The public policy instruments that guide the activity of non-governmental organizations in Romania could take a coherent form in a short time.
Liviu Florea , editor-in-chief of AlTreileaSector.ro
The authorities could, in the next 2-3 years, build a unitary public policy, destined for the non-governmental environment. The estimate belongs to Mihai Liseţchi, the executive director of the Agency for Information and Development of Non – Governmental Organizations (IDA – NGO) .
“Currently, there are, independently, several public policy instruments, such as laws on non-governmental organizations or various funding mechanisms. But there is no unitary, coherent public policy. […] I think that, if we wanted, in the next 2-3 years we could have such a policy “, says Mihai Liseţchi. Some of the most important normative acts that regulate the NGO sector are the sponsorship law (no. 32/1994), the ordinance regarding the establishment of associations and foundations (no. 26/2000), the ordinance no. 37 of 2003, which amended and supplemented the one of 2000, the law on the provisions of 2% and 20% (no. 571/2003), as well as the law on volunteering, published in the Official Gazette in 2001, amended and supplemented in 2006.
IDA – NGO and the Assistance Center for Non-Governmental Organizations (CENTRAS) carry out the project “Participatory model for developing the national public policy on NGOs in Romania”, which aims to create a set of tools, methods and an institutional framework at national level for “Defining a coherent public policy in the field”.
The approach of the two organizations will take place throughout 2013 and is co-financed by the European Social Fund, through the Operational Program Administrative Capacity Development 2007 – 2013 (PODCA) .
“Technically, insofar as we will be able to implement everything we want, we could have ready in a few months the first documents that will serve a future public policy”, Liseţchi states.
The project is based on the British model ComPact (community pact), an agreement between the government and the NGO sector that establishes a way of working aimed at improving relations between the two parties, to their mutual benefit. The content of the agreement covers topics such as involvement in the development of public policies, the design and provision of public services, financing or the promotion of equality and the strengthening of independence.
It remains to be seen whether the approach initiated by AID – NGO and Centras will lead, in a few years, to the elaboration of a unitary public policy for non – governmental organizations in Romania.
