Completed two-year institutional support
04/11/2022Today, in the Prostor of Miljenko Dereta, the end of the two-year institutional support for 30 organizations in 20 cities and municipalities throughout Serbia, which was supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through the project “For an active civile society together – ACT”, was marked. The goal of this support was the institutional and organizational growth and development of the supported organizations, the education of employees, as well as the mentoring expertise provided to them. The supported organizations achieved excellent results through the creation of a large number of strategic documents, the provision of services and the management of advocacy initiatives through which more than 137,929 citizens were mobilized.
On this occasion, representatives of organizations, their mentors, partners and associates gathered. In the ceremonial part, the head of development cooperation of the Embassy of Switzerland, Richard Kohli, the international team leader of the ACT project Snežana Mišić, the executive director of the Association of Civic Initiatives Maja Stojanović and the representative of mentors of supported organizations Zorica Rašković spoke. Speaking about the results of the supported organizations, Richard Kohli said: “All of you, from all 30 organizations, managed to mobilize over 100,000 people through various activities, and a similar number of people benefited from the services and initiatives of your organizations.” “As a result of the advocacy initiative of the Kolubara District Women’s Association, the municipality of Osečina adopted an action plan for the social inclusion of Roma, and Lazarevac introduced free examinations for women without health insurance. Thanks to the initiative of the Okular association, the municipality of Ćićevac formed a youth council for the first time, while the Sombor educational center successfully initiated the adoption of the Action Plan for youth in Sombor,” Koli said, adding that Switzerland remains a reliable partner for civil society in Serbia. The international team leader of the ACT project, Snežana Mišić, said that this grant scheme was launched with the intention of strengthening the activities of local organizations and starting a dialogue with citizens, organizations and decision-makers. She pointed out that ACT is one of the first to recognize the importance of institutional support for organizations after many years, and it certainly remains one of the priorities for the next period. Director of Civic Initiatives, Maja Stojanović, said that the organizations supported through the ACT project “showed with their results that society moves forward with work and commitment”. “We are aware that the situation in society today is difficult – both for civil society, for the rule of law, and for democratization. However, instead of criticizing the society we live in, let’s find strength and energy together to fight the general apathy. That is the most important task before us – for people to see us on the field and to give them the desire for activism for the sake of a better future for everyone”, said Stojanović.
The following organizations received institutional support: Asocijacija Duga, Bečejsko udruženje mladih, Centar za obrazovanje i kulturu Sonta, Centar za ženske studije, Da se zna, Društvo za razvoj kreativnosti, Edukativni centar Kruševac, Ekološki centar Stanište, Ekološki pokret Vrbasa, Evo ruka, FemPlatz, Fenomena, Fondacija Iskorak, Fondacija za mlade Obrenovca, Forum civilne akcije Forca, Inženjeri zaštite životne sredine, Ko gradi grad, Libero, Okular, Omladinski centar CK13, Patrija, Podrinjski antikorupcijski tim, Polekol, Prijatelji dece Srbije, Pro.Tok21, Somborski edukativni centar, SOS ženski centar, Šansa za roditeljstvo, Unija srednjoškolaca Srbije, Žensko udruženje kolubarskog okruga ŽUKO.