Riga’s NGO Center Connects Latvian Third Sector

The NGO Center in Riga is highly interested in establishing contacts with similar agencies abroad and has sent CCSI the following information about themselves.

Voluntary nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are an important part of a democratic society. NGOs help to direct attention towards problems which are not being solved by society and help defend the interests of weak groups.

In spite of a rapid development in the number of NGOs since independence, the NGO network in Latvia is still very weak. At the same time there is a rising demand for new skills that NGOs require: knowledge of organisational matters, management of NGOs, training of volunteers, accounting, project planning, fund- raising. These skills are necessary to make it possible for the Latvian NGOs to play an important role in the social development in Latvia.

NGO Centers Riga was established to promote and support voluntary work in Latvia. The center does not give direct financial support to individual NGOs. It is an information and counseling center and a facility where NGOs can get assistance and support for self-development and collective actions. Furthermore the center creates a forum, where individual NGOs can discuss common problems, where local NGOs can find partners in other countries and where NGOs and their relevant social partners can meet and discuss problems relevant to this sector in Latvia. In this way the center hopes to meet the needs of individual NGOs as well as the sector as a whole.

NGO Center Riga is a Danish aid project, started in September 1995. The center premises are situated in the center of Riga. The center has 5 Latvian and Danish employees and is governed by a board of directors also consisting of both Latvian and Danish members.

NGOs and individuals are encouraged to contact the Riga Center...

• if they wish to be registered as members of the center. Becoming a registered member of NGO Centers Riga give access to computers, copying machines, telephone, fax machine, a conference room and a library--all for a small fee;
• if they would like to provide information about themselves to be included in the database of the center;
• if they would like to cooperate with other NGOs nationally or internationally;
• if they wish to find NGOs which are working in the same area or with the same issues as their own;
• if they would like to participate in exchange of information and experiences;
• if they need help to develop project proposals or to find sources of funding;
• if they would like to become a volunteer in an NGO;
• if they have suggestions concerning which activities should be undertaken by this center (i.e. specific seminars, workshops, conferences, projects or courses) or issues to be discussed in the NGO forum;
• if they want to participate in the development of the NGO sector in Latvia. Plans for 1996/97 include:
• holding a conference on the NGO sector in Latvia and the problems it is facing;
• arranging training sessions for NGOs on organisational matters and fundraising;
• establishing an NGO forum where topics relevant for the third sector can be discussed in an informal way;
• publishing a quarterly newsletter;
• connecting people who are interested in doing volunteer work with organisations and/or individuals in need of volunteers;
• developing a database on funding possibilities for NGOs;
• publishing leaflets in Latvian and Russian about organisational matters and voluntary work; and
• establishing an exchange program for employees and volunteers in Latvian NGOs.

NGO Center
Akas iela 5/7-11
LV1050 Riga, Latvia
Tel: (371) 731-2606
Fax: (371) 731-2550
E-mail: [email protected]
Contact: Dimitri Alehin,
NGO Center consultant
Mobile phone: + 45 40 42 90 73

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