Prague, Aug 2 (CTK) – The Czech NGO sector achieved the third position among the civil society organisations (CSO) of 29 countries of the former Soviet bloc, according to the latest report of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), AVPO, its Czech branch, told journalists yesterday.
The USAID 2015 CSO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, which assesses the legal environment, organisation capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, infrastructure and public image of the nonprofit nongovernmental sector in the given countries, showed that the best situation is in Estonia, followed by Poland.
In December 2015, 125,478 NGOs were registered in the Czech Republic, including 2023 endowments and 4166 organisations operated by churches.
Hana Fristenska, secretary to the Government Council for NGOs, said the state policy concerning NGOs for 2015-2020 was approved earlier this summer.
“Apart from setting the framework for long-term cooperation between the state and these organisations, this document focuses on the promotion of volunteering and philanthropy in Czech society,” Fristenska said.
In 2014, the Czech government granted subsidies of 13.56 billion crowns to NGOs, she said.
Czech NGOs also can apply for EU subsidies, they can be sponsored by firms and receive money from individual donors.
In 2015, the fee for the registration of NGOs was abolished in the country.
The Czech nonprofit sector took part in the creation of the state policy towards NGOs and it defended its interests more effectively last year, according to AVPO.
($1=24.212 crowns)
kva/dr
