View
220
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Overcoming financial and organisational challenges of Caritas organisations in Europe
Response by Caritas Europa to financial and organisational challenges of its member organisationsPresented by: Marius Wanders, Keti Tskitishvili, Annamaria Vrzackova
Berlin, 12 April 2007, EOSF/DCV Workshop on “Financing Caritas Activities in Europe”
Elements covered by this presentation
General introduction of Caritas Europa
The Caritas Europa “internal network” structures and processes
Presentation of the ESF mechanism Presentation of the SODA program Presentation of the Management
Forum
What is Caritas Europa?
Caritas Europa (CE) is: One of the 7 world regions of Caritas Internationalis
162 members active in over 200 countries and regions Regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America &
Caribbean, MONA, North America, Oceania 48 member organisations (MO’s) active in 44
European countries (= all countries of Europe), including member organisations in each member state of the EU
Covering a large geographical area that includes places like Reykjavik (Iceland), Vladivostok (Siberia), Yerevan (Armenia) and Las Palmas (Canary Islands)
Role of Caritas Europa towards its MOs
Liaising with Caritas Internationalis and its other regional structures
Building effective partnerships and alliances at the European level with other civil society actors
Being the political voice at the European level (EU, Council of Europe, OSCE etc.) on behalf of the MOs and based on their grass roots experiences
Fostering exchange, cooperation and coordination with regard to activities of the MOs
Strengthening the network as a whole and building the capacities of the individual members of the network
Diversity within the CE network
Age and history of the organisations Resources (human, financial, technical) Size of the organisations Focus of the activities (domestic/overseas/both) Nature of the activities (delivery of social services and
welfare/political advocacy/both) Proportion of Catholics in the country Level of direct control and/or management by Church
authorities Language, culture “Old” EU, “New” EU or non-EU
Common challenges within the CE network
Common challenges faced by many of the so-called “weaker” member organisations (MOs) include the following:
Operating within a weak economic context Operating within a weak social context Operating in a challenging religious context (very low
proportion of Catholics in the population) Operating in a poor ‘governance’ context: limited realistic
options for NGOs or charitable foundations As a result of all the above, operating in challenging financial
and organisational contexts, especially with regard to sustainability and autonomy
Many MOs focus on their ‘struggle to survive’ rather than on their mission to respond to the needs of the poor and needy.
The response by Caritas Europa
Priority V of the CE strategic plan 2005-2010 reads is defined as follows:
“Responding to the needs and requests of its member organisations, Caritas Europa develops a coherent approach towards increasing the sense of ownership and the joint commitment within the network.
Included in this approach are development and strengthening of all its organisations
and all its structures, promotion of good governance and quality management
principles, building of capacity within member organisations and
other structures, administering a solidarity funding mechanism and fostering the intra-European coordination of projects
and programmes.”
Historic background of the ESF
ESF was set up in the middle of the ’90s, following the (re-)appearance of many Caritas MOs in former communist-led countries
ESF = Multilateral and solidarity based system of financial support for structural expenses
Meant to supplement bilateral partnerships and bilateral funding arrangements
The system is centrally administered by Caritas Europa, but transfers of support funds take place on direct and bilateral basis between donor and recipient
Objectives of the ESF system
Funding support for the costs of core structures of MOs unable to finance such costs autonomously
To be one of the capacity building tools of CE To facilitate and encourage MOs on their path
towards financial self-sustainability To foster and encourage solidarity between MOs
of the European Caritas network To foster further bilateral partnerships between
MOs To foster closer liaison between national and
diocesan Caritas structures in recipient MOs
Current “map” of the ESF system
CE vision of the ESF – (1)
Mid-term vision and objectives (< 2 years) “Revitalisation” through better awareness of its
objectives and potential benefits for all stakeholders Better and more professional processes
Increased transparency of procedures Better and more professional application
documentation Improvement of the transparency, reliability, quality
and coherence of the applications by recipients Long term vision and objectives (3-6
years) All but a few of the current recipients will be sufficiently
financially autonomous to leave the system; some will become donors
Remaining needs to be covered in long term bilateral funding agreements (not requiring multilateral system)
CE vision of the ESF - 2
ESF could/should evolve to also include a CRM (Crisis Response Mechanism)
Same principles: multilateralism and solidarity Every MO can be a ‘donor’ of money or other resources
(human, technical resources) depending on needs dictated by the crisis
All ‘donors’ make “virtual pledges” of the volume and nature of support that – in case of need – they can supply
The crisis-stricken MO will only need to make one application to trigger the multilateral support system
Evaluation by a special CE Committee, CE to call in some of the “virtual pledges”
Such a system will require careful planning and full ownership
Visions expressed by current ESF donors (Tirana, Oct. 2006)
ESF should only support a minimum structure and only at national level (not the branches, dioceses etc in the country). Caritas-Europe must formulate the criteria for minimum structure.
In the case that ESF has more funds the criteria could be less strict or more Caritas organisations in difficulties could be supported.
ESF should support also Caritas organisations who are in difficulties (e.g. Sweden) for a limited period.
The Caritas organisation must try to introduce capacity building activities as a project and send a request to donors which want to finance such activities.
ESF should only support Caritas organisation if that organisations have a clear plan about the phasing out the ESF support.
External auditing to be supported by the donors
Visions expressed by current ESF recipients (Tirana, Oct. 2006)
ESF Committee members will help recipient MOs to develop a strategy for 3-5 years (individual consulting for countries)
Scaling the application (pledge commitment of the donors for several years) and sign the agreement with CE on pledges
Clear guidelines with regard to eligibility within ESF of CE and CI membership fees
Improved transparency of the allocation criteria
The SODA program since 2001…
Represents Systematic Organisational Development Approach
Aims to promote systematic organisational development and strategic planning within Caritas Europa members
Assists member organisations in terms of public accountability, transparency, governmental and EU requirements, funding requirements, organisation’s internal needs
Includes: Strategic planning Self-assessment inspired by the EFQM Excellence
model
Strategic planning with SODA
A disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and action that shape and guide what an organisation is, what it does and why it does it.
Represents a shared vision of what will be Provides a framework which will be consistent over a
specific period of time Identifies the predetermined direction toward which
short term actions will be pointed Identifies the context within which the organisation
accepts or rejects new opportunities and assigns its resources to current services
Self-Assessment role
Recognises achievements Identifies space for further improvement Clarifies a linkage of achievements with
ways/tools/approaches Provides a “snapshot” Leads to further improvement plans
The Management Forum
Is designed to promote and put into practice good governance, quality management and transparency, both at the level of the Caritas Europa network and at the level of individual Member Organisations.
For: Those Managers of CE Member Organizations who shape the management practices, management instruments, management polices and management culture within our network
The Management Forum
Develops cooperation and exchange on global management issues among MOs: Finance, HR, Administration, IQM, etc.
Prioritises management related issues for further exchange and reflection
Identifies ways for responding to common challenges within the network
Reflects and works on “Recommended Management and Administrative Guidelines” (minimum standards) within the CE network.