How successful are NGOs and their funders in CEE?
A new, comprehensive REC study takes the first look


Contact: Paul Csagoly Communications Officer
Tel: (36-26) 311-199
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.rec.org/REC/PressReleases/NGOneeds.html

Szentendre, Hungary - The Regional Environmental Center (REC) announces the publication of the first ever major evaluation of environmental nongovernmental organizations in the region, entitled Problems, Progress and Possibilities: A Needs Assessment of Environmental NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe.

Having worked with NGOs in the region since 1990, the REC conducted the study to determine the specific needs and problems of NGOs and to gauge the success of donor organizations such as the REC in assisting NGOs throughout the region.

Out of approximately 3,000 environmental NGOs located throughout Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), some 62 percent responded to the REC's call for information, assisted by the REC's network of Local Offices in 15 countries. The high return, coupled with 128 questionnaires sent to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 71 face-to-face interviews conducted with NGO leaders, proves that the data collected in the research study are strongly representative of all environmental NGOs in CEE. "The report is the first systematic, comprehensive and scientific assessment of NGO needs in the CEE," said Alexander Juras, Project Manager for the report. "Reports have been conducted in the past regarding individual countries," added Juras, "but this report deals with 15 countries in the region."

Still a long way to go

The report reveals that NGOs continue to have a number of needs for which assistance is required, including financial support. The vast majority of NGOs (approximately 75 percent) are in an unstable, poor or very poor financial state, while nearly half of individual NGO annual budgets are less than $1,000 per year. And keeping qualified staff on hand becomes a never-ending battle, given that most NGOs have no paid staff.

Co-operation between NGOs and government, conventionally promoted by donor organizations, is also for the most part poor, particularly with national and international authorities. As a result, there is an enormous potential for future co-operation, although the road to partnership creation and the dismantling of distrust between government and NGOs still needs work.

Where are the NGOs and what do they do?

Contrary to popular opinion, the report reveals that more than half of NGOs are located in small towns, while the remainder are equally distributed between capital cities and other large urban centers. Another revelation is that the vast majority of NGOs, approximately 2,000, are located in the Visegrad countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. While the need still exists for donors to provide assistance there, the report shows that it is NGOs in countries outside the Visegrad four which expressed a greater demand for help.

Almost without exception, the report found that the three main goals of CEE NGOs are environmental fieldwork, education and training, and the dissemination of environmental information. Most NGOs were also quite confident that their efforts were leading to positive results, but an overwhelming majority continue to require support from donors such as the REC to continue the job.

Preserving the helping hand

One definite conclusion is that the mission of donor organizations is not yet accomplished. "The report proves that assistance is going in the right direction," said Juras. "But the problems are still not fully solved. We need NGOs to help solve them, and they still need our help."

The effectiveness of donor organizations in providing useful assistance in activities such as providing grants and training was also examined in the study. The result was that many international support organizations were frequently mentioned including the REC, Environmental Partnership for Central Europe, World Wildlife Fund, MilieuKontakt, Oost-Europa, SOROS, Greenpeace, Phare, Friends of the Earth and World Learning.

The report serves as a powerful document for over 100 international funding organizations which provide assistance to NGOs in the CEE, focusing on specific needs and problems of NGOs on a regional level, and on the national level in 15 CEE countries. It is also a valuable tool for national environmental ministries, members of Parliament, business, local government, students and the NGO community.


Problems, Progress and Possibilities: A Needs Assessment of Environmental NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe; 96 pages. Price: USD 20.00 (Special rates for CEE NGOs). To obtain a copy of the report, contact the Regional Environmental Center, Ady Endre ut 9-11, 2000 Szentendre, Hungary. Tel: (36-26) 311-199, Fax: (36-26) 311-294, E-mail: [email protected].

The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), located in Szentendre, Hungary, is an independent, non-partisan, non-advocacy, not-for-profit, regional organization devoted to the improvement of the environment in the region. The REC was established in 1990 by the Governments of the U.S.A. and Hungary and the Commission of the European Communities. Today, 22 countries and the European Commission are signatories of the REC charter. Beneficiary countries include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and FR Yugoslavia. Tel: (36-26) 311-199, Fax: (36-26) 311-294, E-mail: [email protected]

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Last updated: 5/27/97
Center for Civil Society International
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