The 2009 NGO Sustainability Index
For Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recently released the13th edition of the NGO Sustainability Index, a key analytical tool that measures the progress of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia region.
USAID tracks the progress of the NGO sector in 29 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Contained in the 13-year collection is a historical record that provides a wealth of data on each country. In 2009, NGOs across Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia were at the forefront of the issues facing their societies, from elections to discrimination to environmental degradation. They persevered in their efforts to raise public awareness, advocate for policy change, and deliver needed services, often in the face of formidable obstacles. Differences between the countries surveyed in this report are great, but the challenges facing NGOs are often surprisingly similar. NGOs from Latvia to Tajikistan strove to improve internal governance, to raise their visibility in the media, and to secure stable sources of funding. NGOs experienced government pressure and criticism in countries as diverse as Moldova, Montenegro, Slovakia and Belarus. The NGO Sustainability Index examines these and other key events and developments that affected the region’s NGOs during the year.
Two articles highlight trends that significantly affect NGO sustainability in the region. In “The Quiet Revolution: How technology is changing the civil society landscape in Eastern Europe and Eurasia,” Ari Katz explores how NGOs are using different types of technology to advance their mission while Joerg Forbrig delves into the effects – both negative and positive – of the economic crisis in “Never waste a good crisis: The 2008 economic downturn and post-communist civil society.”
The NGO Sustainability Index examines the overall enabling environment for civil society, focusing on seven dimensions: legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, infrastructure, and public image. Each country report provides an in-depth analysis of the NGO sector along with comparative information regarding prior years' dimension scores, which are encapsulated in easy-to-read charts. Dimension scores for 1997-2009 are summarized in Annex A.
The full report can be found on USAID's Europe and Eurasia Website:
http://www.usaid.gov/locations/europe_eurasia/dem_gov/ngoindex (pdf, 3.09mb).
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