Description
In Romania, NGOs face a lot of bureaucratic and administrative barriers and the primary law that regulates NGOs operations is not adapted since 10 years to the current needs and is considered a barrier to the development of the NGO sector in Romania. The project aims to increase the competitiveness of the NGO sector in social and economic development of a favorable environment for the registration and operation of NGOs in Romania. The project integrates activities that contribute to the NGO coalition building, setting-up a group of experts involved in the amend of the relevant legal framework, training sessions and seminars for representatives of NGOs, practitioners and citizens and conducting an advocacy campaign in order to promote amendments to Ordinance 26/2000 . Through this project citizens and NGOs will have access to legal information using an online platform.
Summary of project results
The project contributes to enhancing the competitiveness of the NGO sector in the social and economic field by developing a favourable framework for the registration and functioning of NGOs in Romania. It integrated activities designed to bring NGOs together. In this regard, a consultative group consisting of 20 NGOs and representatives of public authorities was created, as to ensure that several fields of activity are being represented. The group created a set of amendments to Government Ordinance 26/2000 (law regarding association and foundations), which came as a result of the debates and recommendations coming from the members. Following the “Lobby and Advocacy Actions for Influencing Public Policies” workshop, the experts were involved in conducting an advocacy campaign, which represented a practical and applied exercise that allowed organisations to open a dialogue with public institutions (for example the Parliament and the Government), as well as other communication channels to be used in future campaigns. The Public Policy Report on the improvement of the organisation and functioning framework of associations and foundations was presented during the Forum dedicated to the NGO sector. It centralizes the problems caused by the outdated NGO legislation and proposes amendments to Government Ordinance 26/2000, aiming at developing the NGO sector in Romania. Several events were organised. A workshop addressed to legal experts was held, and the discussions continued during the debate “Proposals for Amending GO 26/2000, in the Context of Challenges Faced by the NGO Sector”, which was also attended by several legal experts. The event “Associativity and Fiscal Policies for Local Initiatives – Forum of the Center for Non-Profit Legislation” brought together 17 speakers, around 40 organizations and over 60 guests; tens of further development and partnership ideas for 2016/2017 were discussed. An online platform providing legal information to citizens and NGOs was developed. It contains relevant information regarding the required procedures for the creation, organisation and functioning of non-governmental organisations, videos concerning some of the aforementioned procedures, as well as information regarding events of interest on this topic.
Summary of bilateral results