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Description
The project addresses a complex range of needs faced by NGOs providing medico-social services for older people. Vulnerable older people who do not have access to the necessary services and end up socially excluded and marginalised. The project also addresses a major public policy challenge in Romania, which should encourage proactive and sustainable measures to support active ageing and ensure respect for the rights of older people. The proposed solutions are: Strategic strengthening of the network of NGOs providing services for the elderly (creation of a SenioriNet network), creation of 3 resource centres for services for the elderly in the South, Centre and East regions (regional HUBs), development of a social contracting mechanism and organisation of consultations at the level of central authorities, the NGO sector and local public authorities in the 3 regions, development of the White Paper on the rights of the elderly in Romania and a national advocacy campaign to raise awareness among policy makers and the general public; at least one collaboration agreement established with a European network.
Beneficiaries are 60 NGOs providing socio-medical services for older people through involvement in training activities (project management, fundraising, procurement, etc.) and participation in consultations on the social contracting mechanism and the development of the White Paper; direct beneficiaries of the services provided by the 60 NGOs (approx. 8000 older people); at least 3 authorities piloting the proposed contracting methodology.
The added value of the partners derives from their experience in providing socio-medical services and from their direct relationship with the main beneficiaries of the project and local authorities.
Summary of project results
Through the project ''SenioriNet Federation - stronger NGOs in support of the elderly in Romania! '' the promoter and his partners proposed to increase the representation capacity of NGOs providing social and medical services addressed to the elderly through the legal registration of the SenioriNet Federation to produce systemic changes at the level of practices of financing services for the elderly from public funds. In the context where in Romania there is no unified voice to support these categories of beneficiaries of medical and socio-medical services, the project aimed to (1) increase the advocacy capacity of the members of the SeniorNet network for contracting at the level of local and county social and medical services dedicated to the elderly; (2) increasing the level of information and awareness regarding the rights of elderly people in Romania for at least 10,000 citizens and 50 representatives of local and national public authorities and institutions; (3) increasing the degree of representation of the SenioriNET network in the relevant European platforms, to represent the interests of the elderly in Romania at the European level and take over good practices. In addition to the 3 objectives that fall within the area of organizational advocacy, the Promoter also pursued the increase of organizational capacity through (4) the organizational development of the SenioriNET network in areas such as strategic planning, professional training, fundraising, to support the interests of members and ensure the sustainability of actions.
To achieve these objectives, the promoter carried out Activity 3 - Expanding the SenioriNET network by attracting new members - as a first step, the Promoter contacted the initial members (54) of the SeniorNet platform (from 2013-2015) to identify the remaining ones active (41), then their contact database was updated. A second step was the preparation of some materials through which they could show their maintenance in the network as well as the identification of new service providers for their accession. In this way, the following results were reached: (1) an updated list of SenioriNET members - 47 members; (2) an updated map of service providers for the elderly; (3) a database with licensed providers of services dedicated to the elderly (home care, daycare centers, residential centers, social canteens) developed; (4) 40 organizations providing services for the elderly invited to join the network; (5) 20 new member organizations of the SenioriNET network.
As part of Activity 4 - Carrying out the strategic planning process of the SenioriNET network - in 2021 network members carried out a strategic planning process for the period 2021-2026, which consisted of (1) an analysis of the history of SenioriNET and its current situation elaborated; (2) a project team planning meeting; (3) a meeting with representatives and members of the network; (4) a strategic plan elaborated and assumed; (5) 3 working groups for the elaboration of the established action plan; (6) a process of monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the implementation of the strategic plan.
As part of Activity 5 - Formalization of the SenioriNET network - it started immediately after the strategic planning was carried out and involved the organization of statutory documents, the organization of a workshop with members of the network for the establishment and approval of organizational aspects, the organization of a General Assembly and the submission of documents to the courts. In August 2022, the court communicated the court decision by which the establishment of the SenioriNet Federation as a legal entity was approved.
As part of Activity A6 - Elaboration of the needs analysis regarding the level of development of SenioriNET members - the research consisted of collecting data on the number of beneficiaries, the types of services offered by the beneficiaries, the coverage area of the services, the funding sources, the number of staff employee and staff structure, the way of collaboration with public authorities, the difficulties they face in the provision of services as well as their interest/needs for training. Thus, there were 37 questionnaires completed by SenioriNET members; 9 interviews conducted with representatives of SenioriNET members and other specialists in the field; a set of recommendations for the development of NGOs providing social services for the elderly elaborated and a customized training and consultancy package elaborated.
As part of Activity A7 - Empowering SenioriNET members through the development of regional resource HUBs dedicated to social and medical services for the elderly - 3 regional HUBs were established, respectively, South-East Hub responsible - FSC Bacau, South HUB - responsible Association Four Change and Hub Centru, responsible for Caritas Blaj. Through the Hubs, almost 700 questionnaires were collected regarding the White Charter of the Rights of the Elderly in Romania. At the same time, each Hub provided 200 hours of consulting to member organizations, got involved in attracting new members to the network, organized regional consultations on the White Paper, collaborated in organizing 3 training courses for network members, and collaborated with the organization of a workshop for the acquisition of socio-medical services. Based on the law 544/200 Hubs requested data from more than 600 local authorities regarding the budgets allocated to purchase services for the elderly. Each HUB organized and participated in meetings with APL, county, and central authorities'' representatives to promote the SenioriNet Federation.
As part of Activity A8 - Elaboration of the White Paper on the Rights of the Elderly in Romania - it consisted of the analysis of a series of studies and research reports on the theme of the rights of the elderly at the national and European level, the completion of a questionnaire by 200 residents and 466 people elderly and meeting members of the project team. After its elaboration, 3 workshops were organized to validate the White Paper, 2 organized online by Hub Est and Hub Centru and one face-to-face in Tarnaveni, with the participation of 59 people, representatives of service providers for the elderly, APL, authorities central and county governments, journalists, the elderly and family members. The document was also sent by email to several representatives of the authorities and the mass media.
As part of A9 - Running the advocacy campaign to support the White Paper on the rights of the elderly in Romania at the national and European level - through the advocacy campaign carried out at national and European level, the Promoter aimed to draw the attention of political decision-makers and the general public to the fact that the rights of the elderly in Romania are not respected, the emphasis being on the poor development of social and socio-medical services in rural areas and small, former industrial towns. For this, (1) interviews with stakeholders, (2) a video documentary about the situation of the elderly in Romania, (3) an elaborated petition and an organized signature collection process were carried out: 10,418 signatures of support obtained online and 12,000 in physical format ; (3) at least 10 meetings with decision-makers at the national level.
As part of A10 - Advocacy campaign to support the White Paper on the rights of elderly people in Romania at the level of 3 counties to contract social and socio-medical services - this took place in Giurgiu, Bihor, and Bacau and as a result, 5 APL- municipalities from two counties have adopted the legislative package and will carry out procurement procedures for services for the elderly: Bucharest Municipality, DGASPC Sector 2 (in the South region) and Bacau County (municipalities: Rachitoasa, Colonesti, Motoseni and Vultureni) in the East region. 15 local decision-makers were involved; 3 working groups were created for the implementation of the methodology for the acquisition of social services; and more than 1000 requests were submitted based on Law 544/2001.
As part of A11 - Providing support for at least 15 SenioriNET members to contract social services at the local level - the organizations in the regional Hubs were advised; a seminar was organized regarding the presentation of the tertiary legislative package regarding the contracting of social services through Law 98 / 2016; and meetings were organized with local public authorities.
As part of - Representation of the SenioriNET Federation in the relevant European platforms - a process of joining the SeniorNet network to the European platform AGE Platform Europe was carried out concluded; and organized 2 meetings with the management of AGE Platform.
In the framework of A13 - Organizational development of the SenioriNET federation - the following steps were carried out: (1) activation of the members of the Federation Board and the elaboration of internal documents regulating the operation of the federation, (2) elaboration and implementation of the fundraising strategy and sustainability, and (3) a campaign to promote the federation was carried out.
Through the project, the promoter and his partners managed to increase the representation capacity of NGOs providing social and medical services addressed to the elderly through the legal registration of the SenioriNet Federation, which brings together 15 founding members and 32 affiliated NGOs. They carried out advocacy actions to influence the practices of financing services for the elderly from public funds. A success of advocacy efforts, together with other federations, is the introduction of the social services contracting mechanism in the Social Assistance Law 292/2011, voted in September. 2023. The SeniorNet network developed a White Charter of the Rights of the Elderly and ran an advocacy campaign at the European, national, and local levels. They launched a petition to support the recommendations of the Charter and obtained signatures from 22,418 citizens (10,418 online and 12,000 physically), thus increasing the level of information and awareness of the public on the rights of the elderly from 64% to 94%. 75 NGOs benefited from training and professional development opportunities by participating in courses with the following topics: project management, lobbying and advocacy, communication and fundraising, and learning and experience exchange workshops (on strategic planning, procurement, and social contracting). Within the project, they created 3 regional HUBs of resources for the NGOs providing services for the elderly who were offered 608 consulting hours. Also, the promoter increased the degree of representation at the European level by joining the Federation SeniorNet at AGE Platform Europe. 528 people and 47 civil society organizations were involved in the project''s activities, which supported through advocacy the improvement of the legal framework and public policies affecting the NGOs that provide services to the elderly. Starting from strategic thinking and planning, they created an active federation that supports and represents the interests of NGOs for the elderly, thus contributing to the development of the NGO sector in Romania.