Contribution of NGOs to employment and social inclusion in the Czech Republic

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Contribution of NGOs to employment and social
inclusionin the Czech Republic

• Pavel Novák
• SKOK
• The Association of NGOs Active in the Areas of
  Social Assistance and Social Health Care
• Czech Republic

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SKOK - The Association of NGOs Active in the
Areas of Social Assistance and Social Health Care

• Association of membership organizations,
  originally a free platform
• Networking between members and other
  organizations in social area
• Advocacy of interests and rights of both
  providers and users of social and health social
  services public interest influencing social
  policy
• Developing new forms of humanitarian assistance
  and social and health social services

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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Historical background of NGOs in the Czech
Republic

• Civil society has a long tradition - since the
  19th century
• This tradition was interrupted by the Nazi
  occupation (1938 1945) and the communist regime
  (1948 1989)
• After the Velvet Revolution (1989), thousands of
  new NGOs came into existence in reaction to
  newly-experienced needs
• In 2008 - cca 3 000 social NGOs
• Services for 1/3 of all users (675 000)
• 14 000 workers, out of which 10 400 work in
  direct care

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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NGO values

• Democracy in decision making
• Respect for human rights, individuality
• Independence
• Flexibility and creativity
• Emphasize on public interest
• Transparency and openness

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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European social model

• Subsidiarity
• Holistic approach
• Transparency and openness
• User friendly services
• Efficiency
• Solidarity and partnership
• Dignity and human rights
• Participation
• Empowering and personal growth
• Continuing improvement and sustainability

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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NGO added value

• Individual support stemming from the principal of
  respect
• Creation of networks plurality, inspiration,
  energy
• Ability to improvise born of uncertainty and
  instability
• Skill to search for or create economic sources
• Connecting theory with practice
• Emphasis on achieving goals and focusing on
  meaning
• Approaching the public with important topics of
  social policy

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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Example of NGO added value

• Working with marginalized groups
• People without shelter, Roma or other ethnic
  groups, refugees and migrants, people living in
  poverty, people with serious stigma (HIV
  positive, drug addicts, mentally ill, )
• Field programs
• Cross-sector and cross-field cooperation
• Public policy
• Publicity

Photo source http//www.clovekvtisni.cz/index2.ph
p?id254id_gallery30 http//www.khamoro.cz/index
.php?idfotodetail39
Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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Example of NGO added value

• Human rights advocacy
• Reducing of the restrictions in the social
  services by Social Service Act
• Individual approach based services
• Training and education for workers
• Publicity

Foto zdroj http//aktualne.centrum.cz/zahranici/e
vropa/clanek.phtml?id518667
Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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Example of NGO added value

• Employment social economy
• NGO changes the paradigm for the barely
  employable persons
• New models of employing people
  disadvantaged in the labor market social
  enetprises
• Supported employment

Photo source http//www.socialnifirmy.cz/getdoc.p
hp?id500sessid1efa1a6008fbbc5f8590d1f349fd4d89
http//www.cafe-therapy.cz/galerie/center1.jpg
Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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Example of NGO added value

• Quality of social services
• Initiation of creation of social services quality
  standards, their implementation
• Educational programs
• Delivery of tools for improving quality
• Threat
• Inspections evaluating adherence to quality
  standards are focusing on formal criteria
  fulfillment
• The tool is becoming a goal!

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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Example of NGO added value

• Community planning
• NGOs as conveyors of the idea of community
  planning
• NGOs actively involve users, providers and the
  public in social services planning
• Threat
• By putting the emphasis on the process of
  administration, the main principal the
  principal of participation - is disappearing.
• The tool is becoming a goal!

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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Example of NGO added value

• Transformation of social services
  de-institutionalization as a necessity
• NGOs create variable community based services
• NGOs bring experience from abroad - education
• Cooperation on projects of change underway
• Threat
• Transformation understood only as humanization of
  current institutions, not as integration of users
  into a normal life in the community
• The main principal of social inclusion is
  disappearing

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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• NGOs create a civil society and strengthen social
  coherence, create a pathway to democracy
• even though it often appears like walking a
  tightrope
• Let us not allow NGOs to become a
  threatened species
• the important added value
• they bring to society would be
• lost.

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence
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Thank you for your attention

• SKOK
• Senováné námestí 2/994
• 110 00 Praha 1
• www.skok.biz
• skok_at_skok.biz

Social services a tool for mobilizing the work
force and strengthening social coherence