Civic Initiatives

Vlajkoviceva 17, 11000
Beograd
tel./fax: (381 11) 32 31 525
e-mail: civin@EUnet.yu
dereta@EUnet.yu
Contact: Miljenko Dereta

Non-governmental, nonprofit organization established in 1996 with the mission to assist in the process of democratization of Serbia and promotion of civil society, through education and information dissemination on concepts and principles of civil society (especially concerning young people). Civic Initiatives support local NGOs and independent media through the ''Breaking barriers, building bridges'' project. The Team Three (TIM TRI), the first generation of trainers for NGO management, trained by British organizations, is active within the Civic Initiatives.

Civic Initiatives is an independent non-profit association established in Belgrade in 1996. Its founders and the members of the board are respected individuals who have been involved in antiwar activities, the protection of human rights, or humanitarian assistance since 1991. Its mission is to promote democracy and strengthen civil society through education and support of active citizenship.

In cooperation with the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe in Washington, D.C., Civic Initiatives (CI) launched a program called Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges (BBBB) in the fall of 1997 aimed at fostering YugoslaviaĆs civil and democratic development. Funded through a grant of the U.S. Agency for International Development, BBBB has organized a broad range of activities, including Town Hall meetings, Democracy Seminars, NGO Development training workshops, infrastructure assistance, and internships. Those activities, carried out mostly outside of Belgrade, put CI in direct contact with more than 150 NGOs from central Serbia, Sandzak, Kosovo, Vojvodina, and Montenegro. Also, CI is working with representatives of political parties, trade-unions, local authorities, media, and other civic groups and citizens.

In June 1998, a team of trainers completed a separately funded 18-month program for NGO management carried out by Charities Evaluation Services, based in the UK, Oxfam Belgrade, and Civic Initiatives. These trainers have formed an independent group called TIM TRI (Development, Education, and Training Team) but as part of Civic Initiatives. Through the BBBB program, the TIM TRI group has trained over 200 NGO representatives and provided training to the independent trade union Nezavisnost, the Association of Businesswomen, and the Scouting Organization.

CI offers assistance to local NGOs in the form of counseling, technical assistance, information exchange, advising, contacts with other NGOs, and networking (a detailed report on CI=s activities is available upon request). CI published five booklets on the topics related to the democracy seminars, which are distribute free of charge to the participants of CI events. CI also publishes a quarterly newsletter.

CI is a member of the Centers for Pluralism Network, which gathers NGOs from 16 countries of Central and Eastern Europe.