How to cooperate with socially oriented CSOs in Russia and CIS countries

How to cooperate with socially oriented CSOs in Russia and CIS countries

A seminar in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation discussed what kind of knowledge non-profit organisations can exchange and what hinders international cooperation in the CIS region.

16.12.2022

On 14 December 2022, the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Non-profit Sector and Support for Socially-oriented NGOs (SONGOs), together with ASI Consulting, held a seminar for employees of SONGOs in Russia and some CIS countries – Kazakhstan, Armenia, the Kyrgyz Republic.

This is not the first such event.  ASI Consulting, with the support of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Non-profit Sector and Support for SONGOs, the Agency for Social Information, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rossotrudnichestvo, Russian business and other partners, has been developing the skills and competencies of Russian SONGOs in the field of international cooperation, says Elena Topoleva, Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Non-profit Sector and Support for SONGOs and Director of the Agency for Social Information (ASI).

In June 2021, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation hosted a two-day seminar on international humanitarian cooperation and the specifics of the work of NGOs on international platforms. Based on the results of this seminar, ASI Consulting developed a free online course on international cooperation for NGOs. The course was attended by 25 participants, and then they described the projects they had devised.

For this seminar, ASI Consulting conducted a study on the interaction of NGOs in the Russian Federation with NGOs in other CIS countries. Its results were presented by Petr Topolev-Soldunov, head of projects in the field of corporate social responsibility and non-financial reporting.

The authors of the study analysed the potential for interaction between NGOs in the fields of charity, inclusion, ecology and other areas of the Sustainable Development Agenda up to 2030. For this, sixteen experts, 54 NGOs from Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, and 21 Russian NGOs were surveyed, and information from open sources and media publications was analysed.

It turned out that in Russia, out of 23 respondents, only seven NGOs had experience of cooperation with non-profit organisations in other CIS countries and eleven respondents without any such experience said that they were interested in such interaction.

In the other CIS countries, more than half of the NGOs surveyed – 33 out of 54 – said that they had already cooperated with the NGO sector in other countries.

Almost all respondents from Russia said that they could share their expertise in their core topics with colleagues from the CIS, as well as talk about fundraising, organising events, and interacting with government agencies. In turn, Russian non-profit organizations would like to learn from CIS NGOs about fundraising, management and organisational development, and the social impact of NGOs.

According to the results of the study, it would be more convenient for non-profit organisations to interact at online and offline conferences and fora, through internships and webinars. Respondents also liked face-to-face meetings where they could get to know each other in person.

In the study, barriers were identified that prevent NGOs in Russia and the CIS countries from cooperating. Among them are the lack of a unified development strategy within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, the small number of platforms for the exchange of experience, the high cost of face-to-face meetings, the political situation and the lack of a systemic state policy in this area.

According to experts interviewed as part of the study, the legislation on foreign agents is considered a separate obstacle.

To alleviate some of the concerns about the status of foreign agent, Rossotrudnichestvo, together with the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, is developing a “special badge” for use in the register of SONGOs, which would confirm that an organisation engaged in international cooperation is trustworthy, said Dmitry Polikanov, deputy head of the Federal Agency for Affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation.

After the plenary part of the seminar, sessions were held on fundraising and organising social and environmental volunteering. During the seminar SONGOs from Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan were able to share their experience with each other and establish contacts for further cooperation.

https://www.asi.org.ru/news/2022/12/16/zhdu-sogl-kak-sotrudnichat-so-nko-rossii-i-stran-sng/

 

 

 

 

 

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