Slovak News Back to the news
NGOs Toothless in Fight Against Poverty Without State Support
Friday 11 December 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 11 (TASR) - Representatives of the state and public sector would like to see non-governmental organisations simply playing the role of providers of social protection, newly-elected chair of the Slovak Anti-Poverty Network Zuzana Kusa told TASR on Friday.
"If rightists are in power, they tend to take the burden from the state and entrust the (third) sector with a large range of practical tasks that doesn't automatically mean that they provide enough resources. If leftists are in power, they prefer to see the role of NGOs in carrying out very specific parts of the system of public services that are too expensive to provide for," said Kusa.
NGOs are interested in playing an important part in the whole process of preparing, carrying out and assessing policies of social inclusion and the fight against poverty, said Kusa, adding that this also includes the possibility of influencing the wording of crucial legislation and providing the necessary feedback.
According to Kusa, the current position of NGOs, especially when it comes to ways of financing and its scope, doesn't allow them to carry out any of the aforementioned roles.
"There is still a very poor culture vis-a-vis the public consulting of prepared policies and assessing the effects of introduced measures," said Kusa.
Kusa on the other hand praised NGOs' efforts to help homeless people. According to her, non-governmental organisations also have to try to "cultivate public opinion on issues concerning poverty, especially when it comes to viewing this as a violation of human rights."
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
