On 27 August 2018, the 5-day training entitled “Cooperation of non-profit non-governmental organisations and government in the Czech Republic. Development of public policies and dialogue. Lessons learned from the operation of the incubators facility” started in Aghveran. The training is held in the in the scope of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project funded by the European Union. The training is meant for the project team of CSO incubators and the CSO coalitions, the beneficiaries of the project.
Karen Zadoyan, the CCD Project Manager and the President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, greeted the training participants, saying that due to the work carried out in the scope of the project, the activities of the CSO incubators are in-demand and efficient, in spite of the difficulties and the skepticism.
“During this training, we will also discuss and summarise the work carried out and will identify the flaws in order to eliminate them and continue our work with greater efficiency,” he said.
Ivana Bursikova, the President of the Czech project partner “Agora Central Europe” NGO, presented the framework of the communication between coalitions and NGOs in the context of public reforms.
Bursikova presented the Czech experience where people had hopes in the politicians but were left disappointed and then started their own civic struggle. Afterwards, they achieved success due to communication with public figures and politicians, as well as presenting their demands in a clear manner.
The training consists of not only theoretical, but also practical parts. The participants work in groups, trying to apply the theoretical knowledge gained in practice.
The training will last 5 days. It will be conducted by Ivana Bursikova and Vojtěch Černý, experts from the Czech “Agora Central Europe” NGO.
The “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union by a Consortium of civil society organisations, which are the Armenian Lawyers’ Association (lead organisation), Agora Central Europe (NGO based in the Czech Republic), the Armenian Centre for Democratic Education-CIVITAS, the International Centre for Human Development, the SME Cooperation Association and the Union of Communities of Armenia.
The project aims to enhance the influence of civil society organisations (CSOs) and CSO coalitions/networks on public policies in Armenia. This will allow organisations that are already working in sectoral coalitions to access additional resources, new groups of civil society experts to come together and encourage place their causes on the local and national policy agenda, to identify common concerns and priorities and approach government bodies with constructive and strategic policy engagement initiatives.
The project will provide sub-grants to CSOs and CSO coalitions for developing public policies and bringing significant changes in the 9 target sectors selected within the project, including those of justice, human rights, public finance management, business, education, and the social sphere: social inclusion of children with disabilities, agriculture, economy, and energy.
