The Programme aims to strengthen civil society organisations in Poland, fostering civil society with diversity, equal treatment and dialogue at its core. First of all, support to smaller organisations that operate locally, outside large urban centers in Poland, has been a priority.
The overall aims for the Programme have been:
- Protection of human rights
- Working for social diversity and combating exclusion
- Building a culture of democracy and civic engagement at the local level
- Support for the development of the social sector
The official launch of the Programme was in February 2021. In only four years of the Programme, over 500 civil society organisations have been supported.
The Active Citizens – Regional Programme allowed NGOs to continue their activities during difficult times of the collapse of democracy in Poland, the pandemic and the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Thanks to this, those social groups which, for various reasons, were experiencing difficulties were able to receive support, become independent, and gain readiness to help others. The Programme also supported local democracy, and thus allowed local communities to diagnose problems and form partnerships to solve them together. I hope that in the coming years, the Programme will be continued in cooperation with other civil society-building initiatives supported by the Polish state. Jacek Królikowski – president of the Information Society Development Foundation
The Active Citizens Fund – Regional programme has been implemented by a consortium consisting of the Foundation for the Development of Local Democracy (in lead), the Education for Democracy Foundation and the Information Society Development Foundation.
The programme has been financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA and Norway Grants, with a budget of 26 million euros in total.
The nursing homes participating in the project opened themselves up to local cooperation. “The phrase ‘open homes’ refers to the concept of neighbourliness, because our main idea was to connect the homes with local institutions, NGOs or other facilities. (…) We wanted to support nursing homes in establishing and strengthening local relationships. Marta Zabłocka, Pole Dialogu Foundation – the "Open Homes. Celebrating Together" project coordinator
In her address for the closing conference in Warsaw, FMO Senior Sector Officer Anna Striethorst stressed how important local and regional civil society organisations are for building a resilient democracy. She highlighted several achievements of the programme: The financial support allowed regional and local civil society organisation to train more than 30 public institutions in transparency, accountability, open government standard and to influence over 80 local, regional or national policies. Around 3500 people were trained in issues related to anti-discrimination and human rights violations.
©️ Agnieszka Koszowska
Several partners working to achieve these goals over the past years gave their testimonies to the value of this Programme.
Monika Ledwolorz-Gierok – the Fostering Women’s Leadership project participant:
“Projects like this should be carried out periodically so that women can meet and work together more often. Together we are definitely stronger. I would like to see a women’s group in my municipality, which would organise workshops and meetings for female residents. It would be great if the activists I met during the women’s circles would show up at them.”
Marta Zabłocka, Pole Dialogu Foundation – the "Open Homes. Celebrating Together" project coordinator:
"Thanks to the Active Citizens – Regional Programme, we were able to develop our activities in the area of neighbourhood participation. We offered the nursing homes an innovative formula - developing a local celebration. One particularly important moment for me was the premieres of the documentaries that the young people filmed about ‘our’ homes from the project. I was enormously moved that ‘it's about us, about our work’ - as a nursing home employee put it. I see a great need for further activities aimed at nursing homes, that will break stereotypes about them, appreciate the work of the staff, make the homes be treated as good neighbours, and for some of us or our relatives - as homes where we will live one day.”
"The study visit to Norway showed me that despite the differences in systemic solutions for the elderly, we face similar challenges. We need measures that counteract loneliness and exclusion, and build and strengthen partnerships - including intergenerational ones."
"Another important aspect was the cooperation with the people from the Active Citizens – Regional Programme. Their substantive approach combined with their knowledge of the specifics of working in NGOs and project implementation, as well as their cordiality, made me feel that I was on a team with them with a common goal."
Jan Marković, Podkarpackie Stowarzyszenie dla Aktywnych Rodzin (Podkarpackie Association for Active Families), a representative for one of the NGOs:
"Through many years of working with Norwegians, I was able to verbalize something that I had previously felt intuitively - that there is an inextricable link between building culture and building democracy. I understand culture broadly, as shared codes, seeing similarities between people, but also accepting that there are differences. It ceases to be surprising why the different areas of our association's work are so smoothly intertwined and connected. What's more, by getting to know Norwegian society better, I am strengthened in my conviction that our work makes sense."
Find out more about our civil society programme in Poland here: https://aktywniobywatele-regionalny.org.pl/en/home/