What is the link between professional social services and civil society?

September 22, 2005.

    The EC Project “Strengthening Civil Society”, the successor of the European Union “NGO Development Kyiv and selected regions” project, started its work on 13.06.2005 in Kyiv. The project partner is the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport.
    The project is implemented by an international Consortium consisting of 4 organisations: Transtec, ISAR Ednannia, ACE EUROPE and Deutsch- Russischer Austausch e.V.
    The project’s headquarters are located in Kyiv, in addition to 5 regional social partnership centres in Kherson, Sumy and Rivne, Donetsk and Chernivtsi.
    The project is aimed at improving the capacities of NGOs providing social services in selected regions to act as agents of social change in their communities. The project also fosters the collaboration! of thes e NGOs, other Civil Society institutions, with local government at the grass-root level. The project will work until June 2007.
    Why is the project called ‘Strengthening Civil Society” if its focus is on social service provision, and what is the link between professional social services and civil society?
    We consider NGOs to be a crucial factor in participatory democracy in the social sector in their role as professional providers of social services. From our point of view, NGOs are suitable instruments to define social needs on the one hand and to represent these needs to local and state government, and, on the other hand, to react to these needs by offering social services to all kind of people in crisis or trying situations.
    The project team consists of 38 part time and full time staff members and will attract Ukrainian and EC experts to an intensive educational programme for selected clients in the target regions.
    At the moment, “organizational checks with NGOs” are being carried out, focusing on NGOs working in the social sector and whose profiles suit the definition of social services contained in the Law on Social Services, namely: Professional rehabilitation services; social-medical services; social psychological services; social pedagogical services.
    These checks are conducted through in-depth interviews with the organisations. The aim of these checks is to evaluate the needs and capacities of the potential clients of our project. Based on the results of these organizational checks, the project’s educational programme will be drafted.
    The start of the operative period is October 2005. All interested persons are welcome to visit the project website www.ngodevelopment.org.ua or to contact directly one of the project’s offices (addresses can be found on the web site)
    Christine Leiser , Team Leade! r of the EC Project
    "Strengthening Civil Society"
    Tel./ Fax +38044 246 76 82
    Mobile +38050386 69 54
    Baseina St. 3 office 36, code #2003, 01004 Kyiv, Ukraine