GERMANY HELPS EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES TO STRENGTHEN CIVIL SOCIETY

GiZ

International Conference in Berlin

During the 29.11-01.12.2022 period, the Dedoplistskaro Tourism Development Association (chairman Manana Katashvili) participated as part of the Georgian delegation in the regional kick-off conference “Strengthening Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Countries” organized by the German International Development Program – GIZ. Civil society organizations from Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, and Germany have also participated in the conference.

Mr. Thomas Meyer, director of the German International Development Program GIZ, addressed the participants of the regional conference with a welcome speech on onboarding and the introduction of the EaP Program.

Along with other Eastern Partnership countries, Georgia introduced the landscape for civil society organizations to the participants. It was noted that there are some challenges in the work process of civil organizations. They are the high migration of the population (especially young people and women), low degree of citizen involvement in the decision-making process, nihilism and passivity of citizens, political polarization, low level of decentralization, and others.

The information about the working landscape of German civil organizations, which was discussed by Dr. Holger Kremer, was very interesting for the delegations from the Eastern Partnership countries. It was noted that today in Germany there are more than 560,000 civil organizations; 28.8 million volunteers over the age of 14 work without pay work in the civil sector; 3.7 million people are employed in the non-governmental sector; The annual turnover of the non-governmental sector is on average 150 billion euros. Volunteering in organizations is also increasing every year, from 1999 to 2019, their number increased from 24.7% to 37%. The level of education among volunteers is also growing, the number of volunteers with higher education made up 25% of the total number in 2019.

From 1995-2021, the civil sector grew and developed every year. A large number of civil organizations own social enterprises: cafes, sports clubs, kindergartens, and others. German organizations can participate in state, federal and regional grant funding programs and implement the relevant project.

A challenge is the small number of civil organizations in rural areas, which the state is trying to overcome. In 2008-2022, several state strategies have been created to support the development of the civil sector. In 2020, the federal government established a fund to support the digitization and social innovation of organizations in rural areas.

On the second day, collective and group discussions were held on the following topics: citizen engagement, women and youth empowerment, and support for vulnerable groups. Here, organizations from different countries worked together in thematic groups, using prepared forms, organizations presented their directions of activity and interesting contacts were established. Dedoplistskaro Tourism Development Association worked together with Ukrainian, Armenian and Moldovan organizations in the direction of involvement and empowerment of women and youth. Points of intersection were found, and possibilities, ways, and areas of future cooperation were discussed.

During the visit to the German CS organizations, the participants of the conference got acquainted with the specifics and directions of their work. The meeting was held in question-answer mode.

Great opportunities for future cooperation of organizations were revealed at the conference.