STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF SERBIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS (CSOs)

Strengths

• Proposal writing and budgeting;
• Financial management of projects;
• Project cycle management;
• Ability to attract/recruit volunteers;
• Belgrade's CSOs have access to and contacts among decision-makers and experience in lobbying;
• Belgrade CSOs have capacity to manage large projects;
• Local CSOs are flexible and can respond quickly;
• Local CSOs identify and address real issues;
• Experience gained/skills built to date e.g. Advocacy, Media Relations and Public Outreach, Branding and Marketing, Fundraising (CSR and Philanthropy);
• Successes and precedents to build upon;
• Role models within the sector;
• Dedication of activists;
• Commitment to democracy.

Weaknesses

• Limited sustainability
• CSO governance, transparency and accountability
• Organisational management/internal structures and procedures;
• No quality control standards;
• CSOs are closed/isolated from each other, poor networking and communication within the sector
• Divide between Belgrade-based and local CSOs
• Public/Constituency outreach
• Not mission driven (mostly project/donor driven)
• Afraid to criticize government (negative consequences);
• Unwilling to criticize a democratic government;
• No continuous relationship with/presence in media;
• Strategic planning/prioritizing;
• M&E skills;
• Burnout of activists;
• Instability of volunteer labour force;
• Human resources management (including volunteers);
• Fundraising skills;
• No strategic approach to advocacy;
• Capacity limited among medium sized and smaller CSOs;
• Few resource organisations, especially outside Belgrade;
• Financial management (for funding diversification);
• Local CSOs far removed from decision-makers in Belgrade;
• Little transfer of best parctices.

Effective advocacy is based on more than the development of advocacy skills. Other variables correlate to it including an enabling legal framework, CSO governance, organizational capacity, financial sustainability, visibility, and collaboration across sectors and among organizations.

The ability of CSOs to influence government policy and to act as agents of change is contingent on government capacities for planning, management, and coordination, and a readiness to engage seriously with non-governmental actors. This is true both at the republic and municipal levels. Strategies designed to strengthen civil society capabilities for advocacy and policy dialogue must simultaneously build capacity in government.

In order to elevate the visibility and potential impact of advocacy, advocacy initiatives should be based on a manageable and well-defined set of issues, and by emphasizing joint efforts such as issue-based networks.