Civic Participation and Community Development

Project "CSO Leaders for the Long Run" is focused on building leadership capacities and resilience of organizations. It focuses on supporting two types of leaders. The first are the incoming directors of NGOs, who have recently taken up a management position. The second group is senior leaders, who are often overworked or burned out after years in a management position. The project also aims to strengthen organizations, specifically to build their resilience (resistance to unpredictable change).

The aim of the three projects was to bring Slovak experience and know-how to Ukrainian cities and villages. We trained mayors, city council members, clerks, local NGO representatives, school directors, and other community members in methods of civic participation. We trained trainers, published a textbook in Ukrainian, and provided internships and mini-grants for Ukrainian community leaders to support decentralization and local democracy in our neighboring country. This happened in the 2014-2018 time period.

The project responds directly to the current situation in the civilian sector in Albania: an insufficient level of cooperation between non-governmental organizations and local authorities and the associated low level of participation in local decision-making. It is precisely this that is necessary for the ability of organizations to promote the interests of the citizens they represent, and to maintain a transparent and healthy environment in which no corrupt practices are present. However, the Monitoring Matrix Report on Enabling Environment of CSOs in Albania shows that the CSOs in Albania have insufficient capacity to participate in and influence development processes effectively in the country.