NGOs shelved

Poland saw positive economic growth during the economic crisis that has devastated the rest of Europe. Unfortunately the benefits of this growth did not trickle down to civil society. In fact, civil society actors say that during the crisis both funds and priorities have shifted away from civil society.

Marcin Wojtalik is a board member and cofounder of the Institute of Global Responsibility in Warsaw, Poland. The institute, founded in 2007, advocates for the work of international aid and development NGOs.

According to Wojtalik, Polish NGOs should be more concerned about a lack of long term support from the government than the economic crisis.

Speaking to Vita Europe Wojtalik urges the government to make civil society a greater priority so to insure that all members of society can enjoy the benefits of Poland’s success. 

What impact has the economic crisis had on Polish civil society?

The available budget for NGOs was cut significantly in 2008 and again in 2009. So yes we can see a decrease in available funds to NGOs. However, in my opinion this is not entirely due to the economic crisis. As you may know Poland was the only European Country to have positive growth last year.

What are some other reasons?

There has been a significant restructuring of how the government manages aid. There has also been a shift in priorities. For example there was a big change in the way the Polish state is financing aid to Afghanistan. We can see a clear shift away from projects implemented by NGOs to aid activities lead by the Polish military. The other change is the halving of aid to NGO projects in Africa.  For us this is a very worrying sign. It shows that there is a lack of commitment on the part of our government to eradicate world poverty.

Are there lots of Polish NGOs working in Africa?

Not as many as from Western Europe but the number is growing. There is not a lot of support for Polish NGOs working abroad and there are few opportunities for NGOs to build capacity.

Could it be that given the crisis the government is prioritising local development projects?

We havn’t seen a shift in government funds from international development to local projects. However, the government had proposed to increase funding to aid to developing countries from 100 million Zolty [approximately €24 million] to 150 million Zolty [approximately €36 million] and this was rejected by parliament. But then the budget to aid wasn’t cut either.

Has the crisis impacted civil society’s access to foreign donations? 

The problem that NGOs have with access to EU money is that we get very little support from the Polish government to secure co-financing. When you submit a financing application you can only count on 75 to 90 per cent of funding from foreign foundations. We still need the support of the government for the last 10 per cent. In many countries arrangements are set up between the government and NGOs. If they secure money from Brussels the government will automatically finance the remaining part. Unfortunately in Poland we don’t have this kind of arrangement set up yet.

Is the government open to discussion with civil society?

Generally yes. We have been critical of their approach to aid but part of our role is not to be satisfied. There is a constant dialogue between us.