fear in the Government and authorities regarding that role of the NGOs? Indeed, that is one of the roles of the NGOs. I wouldn't say the government is afraid. Rather, it doesn't grasp the meaning of the civil society. The current Government is completely non-transparent for the NGOs. I have been following the financing of the NGOs for several years, i.e. the Budgetary funds that the state allocates for the activities of the NGOs. Lamentably, the breakdown of the Budget lists only one line, named NGO donations, which is distributed among the different beneficiaries, but there is no mention of its purpose. Majority of Ministries has some money earmarked for the NGOs, but there is no mention of the programmes that can apply or the criteria which will be used for its allocation. The same code number is used for the funds allocated to the political parties, electoral campaigns and the NGOs. All of that blurs the true picture of the state position towards the NGOs. Naturally, although we don't know the real amounts in these funds, it is evident that they are not nearly enough. Lamentably, other domestic sources of finances are few and insufficient. NGOs are still dependent on the foreign donations? That is true, but we should know that all big foreign donors reduce their funds in time. That is the experience of all transition states. The state should conduct an urgent review of the complete legislation, in order to prepare an improved legislative framework to provide for sustainability of the third sector. When I say that, I also have in mind legislation that would promote and stimulate domestic philanthropy. |
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