v4 - georgia cooperation: lessons learnt and future steps, engagement and collaboration with non-state actors

February 3, 2012 -  The Pontis Foundation organized a roundtable to bring together representatives of the V4 embassies and Georgian-based donors, NGOs and local government officials in order to discuss the lessons learnt from the current V4 funded projects in Georgia on 24th January.

Those in attendance included Georgian Government bodies, a number Georgian NGOs and several NGOs from Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. There were also a variety of Government delegates from the Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak Embassies present throughout the proceedings. The general objective for this roundtable was to bring together representatives of the V4 embassies and donors based in Georgia, NGOs and local government officials, in order to discuss the lessons learnt from the current V4 funded projects in Georgia. These lessons included the potential necessary requirements for future activities of development cooperation and, to a greater extent, the ways in which the transition process, to a democracy, could be made more effective.

Throughout the discussion various points were raised, including those that may affect future development, and should subsequently be addressed. This includes the high level of dependence the non-governmental organisations place on foreign funding. Subsequently, inadequate capacities regarding civil society organisation members and deep social and economic problems result in citizen disillusionment and disengagement in community issues.

Andrea Cox, public policy officer of the Pontis Foundation underlines: “In order for Georgia to hit targets and for civil society to become a bigger player in societal development, the following targets must be achieved: develop and pass a realistic strategy on civil sector development, NGOs react to real needs and increase their overall social impact and focus greater attention on public awareness of CSOs."

This roundtable visit was organized within V4 project: Sharing V4 Experience of the EU Integration: Technical Assistance in the Areas of Legislation Reform and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations, whose aim is empowerment of Georgian civil society through organizational capacity building. Pontis Foundation cooperates in this project with Hungarian organization DemNet, Polish organization Education of Democracy Foundation and Czech platform of non- governmental organization focused on human rights and democracy DEMAS. The Georgian partner is a renowned organization Civitas Georgica. The project is funded by International Visegrad Fund and finished in January 2012.