The Center for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO) called on the Government to oblige the ministries to publish all decisions on the allocation of funds for the financing of projects and programs of non-governmental organizations as soon as possible, so that the implementation of the projects could begin this year.
Otherwise, if this dynamic continues, it is certain that NGOs will be left without funds for projects this year, said CRNVO executive director Zorana Marković.
CRNVO called on the competent Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media to take a more serious and proactive attitude towards NGOs, and asked why the competent ministry "did not take timely action so that the allocation of funds for NGO projects was in accordance with the law".
Marković expressed "serious concern about the violation of the Law on Non-Governmental Organizations" in the part of financing the projects and programs of those organizations. She said that the current government "continues the practice of the previous ones" in terms of delays and neglect of obligations arising from the Law on NGOs in that area.
"Specifically, in accordance with Article 32v of the Law on Non-Governmental Organizations, public tenders for the distribution of funds for the financing of projects and programs of non-governmental organizations in priority areas of public interest should have been published no later than March 1 of this year. No tender was published in "The competent ministries announced the largest number of competitions in priority areas of public interest in the months of October and November," the announcement reads.
Related Articles
She pointed out that the delay in announcing the competition and neglecting the obligations from the Law on NGOs does not only call into question the realization of the financing of NGO projects and programs, but at the same time calls into question the realization of public policies - laws, strategies, action plans... in priority areas, with which supported projects must be linked.
"Although the new method of financing was supposed to directly connect the Government's priorities with the projects of non-governmental organizations, this practice completely renders the entire concept of financing NGO programs and projects meaningless. Therefore, we call on the ministries that were obliged to announce competitions in priority areas of public interest to make decisions in the shortest possible time so that funds for financing projects and implementing public policies could be allocated this year," the announcement concludes.
Bonus video:
