Goverment Approves Civil Society Development Plan

For almost a year now, experts, NGOs and active citizens have debated the direction the new Civil Society Development Plan should give to Estonian civil society. This work has finally borne fruit: The cabinet approved the plan on February 10th, setting a number of goals for the development of Estonian civil society 2011-2014.

For almost a year now, experts, NGOs and active citizens have debated the direction the new Civil Society Development Plan should give to Estonian civil society. This work has finally borne fruit: The cabinet approved the plan on February 10th, setting a number of goals for the development of Estonian civil society 2011-2014.

The Development Plan is divided into five chapters: Civic Education, Organizational Capacity and Sustainability, Public Services, Inclusion and Participation, and Charitable Giving and Philanthropy.

The Development Plan recommends three measures for improving civic education: The creation of a civic education agency to improve communication between different partners; increasing awareness of democratic participation by improving civic education in both formal and continued education; and consciously increasing the participation of underrepresented social groups, such as disadvantaged communities and ethnic minorities.

To improve the organizational capacity and sustainability of NGOs, the Development Plan recommends analyzing the legal system and improving legislation to promote the growth of civil society. For instance, Estonia still lacks a legal definition of volunteer service, which would help to reimburse expenses for volunteers without tax penalties. In addition, the state should improve the quality, efficiency and availability of civil society related support services – training days, mentorship programs and so on, which today tend to be rather chaotic and disorganized. Finally (this may be a naive hope) funding for NGOs on both state and local level should be made more transparent, more accessible and more effective.

The cooperation between local governments and civil organizations should be improved, the provision of certain public services should be delegated to NGOs, minimal standards and basic instructions should be developed and, of course, efficiency and accessibility should be improved.

By Inclusion and Participation, the Development Plan means greater participation and inclusion of citizens and interest groups in public sector decisionmaking. This means developing an understanding of best practices and instituting them in various public institutions, as well as monitoring current practices.

Though there is a substantial amount of charitable giving in Estonia, much of it is disorganized and often ineffective. The public sector should educate and promote charitable giving by, for instance, recognizing prominent philanthropists.

In line with the spirit of civil society, the Development Plan was assembled in a truly inclusive manner. Far from being a bureaucratic document that never left the walls of the Ministry of the Interior, the Development Plan was assembled by experts and interest groups (such as NENO), with suggestions solicited from NGOs and interested citizens across the country by way of seminars and online discussion forums. The whole process was coordinated and finalized by NENO, the European College at the University of Tartu and the Ministry of the Interior. 

• News