The Romanian civil society and citizen engagement are critical in protecting human rights, empowering vulnerable groups and encouraging democratic values and participation. Against this backdrop, the Cluj-Napoca Volunteer Centre (CNVC) works to develop volunteerism and involve citizens in solving challenges in the municipality of Cluj-Napoca, the second most populous city in Romania. Although most NGOs – both new and well-established ones – have considerable competence in the fields in which they are working, many still face common challenges, according to the CNVC:
“Obtaining and applying for funding are challenges all NGOs are faced with. Some are better prepared than others,” says Oana Țicle finance coordinator at CNVC.
CNVC receives funding from the NGO fund in Romania for increasing the organisational capacity of Romanian NGOs. CNVC received 69 applications from organisations wanting to participate in the project, out of these, sixteen were selected.
“We have selected very diverse organisations working in different fields. Although they go through the same programme, we try to tailor it to their specific needs,” explains Ioana Bere, PR coordinator at CNVC.
Putting theory into practice
The volunteer management programme includes training sessions, consulting and job shadowing. As a part of the training, five actors plays out various situations and scenarios NGOs are faced with – like how to work with volunteers and end-beneficiaries. This is followed up with discussions with representatives from the 16 NGOs afterwards.
As a part of the project, each NGO will prepare and implement a public event in their respective community that will contribute to the Council of Europe’s No Hate Speech campaign. Each event will involve minimum ten volunteers and is based on the nine steps of the volunteer management programme.
“The No Hate Speech campaign serves as a common theme throughout the project. By having this approach, we take the theoretical concepts from the volunteer management programme and put them into practice,” Nicoleta explains.
In 2015, Cluj-Napoca is the European Youth Capital. Nicoleta, Oana and Ioana see this as a good opportunity to promote the civil sector:
“This will increase the level of activity in the city. It is a chance to showcase the importance of civil society. The municipality sees the added value.”
About the project
The project receives €34 942 from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the NGO fund in Romania, and started April 2014 and is scheduled to end March 2015. IOGT Tippetue Norway and Pro Vobis - National Resource Center for Volunteering participate as project partners.