Public Chamber wants NGOs to use e-communication
Moscow, 22.12.2015
The Secretary of the Public Chamber, Aleksander Brechalov, proposed setting up special courses for NGO activists. According to him, the non-governmental sector does not use internet communication sufficiently, as he said on 21 December at a forum called “Internet Economy 2015”. He said that out of 227,000 NGOs registered with the Ministry of Justice, less than 30% have an internet presence and even fewer effectively present their projects on the internet. He thought this was due to lack of skills among civic activists as well as a lack of funds in NGOs.
He proposed that the Institute for Development of the Internet might, jointly with the Public Chamber, develop a course for activists and NGOs on internet communications, based at the corporate university of the Public Chamber in 2016. Secondly, large internet service providers and website developers could be asked to offer special rates for NGOs. Thirdly, he suggested using the fund for development of internet initiatives to offer internet start-ups for NGOs and civic activists.
The Public Chamber had previously said it wanted to provide training for the third sector, so that four times a year their activists could attend courses at a specialised corporate university. The first such course was held in October 2015, with support from the Presidential Administration. More than 300 activists from 70 regions took part, and they helped to develop a training programme for 2016.
By Georgi Ivanushkin
