EKAK Estonian strategy for building effective civil society with cooperation between public authorit

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EKAKEstonian strategy for building effective
civil society with cooperation between public
authorities and nonprofit sector

• Kristina Mänd
• Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations
  (NENO)

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Civil society

• Civil society people and participation
• Self-initiated cooperation of people for
  following their interests, discussing public
  issues and participating in decision-making
  processes, also the associations, networks and
  institutions which enable such co-operation
• Ants Sild, chair of Baltic Computer Service,
  member of BAPP LEC
• - strong private sector
• - active nonprofit sector
• - reasonable public sector
• Key words peoples ability and capacity, tasks
  and roles of the nonprofit sector

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EKAK

• EKAK (Estonian Civil Society Development Concept)
  is a document which describes the different roles
  of the public sector and the nonprofit sector
  which supplement each other, and the co-operation
  principles in developing and implementing public
  policies and building up the civic society.
• It defines
• mutually complementing roles of public
  authorities and civic initiative
• principles of their cooperation
• mechanisms and priorities for cooperation
• in shaping and implementing public policies and
  building up civil society in Estonia.

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Implementation begins

• Estonian NGO Roundtables formed that adopted EKAK
  February 3, 2001
• EKAK submitted to Riigikogu April 2001
• EKAK adopted by Riigikogu December 12, 2002
• Riigikogu sent EKAK to the Government for
  implementation in the spring 2003
• Responsible institution Ministry of the
  Interior
• October 29, 2003 EKAK joint committee of 8
  government representatives and 14 nonprofit
  representatives, chaired by the Minister for
  Regional Affairs (Ministry of the Interior)
  started to work. Divided into three working
  groups.
• Riigikogu EKAK monitoring committee formed
• August 12, 2004 the government approves EKAKs
  implementation plan
• January 2005, EKAK public hearing in Riigikogu

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EKAK content

• Introduction and goals
• Principles of cooperation and values
• Ways of achieving goals
• - acknowledgement and representation
• - partnership
• - development of policies
• - resources
• Implementation of EKAK
• - Long-term priorities (3)
• - Short-term priorities (11)

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EKAK joint committee

• Formed October 23, 2003 22 representatives
• Government also nominated nonprofit
  representatives
• Decision not to leave any priority out
• Work divided between three working groups
• EKAK joint committee
• working group on involvement, consultation,
  policy appraisal, and legislation
• working group on funding and statistics
• working group on awareness, civic education,
  media and infrastructure

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EKAK implementation

• 11 goals
• Legislation and involvement
• 1. Establishing of structures to increase
  cooperation between the government and CSOs
  (civil society organizations) in the development
  of civic initiatives
• 2. Clear mechanisms for the involvement of CSOs
  in the development and implementation of policies
  and legislative acts
• 3. Overview of different forms of civic
  engagement and the appropriate legal environment
  for the support of civic initiatives
• 4. Effective usage of ICT means for the
  involvement of citizens in the decision-making
  processes

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EKAK implementation

• Funding and statistics
• 5. Transparent and clear funding schemes targeted
  to support the development of CS and CSOs from
  the state budget
• 6. Improved and targeted system of tax benefits
  and charitable giving
• 7. Overview of umbrella organizations, their
  current and possible future role in cooperation
  with the public sector
• 8. Adequate and informational register of
  non-profit organizations, and data collection
  methods describing civic engagement

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EKAK implementation

• Civic education and public awareness
• 9. Educational institutions are nurturing the
  development of caring and responsible citizens
  who value participation and volunteering
• 10. Infrastructure and networks supportive of
  civic engagement and civic initiative
• 11. Various opportunities for life-long learning
  accessible for everyone

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EKAK implementation

• Questions to decide
• what to do with service delivery
• will it remain on paper or will it be actually
  implemented
• what happens to the joint committee, its roles
  and tasks
• how are representatives invited and what is
  their contribution
• who is responsible from the nonprofit sector
• how will the work of the nonprofit sector be
  funded
• what should the nonprofit sector do itself
  (example of funding)

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EKAKs strengths

• Indicators of success
• Approval by all political parties
• Nonprofit initiative too late for the government
  to object
• The vision WHY is larger than activities
  WHAT
• Identification and self-determination of
  nonprofits
• Not EU-driven, but local nonprofits and leaders
  driven
• Full commitment by leading organizations,
  prepared by the sector
• Supported by individual and independent donors
• Monitored by the third party Riigikogu
  (Estonian Parliament)
• It is a strategy, not an agreement

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Organization of the sector in 2005

• Total of 21,000 nonprofits
• Of them, 20,500 associations and 500 foundations
• Of the associations, 11,000 apartment and other
  cooperation associations
• Of the 9,000, 1,400 public benefit organizations
• A number of unregistered (non-formal) groups
• Many nonprofits created by the public sector,
  especially foundations (hospitals, government
  funding agencies, Enterprise Estonia, etc)
• Also 139 business organizations (NENOs project)
• More than 125 umbrella organizations (NENOs
  project)
• 2 registered organizations working on general
  issues and 1 unregistered form open for all

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The three

• Work together Kodukant s representative and
  NENOs CEO are in the EKAK joint committee and
  NENOs CEO co-chairs one working group
• NENO and Kodukant are membership organizations
  governed by the Board. Set their own agenda and
  derive their legitimacy from their members and
  history of experience and competence. Provide
  services and advocate for the common interests
  defined by the members. NENO and Kodukant are
  executing organizations.
• Estonian NGO Roundtable is an open forum governed
  by the Council. Agenda is mostly tied to the
  EKAK. Does not provide any services. Also
  delegated tasks to other organizations such as
  NENO, Tartu Volunteer Center, Open Estonia
  Foundation, etc. Roundtable is a discussion
  body.

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Challenges

• NGOs work in unequal partnership, either formally
  or informally, with local business, government,
  and the media to achieve common
  objectives (business NGOs)
• Level of power and level of commitment
• Local EKAKs
• Keeping deadlines and promises
• Constant work to keep both sides accountable
• Unstable government, mostly concerned with power
• Unstable nonprofit sector, mostly concerned with
  survival
• What steps to take, what steps to fund, who funds
• Level and depth of involvement

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