- Q1: Based on your experience working with civil society and non-governmental organisations, what are the main success stories/brightest examples for other NGOs to benefit from based on your experience with civil society?
A1: In many ways, we have been lucky in 2020 and 2021 to implement a study related to civil society organisations (CSOs) and their role in lifelong learning and human capital development (HCD), particularly in times of crisis. The ETF study involved a sample of about 300 CSOs, and the response rate was about 30%. We got substantial feedback. CSOs from 6 ETF partner countries from Western Balkans, Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia participated. There is one overall conclusion which I would like to share here. It is a fact that civil society organisations have played a vital role in mitigating the crises in education and training due to the COVID lockdowns. They quickly adapted to the new circumstance and followed the line to support the lifelong learning and HCD policies. When we talk about examples, this is an exciting question, but it's challenging to respond in a very straightforward manner. Looking at the role of human capital development in the partner countries, we see many challenges. There is sometimes a lack of a qualified workforce, and in that context, the availability of high-quality VET provision is of significant importance. Undoubtedly, civil society organisations play an essential role in this context, either as training providers or advocates for changes and actions in lifelong learning and HCD.
Q2: Regarding the other partner countries that ETF works with, do you have specific remarks about how civil society organisations tackled the COVID crisis when it first started in 2020?
A2: Yes, we can talk about how CSOs addressed their beneficiaries. What we found out is remarkably interesting. ETF CSOs study implemented in Albania, Jordan, Serbia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan confirmed great flexibility and responsiveness. Usually, CSOs are careful about designing their activities in "normal" time. They approach their beneficiaries using targeted assessment of the needs of their beneficiaries, implementing surveys, and then making conclusions about what is next. That was not straightforward because of the COVID 19 emergency. What has happened is that very swiftly, CSOs managed to adapt their programmes to support their beneficiaries, certainly with newly tailored programmes. And not only that but CSOs, in a particularly challenging COVID time, have learned many important lessons to improve their services. An example, in Jordan, the 85 % of CSOs that we surveyed confirmed that offering new services to citizens was one of the critical lessons they learned. Human capital development plays a role in a crisis context, and for the CSOs being capable of delivering faster is crucial. This is also confirmed in the case of Albania, Serbia, Ukraine. This is what I would stress, which comes very clearly from our survey. Again, this is related to providing services in education and training in the lifelong learning context, particularly when we talk about informal and non-formal learning services delivered to specific target groups such as youth, for example, and the adult population in difficulty.
Q3: What kind of support does ETF provide to NGOs in partner countries?
A3: We are an agency of the European Union dealing with human capital development in partner countries. What makes us unique is that we are very much focused on reviewing, creating and bringing forward specific knowledge about HCD policies and governance. Through multi-level, multi-country and multi-actors engagement, we work jointly with our partners to develop knowledge to improve skills and employability and, therefore, citizens' everyday lives. CSOs are critical partners and actors in our ETF networks. We, in ETF, do believe that it is much more with opportunities created through learning to learn together. So again, the message also for the CSOs is in this direction. It is not only about improving the delivery of projects on the ground and supporting CSOs to deliver the projects they implement. It is also about working jointly to ensure that CSOs are more visible and their role is recognised as they bring added value to HCD policy. Networking with ETF is an excellent opportunity for CSOs that work in HCD. In whatever form, the CSOs' engagement in policy process regarding non-formal learning, informal learning, and employment supports developing a shared vision about HCD, including targeting objectives relevant for CSOs and beneficiary groups in their context. Providing the opportunity to CSOs to learn and network amongst themselves, focusing on HCD and lifelong learning policies, will create new knowledge and a better understanding of the role different actors are playing in the HCD agenda. This is how we are supporting CSOs. ETF engagement with CSOs in 2020 and 2021 created many opportunities for shared ideas and joint projects in 2022 and beyond.
Q4: What were the main challenges you faced in terms of encouraging civil society organisations to learn from one another and follow this peer learning methodology?
A4: It's essential to consider that the environment and context are critical and should be understood profoundly. This is the key challenge for CSOs and all actors involved in HCD policies. Of course, there are specificities in CSOs and their role in the partner countries' education and training and skills agenda. We explored the role of CSOs in policy dialogue in HCD, and we came out with interesting findings, valuable to be shared following ETF peer learning methodology. For example, in some countries, there is an organised approach to the participation of CSOs in policy dialogue in HCD. In other countries, there are no formal platforms for CSOs to participate in policy dialogue regarding HCD. It is essential to underline that CSOs influence policy dialogue through advocacy campaigns, mobilisation of citizens, and discussion with beneficiaries who can influence different policy actions to seek solutions and get challenges on the policy agenda. However, we also found out that there are possibilities for bias in this process. So that's why I refrain from saying "we concluded" because it often depends on the number of parameters we have in the policy dialogue in HCD. Overall, we need to continue to explore jointly with CSOs active in HCD how they can continue to do their excellent work and further strengthen their impact on HCD in the partner countries. There are no doubts about it. They bring diversity and speed in implementing different activities, and the positive impact on human capital development is enormous. Moreover, joint peer learning actions can facilitate further the impact CSOs have in HCD in their environment.
Q5: How would you see the cooperation with the civil society in our partner countries regarding implementing the SDGs and considering the challenge of digital transition after COVID?
A5: I have a very concrete example for your question. We found out through the ETF study that civil society organisations have adapted and responded quickly to provide some of their services online. So, the digital transformation seems to not be a significant problem for them. Most of them declare that they actively use, of course, Facebook, YouTube, Telegram. Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc. For example, 90% use Facebook to reach out to their target groups. The second element you ask was about is the SDGs. And here I need to say that we found out that most of them, about 90%, are active in supporting SDG 4, which is about quality education for all; they also support SDG 8, which is about good jobs and economic growth. This, of course, varies from country to country. For example, in Jordan, about 73 % of surveyed CSOs confirmed their dedication to SDG 8 Good jobs and economic growth and SDG 10 Reduce Inequality goals. However, we see less engagement in terms of, for example, SDG 7 and SDG 13. In Uzbekistan, CSOs also play a crucial role in implementing the SDGs. But again, I need to underline this is related to the profiles of the NGOs, which in our case mainly were those CSOs working in education and training, skills agenda, and all related to human capital development. We present many interesting findings of CSOs' digital transformation in COVID time, and their dedication to SDGs in Civil Society Organizations and Human Capital Development Country reports 2021 – Albania, Jordan, Serbia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
For more information about the ETF methodology and CSOs and HCD country reports, click here: Area 5.1 - Civil society organisations | Open Space (europa.eu)
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