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At the gathering held at the National Bank of Serbia, the findings from more than 4,700 annual balance sheets submitted by Serbian NGOs for 2006, 2007 and 2008 were presented, and conclusion was reached that the survey proved the value of the economic dimension of the sector as a vital component of future negotiations and cooperation with the state, but also in terms of civil society's future sustainability.
„When talking to the state and in the public discourse, the civil sector is mentioned usually in terms of our contribution to protection of human rights, democratic development and charitable activities in society. We never talk about the numbers of people the sector employs, how much we bring to the state budget, for example. A part of the misunderstandings surrounding the sector arise from our disregard of our own economic potential and contributions", said Miljenko Dereta, executive director of Civic Initiatives.
Miladin Kovacević said that almost all NGOs, with few exceptions were "micro enterprises", with just 72 out of a total of 4,786 NGOs observed in 2008 employ more than ten people.
„The average net salary, according to the balance sheets, amounted to 25,500 RSD (approx. 250 Euros) which is lower than the national average. Therefore, the common public perception of extremely high salaries paid in the NGO sector, are not based in reality", he said.
The survey presented the structure of income for the sector, with bulk of income coming from sponsor and donor contribution, as well as state funds from budgets of various ministries, provincial and local bodies. Those two sources cover 74% of the total income in the sector.
Representatives of several NGOs suspect that the collected data represented the true situation.
"Such findings could result from incorrect completion of balance sheets, lack of adequate criteria and classification inside a quite heterogeneous civil sector, and we should work to correct and change those. We also need a detailed analysis of contributions and donations for the sector from the Budget, as well as an analysis to which extent NGOs use public funding", Kovačević said.
Jadranka Jelinčić, executive director of the Open Society Fund Serbia noted that some of the findings were quite surprising. She added that there are evident limitations to a survey that covered just one segment and was based on a single source, but that regardless of such limitations, the initiative is important from the point of view of the adoption of a new Law on Associations.
Civic Initiatives consider this survey just a start of a systemic work on this topic which, they say, was obviously recognized as vital matter for the sector, judging from the number of active participants involved in the debate.
The Survey was assisted by the British Embassy in Belgrade, under its project "Creation of Environment Conductive for Development of Civil Society Organizations in Serbia", and the National Bank of Serbia.
Full text of the survey in English language will be available soon.
Translated by: Oneworld - PLATFORM FOR SOUTH EAST EUROPE
