Contents

Foreword

The post-Communist countries of Central Europe have changed dramatically over the past two decades in many areas such as politics, economics, and society. On the one hand, many problems remain that cannot be solved by the government alone. Much room remains for positive contributions by the non-profit sector, such as in policy formulation and service delivery in particular areas. On the other hand, non-profit organizations in these countries are having trouble finding a clear role to play, and are facing many enormous challenges such as the withdrawal of foreign donors and rising demands for professionalism and accountability.

For these reasons, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation along with its Central Europe Fund decided to carry out research in all four countries of the Visegrad Alliance to investigate past, present and possible future contributions by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to the socio-economic development of each country. To map the views of NGO actors, we cooperated with local partners: In the Czech Republic with the NETT think-tank, in Hungary with the Roots and Wings - Workshop for Change and Development, in Poland with the Institute for Public Affairs, and in Slovakia with the Center for Philanthropy.

Although the research was conducted based on a unified methodology and the questionnaires were prepared by the group of researchers who participated in it, the final reports that you will find in this publication show that the topic can be presented and interpreted from different angles. For this reason as well, each report includes an introduction and a slightly different style of writing. We hope that in this way the reader will get a broader picture of this important topic that could prove useful to anyone interested in it.

The country reports are presented in alphabetical order of the countries' names. The report summaries and lists of organizations or leaders interviewed can be found at the end of the publication.

We hope that this material stimulates further debate on this topic within each country, not just within the NGO sector but among the relevant stakeholders as well.

Takahiro Nanri
Director
The Sasakawa Central Europe Fund
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation

Jana Kadlecova
Regional Representative
The Sasakawa Central Europe Fund
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation