ISC

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Montpelier, Vermont

At the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC),we give passionate, committed people around the world the tools, skills, and resources they need to make their communities better places to live.  Since 1991 ISC has led 73 projects in 21 countries, with support from individuals, private foundations, corporations, and the United States Government. Headquartered in Vermont, USA, ISC has had a long presence in the region with offices in Serbia, Macedonia, and Kosovo.  For additional information on ISC activities worldwide, go to www.iscvt.org.

ISC has been active in Serbia since 2002, when we began helping young people, many of whom were unemployed and discouraged after a decade of wars and sanctions, develop leadership skills and create positive change for themselves and their communities.  In 2006, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded ISC the seven-year Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI) to help civil society organizations (CSOs) better represent the needs of ordinary people, and for civil society to become a more influential and trusted partner of businesses and the government. The overall goal of CSAI is for the citizens of Serbia to take responsibility for defining their future while building a more democratic and prosperous Serbia moving towards European integration.

Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI)

The Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI) project is a seven-year, $27.5 million initiative that supports Serbian civil society in its ability to influence public policy, serve as government watchdogs, and conduct sustained advocacy campaigns on a wide variety of reform issues. CSAI nurtures a healthy and vibrant civil society by focusing on the sector’s capacity to successfully advocate at local and national levels, and to secure a legal and regulatory environment that fosters the long-term financial and operational sustainability of NGOs.

Project components include:

  • Promoting civil society advocacy through grants, training and tailored technical assistance to Serbian NGOs to develop institutional capacity and the ability to promote causes of relevance to Serbian citizens.
  • Strengthening the non-governmental sector by helping NGO coalitions to improve the legal and regulatory framework and operate with maximum leeway in the current environment.

Key results to date:

  • Provision of more than 300 grants worth a total of over $11,2 million to CSOs throughout Serbia;
  • Training over 1155 civic activists and leaders from 200-plus NGOs in principles of advocacy and effective citizen engagement;
  • Provision of legal and policy reforms (national and local) on election legislation, promotion of government transparency and accountability, environment, youth, vulnerable populations and other issues;
  • Launch of the first ever Business Leaders Forum in Serbia with members from 17 leading Serbian and international companies to encourage increased corporate social responsibility (CSR) and philanthropy;
  • Support in the establishment of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and 70+ Youth offices around the country, as well as adoption of a National Youth Strategy;
  • Establishment of the VIRTUS Corporate Philanthropy Excellence Award recognizing outstanding companies in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) while forging sustainable partnerships between NGOs and businesses;
  • Support to legislative and other reform processes at the local and national level important for Serbia’s democratization, including: establishment of the Office for NGO/Government Cooperation, the Law on Social Housing, the Law on Personal Data Protection; the Law on Data Confidentiality, the Law on Unified Voter List and the Law on Associations, as well as establishment of Local Gender, Roma and Environmental Councils in tens of Serbian municipalities and cities;
  • Support to 126 grassroots initiatives that build a culture of democracy by engaging citizens to advocate among other things for revitalization of local school yards and playgrounds, cleaning up of rivers and illegal dumps, employment for people with disabilities, recycling, and greater visibility and human rights for all communities;

The CSAI project is implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Communities: www.iscserbia.org

The project works in cooperation with the following local and international organizations:

Our Partners

CSAI is being implemented with the assistance of four partners who greatly improve the impact and sustainability of the work we do:

  • Balkan Community Initiatives Fund (BCIF) provides assistance through innovative grassroots and advanced community programs throughout Serbia, enabling citizens to make a difference in their communities by addressing issues such as cleaning up rivers and illegal dumps, revitalizing school yards and playgrounds, and promoting human rights for all communities. BCIF is also a pioneer in promoting philanthropy in Serbia through the establishment of the corporate philanthropy Virtus Award and in advocating for the adoption of the Law on Endowments and Foundations.
  • Civic Initiatives promotes sustainable democratic change by educating citizens about their rights, democracy, and civil society. Civic Initiatives advocates for the establishment of an enabling environment for CSOs by encouraging the adoption of the Law on Associations.  They also work intensively on youth-related issues and have played a role in advocating for the establishment of the Ministry for Youth and Sports, the creation of more than 70 youth offices throughout Serbia, and the implementation of the National Youth Strategy.
  • European Center for Not-for-Profit Law provides technical expertise that contributes to the establishment of a supportive environment for civil society by addressing the legal issues affecting CSOs and citizen participation.  ECNL works on the development of the Law on Associations, the Law on Volunteerism, legal issues concerning corporate philanthropy, and, in collaboration with Civic Initiatives, publishes educational materials such as the Manual on Freedom of Association and the Manual on Tax and Accounting issues impacting CSOs.
  • SMart Kolektiv is dedicated to promoting and establishing corporate social responsibility in Serbia as well as finding innovative ways to promote long-term sustainable development of civil society.  Smart Kolektiv launched the Business Leaders Forum, comprising 17 of the leading companies active in Serbia, to encourage corporate social responsibility, and is continuously working on improving cooperation between civil society and the business sector.