"Social Partnership in the Urals"
Conference in Ekaterinburg, Russia



For more information, contact:
Nikolai Geller, coordinator "Good Will"
E-mail: [email protected]
Fax: (3432) 600-207

See Schedule (In Russian KOI-8 Fonts / In Russian Windows Fonts)

Dates: 27-28 of May 1997

Introduction.

The project will be carried out by the "Good will" Charitable Foundation. "Good will" is a non-governmental, non-profit organization, registered in 1994.

Establishment of a sustainable and influential non-governmental, non-profit sector in the Urals and its development into an authoritative and rightful democratic social institution.

Our organization has conducted the following projects:

  1. Regional conference "Social partnership and the "III sector" development" (130 russian and foreign NGO leaders, representatives of executive / legislative authorities, of mass media and of business sector were brought together to find the ways of cooperation for the benefit of the region).
  2. Meetings of the deputies of the city/oblast Duma and local NGO leaders at the "round tables" in order to establish procedures of their fruitful cooperation for the welfare of our society.
  3. Sociological research of Urals NGOs. A special bulletin, containing the data of the research and articles devoted to the nongovernment sector, was issued.
  4. "Shelter" (material aid and organization of a New year party for children from the shelter of Leninsky district of Ekaterinburg).
  5. "ERA" (Ecological RAdio) - a series of radio programmes for youth were produced with the intention to involve young people in preserving environment.
  6. An educational/training programmes for NGO leaders and representatives of executive / legislative authorities from Samarskaya, Permskaya, Novgorodskaya, Tyumenskaya, Kurganskaya and Sverdlovskaya oblasts.
  7. "An Exhibition of the III sector achievements" (information, different materials about achievements of local NGOs were displayed publicly on purpose to raise people awareness about voluntary organizations).

Our organization is now conducting the following projects:

  1. "Agency for Social Information - Urals" - in a framework of this project our organization make and spread out news about NGOs and NGO related issues. ASI headquarters are situated in Moscow.
  2. Our organization is involved in collective discussions of federal and local legislation on social order/contract and charity.

Needs assessment.

In 1995-1996 we investigated the current status of NGOs in Sverdlovskaya oblast, Permskaya oblast, Tyumen and Kurgan. Our research into the causes of their comparatively low effectivness and sustainability revealed several factors. For practical reasons we divided them into two major groups: "external" (belonging to the modern social, economic, political, legal, cultural, etc. installations of our country) and "internal" (belonging to the III sector itself). According to the evaluation of NGO leaders, opinion of experts and our own experience of work in different parts of Russia the insufficient development of infrastructure of the III sector, which have to provide different services for NGOs and to facilitate their rightful integration with the existent social/economic environment is one of the most significant and actual obstacle for progressive development of non-profit, non-government organizations among the "internal" factors.

Goal and objectives.

GOAL :
Strengthening the civil society institutions in Russia through the development of the infrastructure of the non-profit, non-governmental sector.

OBJECTIVES:
  1. To organize creative exchange of experience between organizations, which support independent civil initiatives in different regions of Russia;
  2. To evaluate the factors of their effectiveness and ineffectiveness;
  3. To promote long-term collaboration (net-working) between them;
  4. To work out the priorities/strategy of their joint activities;
  5. To raise the professionalism of the III sector trainers, consultants and other experts;
  6. To find out the ways of making support for NGOs more adequate and effective;
  7. To elaborate recommendations on building pluralist democratic society in Russia.

Methods.

All - Russia Conference of NGOs promoting Civil Society, Pluralist Democracy and Social Partnership.

Approximately 30 representatives of the NGOs which support independent civil initiatives and local civil self-government (non-governmental sector) in more then 15 regions of Russia will be brought together to share their practical experience, to learn from each other, to establish lasting cooperation, to elaborate the strategy of joint activities, to evaluate results of their work, to create innovative methods of developing non-governmental sector.

Geography.

Krasnoyarsk, Nijni Novgorod, Perm, Samara, Chelyabinsk, Moscow, Vladivostok, Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Ulan-Ude, Tomsk, Snt.Peterburg, Krasnodar, Ufa, Urai, Ekaterinburg, Siktivkar (NB! This is not a final list).


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For more information on the conference, contact Nikolai Geller

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