What is a civil organization?

Literally - these are people united around common goals or causes. The goal is to achieve something important to them - to protect nature, help someone who is vulnerable or defend an idea. This is what we call these organizations - civil because they are from the people and for the people.

Civil organizations are diverse and work in every public sphere:

• from healthcare – for example, associations that protect patients' rights, raise money for treatment, new methods of supporting sick people, etc.
• through ecology – for example, animal welfare organizations, natural resources, biodiversity, etc. 
• democracy, civil and human rights – for example, organizations that require a real fight against corruption, more accountability of institutions, easy access to public information, the possibility of civil participation, etc. 

 

What is civil participation?

Civil participation is like a TV remote – we use the same button to turn on the TV, but we have dozens of others through which we control what, when and how we watch. It’s the same way when it comes to participating as citizens in government - we use the moment of elections to vote for someone, but then there are many ways to give opinions and suggestions about the decisions that the government makes between elections. Such ways of participating are, for example, sending opinions, petitions, public discussions on a topic or various forms of advice that advise on specific decisions.

One of the most important tasks of civil society organizations is precisely participation. NGOs invent and use different ways for people to participate and achieve the change they are fighting for – in legislation, in practices or even across the system (for example, in the education system – where civil education is already an independent subject in the curriculum, thanks to the efforts of civil society organizations).   

 

What is the point of civil engagement?

The point is not to lose control of the decisions taken by the government - civic engagement recognizes our right to an opinion on societal issues, which must be respected by those in power.

The point is also to be active participants in public life - to make proposals for change and to participate directly in initiatives that help public development. 

 

Why is a structured way of civil participation necessary? 

It's like, "Does it make sense to build houses?" - we can also live in tents, but a house gives us certainty and peace of mind that we have a space that won't disappear after the first storm.

Civil participation is directly related to people influencing policies in the state, endorsing them or not. Therefore, it is mandatory to have established and secure, the so-called " structured ways of participating that do not depend on the will of the government – whether to have them or not. Therefore, there are several laws governing civil participation in various forms – for example, the law states that sending an opinion on a draft law proposed by the Council of Ministers is done through the www.strategy.bg platform, for which citizens have a 30-day period. However, it is also important that ways of civil participation are modern, accessible, and easy for every person to use. 

 

What is the Council for Civil Society Development?

In short – CCSD. For many years, the idea of creating such a council has existed and is already a fact. This is a structured way of civil participation.  This council consists of civil organizations that are selected by other civil organizations, precisely with the task of providing more opportunities for dialogue and discussions to support citizens' initiatives in Bulgaria. In other words, this Council will have the function of civil control over the decisions that the government makes on civil society – what ways of participation to be used, for the promotion of civil activity, for solving specific problems that are relevant to the entire civil sector. 

 

Who's a part of CCSD

Every three years, civil society organizations vote and elect 14 organizations that make up the Council. The Council of Ministers shall designate as President of the SGO one of the Deputy Prime Ministers. This ensures that there will be a dialogue between civil society organizations and the government, who will stand at the same table.

 

In the first term of office of the CCSD, the members are:

1.Foundation "Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law"

2.Association Bulgarian Donors' Forum

3.Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation

4.Maria's World Foundation

5.The Bulgarian Fund for Women Foundation

6. Association "Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria“

7. Teach for Bulgaria Foundation

8. Bulgarian Red Cross Association

9. Association "Bulgarian Helsinki Committee"

10. "For Our children" Foundation
11. Association "Association of Parks in Bulgaria"

12. Association "Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism"

13. Karin Dom Foundation

14. Equalibrium Association

The members of the CDCS do not receive funding for their participation in it, which is also a guarantee of their independence and allows them to remain critical towards those in power.    

 

What's the CCSD going to work for?

The main task of the CDCS is to help the state in developing and following a clear policy to promote civil activity and support civil society organizations that contribute to public development. It is also a priority of the CDCS to ensure that the state will allocate funds to support various citizens' initiatives and that this will be done on a competitive basis, in a transparent and accessible manner for all civil society organizations. 

 

What will change now that there is a CCSD?

Democracy is a process of constant dialogue in which decisions are made by the people - through our representatives (the government) but also with our participation.  The establishment of the Council is to establish such a secure space in which dialogue with civil society organizations is permanent and guaranteed. 

We can describe the difference like this - before the organizations were on the first floor and sometimes, they went up to the second, where they met with the government sometimes on different topics; the organizations now have a specific place on the second floor where they will be able to regularly hold meetings with the managing authorities to discuss the current and strategic development of the civil sector. 

 

Why do we need a Strategy for the Development of Civil Society Organizations?

"What's said is going away, what's written remains," one Latin statement read. The strategy is precisely the guarantee that the state will have a clear and consistent policy towards the civil sector. A policy that will be developed with the participation of the civil society organizations themselves – to make their needs and proposals for solving the existing problems clear. And a policy for which the Council will be guarantor – through annual monitoring and drawing up a plan for the implementation of the strategy. 

The strategy is the direction in which we want civil society to develop in our country. And without direction, there is no way. 

 

What will be BCNL’s priority in the CCSD?

Our top priority will be to ensure that the CCSD works transparently and inclusively. The task for us will be to create terms and conditions so that the CCSD can have a constant dialogue with organizations that are not members of the board but are relevant to an issue that the CCSD discusses – using various flexible and easy tools to participate, consult and discuss.

 We will insist that the CCSD has a model of work that we want and that institutions follow in the decision-making process – of openness and dialogue with the civil sector. 

BCNL was elected first in the vote for members of the Council. Of course, this means even more responsibility to us, but even if we were last, our priorities would not be any different. Because it's  part of our mission.