About us

We contribute to the construction of an active civil society.

Second phase of the AKT project (2023 – 2027)

The focus of AKT-2 will be on supporting organizations that are mission-driven and motivated to dedicate themselves to organizational development, with the aim of strengthening and expanding their support base among citizens, advocating more effectively in public, and diversifying their funding sources. The backbone of the second phase of the AKT project consists of a capacity development program, primarily implemented through tailored mentoring support for partner CSOs, customized to meet the needs of each organization, and complementary financial support. In addition to CSOs, AKT-2 will also support informal movements and citizen groups, promoting dialogue and cooperation between civil society, the media, academia, the private sector, and other stakeholders.

First phase of the AKT project (2019 – 2023)

Over four years, more than 150,000 people across Serbia benefited from the services and initiatives provided by the supported CSOs. Their public advocacy initiatives resulted in the adoption or amendment of 33 legal/policy documents (laws, strategies, action plans, etc.) at the local level and 11 legal/policy documents at the national level.

1
years of work
1
grant schemes
1
supported organizations
1
local governments
1
people directly benefited from the ACT project

Law, Advocacy, and Policy123

123

Social Services81

81

Environment74

74

Philanthropic Intermediaries and Promotion of Volunteering23

23

Health19

19

International Cooperation8

8

Development and Housing6

6

Institutional Grant – 2020194

194

COVID Grant79

79

Strengthening Local Communities – 202065

65

Public Advocacy at the Local Level – 202156

56

Public Advocacy at the Local Level – 202049

49

Public Advocacy Networks – 202245

45

Public Advocacy Networks – 202031

31

Grants for Partner Initiatives – 202124

24

COVID Grant – 202221

21

Strengthening Local Communities – 202219

19

Innovative Partner Initiatives – 202115

15

Joint Response of CSOs and LSGs to the Consequences of COVID-19 – 20217

7

Belgrade 29,4%137

137

Other districts 70,6%329

329

South Bačka District – 50 projects – 10.7%

Nišava District – 38 projects – 8.2%

Raška District – 24 projects – 5.2%

Zlatibor District – 22 projects – 4.7%

Pčinja District – 22 projects – 4.7%

Rasina District – 19 projects – 4.1%

Šumadija District – 19 projects – 4.1%

South Banat District – 14 projects – 3.0%

Zaječar District – 11 projects – 2.4%

Jablanica District – 10 projects – 2.1%

Kolubara District – 9 projects – 1.9%

Pirot District – 9 projects – 1.9%

Central Banat District – 9 projects – 1.9%

Srem District – 9 projects – 1.9%

Bor District – 8 projects – 1.7%

Mačva District – 8 projects – 1.7%

Pomoravlje District – 8 projects – 1.7%

North Bačka District – 8 projects – 1.7%

West Bačka District – 7 projects – 1.5%

North Banat District – 6 projects – 1.3%

Moravica District – 5 projects – 1.1%

Podunavlje District – 4 projects – 0.9%

Belgrade 34,5%39

39

Other districts 64,5%75

75

South Banat District – 12 projects – 10.5%

Zlatibor District – 7 projects – 6.1%

Nišava District – 7 projects – 6.1%

Raška District – 7 projects – 6.1%

Rasina District – 5 projects – 4.4%

South Banat District – 4 projects – 3.5%

Zaječar District – 4 projects – 3.5%

Šumadija District – 4 projects – 3.5%

Bor District – 3 projects – 2.6%

West Bačka District – 3 projects – 2.6%

Mačva District – 3 projects – 2.6%

Kolubara District – 2 projects – 1.8%

Moravica District – 2 projects – 1.8%

Pirot District – 2 projects – 1.8%

Pčinja District – 2 projects – 1.8%

North Banat District – 2 projects – 1.8%

Jablanica District – 1 project – 0.9%

Podunavlje District – 1 project – 0.9%

Pomoravlje District – 1 project – 0.9%

North Bačka District – 1 project – 0.9%

Central Banat District – 1 project – 0.9%

Srem District – 1 project – 0.9%

TEAM

Meet ACT team

HELVETAS

Helvetas team

Gorana
Radovanović
Team leader
Snežana
Mišić Mihajlović
Senior advisor
Marko
Rakić
Program advisor
Svetlana
Radosavljević
Capacity building advisor
Jovana
Dubljević
Operational support advisor
Maša
Babić
Communications manager
Marijana
Radaković Ćirić
Communication Coordinator
Dragana
Serafimović
Financial manager
Jelisaveta
Gajić
Project assistant

CIVIC INITIATIVES

The Civic Initiatives team on the ACT project

Maja
Stojanović
Executive Director
Ksenija
Nikić
Programme Manager for Capacity Building
Dejana
Stevkovski
Project Officer for CSOs Institutional Development
Dragoslava
Barzut
Project Officer for Networking, Outreach, Work with Informal Groups
Ema
Štefanac
Project Officer for Coordination of Mentors and Trainers

PARTNERS

Partners and collaborators

Those who have aided the ACT team in implementation with their knowledge, experience, and best practices.

Trag Foundation

In their twenty years of work with civil society organizations, citizens, and civic activists, offering support in the form of knowledge and resources, they encourage and support their active involvement in improving life in Serbia. Within the ACT project:

They provide support to civil society organizations for leading long-term internal change processes aimed at adopting and applying knowledge as their regular organizational practice;
They conduct education, strengthening, networking, and informing civil society organizations in various fields;
They enable civil society organizations to develop organizationally, to experiment and change practices, and introduce significant organizational changes that will help them be more successful in their mission;
They raise the quality of work by establishing standards of public interest, integrity, and transparency in the performance of functions and work; as well as support in self-assessment and expressing needs and readiness to participate in capacity-building processes with the aim of taking responsibility for their own growth;
They transfer specific skills and knowledge, primarily in advocacy, that will serve to more successfully implement planned and approved actions and thus achieve certain goals;
They enable mutual exchange and networking as the basis for long-term learning and cooperation, as well as the application of international standards and best practices.

Catalyst

Around the world, hundreds of thousands of nonprofit organizations use CRM platforms to more easily and efficiently achieve their goals. Civi Catalyst is the first CRM platform for nonprofit organizations in the Serbian language and is fully flexible and adaptable. Therefore, we use this platform within the ACT project to facilitate the application, communication, and reporting processes for our grantees, while also presenting processed data on our web presentation and social networks.

The standing conference of towns and municipalities

The standing conference of towns and municipalities (SKGO) was founded in 1953 as an association of cities, municipalities, and urban municipalities in Serbia. When it comes to reform and strengthening of local self-government, SKGO is recognized as an indispensable partner to domestic and international institutions, and it has become a significant factor in the process of decentralization and reform of the local self-government system. This is the reason for cooperation with this organization within the component of the ACT project focused on strengthening partnerships between civil society organizations and local self-government units. Our collaboration entails the following:

  • Representatives of SKGO will share experiences with the ACT project regarding the support program in the subject areas in terms of work methodology, transferring knowledge about key challenges, and best practices in working with local governments.
  • Representatives of SKGO will participate in joint orientation and guidance workshops for experts who will be engaged within the ACT project to provide technical support to local governments.