Albanian non-profit sector continues to depend on funding from foreign donations and diversification of financial sources is rare among CSOs because of variety of reasons: history and practice of philanthropy are weak, local fundraising is not easy due to lack of tradition and lack of incentives for the private sector, and only a limited number of NGOs are able to access the EU funds.
The European Commission is currently the single most important foreign donor to civil society. Denmark and the Netherlands, previously important contributors to civil society, trade unions, human rights, journalists training, aid to children and vulnerable groups, decided to cut their financial assistance. Other projects such as the Social Services Delivery Project financed by the World Bank ended. USAID funds were mostly directed to support Government for implementation of anti corruption reforms. The UNDP faced funding difficulties due to the limited number of bilateral donors present in the country and their related strategies. Open Society Foundation Albania (OSFA) funds decreased substantially as part of OSFA strategy for the region. At the end of 2008, OSFA discontinued the NOSA scheme, focusing more on working with strategic partners according to areas of specialization as well as other civil society organizations at all levels. The European Union did not fill the gap because of a diminished focus on civil society services.
Other several steps are made by the international organizations towards the strengthening of the civil society in Albania. The collaboration between the OSCE PiA through the project “Consultation on Albanian state Budget Line for Civil Society/Drafting of Charter of Albanian Civil Society” implemented by the National Network of Civil Society Development Centre (NNCSDC) and the German Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) through its project “Strengthening Civil Society and Democratic Structures” is one to be mentioned. Both interventions carried out during 2008, aimed to mobilize civil society in six Albania’s regions to participate in the discussion on the law regulating civil society fund and prepare their representatives for the participation in parliamentary hearings on the law. Altogether, 90 non-for-profit organizations participated in the workshops organized in Durres, Elbasan, Korca, Kukes, Vlora, and Shkodra. The idea of drafting of a political document of collaboration between the Albanian Civil Society and the Government has been launched in these workshops. In general, all the non-for-profit organizations agreed unanimously and found it of essential importance having a political document of cooperation, which describes the role and mandate of the Albanian Civil Society and their relation to state bodies.
The European Commission Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document (MIPD) 2009-2011 predicts a total of 4 million EUR to civil society in this period under IPA I (institutional building), or around 2% of the total, with further support of up-to 1.1 million EUR available from IPA II for Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC). Although the MIPD maintains that support to civil society remains a priority area of EC intervention in Albania, particularly for strengthening the sector and improving its capacity for engaging the Government in policy dialogue, there is the perception in Albania that civil society’s importance to the EU has diminished and that EC funding of CSOs is insufficient. In addition, a further 1.2 million EUR is slated under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) for actions aimed at the children, women and minority rights, people with disabilities and mental illnesses and access to justice. Current CARDS projects include a 0.9 million EUR grants for Support for CSOs’ Capacity Building and their Greater Involvement in European Policy Debate and Support to Albanian CSOs’ Engagement with Environmental Protection and Environmental Education programme. Albanian CSOs are eligible for Community Programmes such as the 7th Research Framework, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Framework and the Europe for Citizens Programme.
Since 2005 the EU has increased its attention towards the third sector in accession candidate and potential candidate countries. A civil society dialogue component has been introduced into EU programs that aims to strengthen the contacts and mutual exchange of experience between third sector organizations across Europe.In 2008 a new facility to support civil society development and dialogue was established; during the period 2008-10, the EU plans to spend €130 million in the Western Balkans and Turkey under the civil society facility. Three types of third sector development projects will be supported with the new facility: (i) Local civil society initiatives and capacity building especially reinforcing the role of civil society; (ii) Partnerships and networks between NGOs in the EU and the enlargement countries; (iii) Programmes to bring journalists, young politicians, trade union leaders and teachers into contact with EU institutions.