Part I
The Czech Republic
Hnuti Duha - Rainbow Movement - Friends of the Earth Czech Republic
Brno, 16 February 1996
- Jakubske Namesti 7 / IV
- 602 00 Brno
- Czech Republic
- Phone: 42 5 4221 0438 or 42 5 4221 2847
- Fax: 42 5 4221 0347
The person and his function in the NGO
- Mr. Jakub Patocka - Chairman of Hnuti Duha.
The NGO itself
Hnuti Duha began as a movement in 1989, just before the political
changes that took place in Czechoslovakia at the end of 1989.
In 1991 the group formalized and became a registered organization.
Since 1992 a successful strategy has been adapted by Hnuti Duha
to grow into a nationwide organization.. The first activists
of Hnuti Duha were predominately high school students who fought
against the communist government and their destroying of nature.
Currently, Hnuti Duha is a politically oriented NGO.
Structure
Hnuti Duha is comprised of 30 local groups, 4 coordinating regional
groups and 2 head offices. The head office in Brno coordinates
projects and activities, whereas the head office in Prague has
media and lobby functions. Representatives of the local groups
elect, based on consensus, the Board of the NGO, which is made
up of 6 persons. Included in Hnuti Duha's organizational structure
are 2 "programs" and a third is under way. A program
is a stream of activities on a specific topic. Programs exist
on energy and on social-ethical issues; the forthcoming program
is on forests.
Objective(s) / Goal(s)
Three goals can be distinguished:
- protect nature;
- promote a change in life style to one that respects nature and natural values;
- promote a change of society from one that consumes to a society that respects natural constraints.
Main areas of activity of Hnuti Duha
Collection and dissemination of information is done via Hnuti
Duha's monthly magazine and by publishing literature on social
and ecological issues. Within the scope of the new forest program,
nature protection activities have recently been added to the activities
of the NGO. The most visible activities of Hnuti Duha however
are protest actions and the lobby activities. Lobbying is done
on all political levels, but is mainly organized from the head
office in Prague. The training of activists is an integral part
of Hnuti Duha's activities. Protest actions often monitor activities,
for example in the protest camp around a nuclear power plant.
A very successful crusade that has to be mentioned is the 'Clean
Energy Brigades' campaign. This campaign was awarded the prize
of the most successful environmental project in the Czech Republic
last year.
Resources
- Human
- About 20 employees work for Hnuti Duha, together with approximately
300 activists throughout the country. Two Westerners regularly
do projects for Hnuti Duha, but they raise their own money and
are not employed by the NGO. Hnuti Duha plans to establish a
membership system this year.
- Money
- The 1995 budget of Hnuti Duha was 65,000 USD. Ninety-five percent
of their money comes from funding organizations like the REC,
the Rockefeller brothers and Environmental Partnership. The rest
of their budget comes from the Ministry of the Environment.
- Expertise
- Spoken languages in the office are Czech, English, German and
if necessary Russian. The expertise on environmental issues where
Hnuti Duha is dealing with is considered high. At both the organizational
and the strategical level, the organization is one of the most
advanced in the Czech Republic. Hnuti Duha has a special think
tank for strategy and it is clear that the expertise on these
levels is equal to that of Friend of the Earth in other countries.
- Access to information
- Phone, fax and computer(s) are available in both head offices.
The contacts with information sources is good. Hnuti Duha always
gets the needed information, even if the authorities don't want
to give it.
External Relations and intensity of the contact
The contact with almost all ministries is based on conflict. The
government wants to eliminate Hnuti Duha and Hnuti Duha normally
doesn't agree on the governmental plans from both an environmental
and a social point of view. The contacts with other Czech NGOs
is based on cooperation, but on a low level, since there are
not many collective projects. Usually campaigns are mutually supported,
provided that they fit into Hnuti Duha's scope. Hnuti Duha is
member of Friends of the Earth for the Czech Republic and the
Czech chapter of the World Information Service on Energy (WISE).
Good cooperative contacts exist with ASEED in the Netherlands
and some groups in the USA. East-East cooperation exists historically
with Slovakia and within the framework of Hnuti Duha's projects
and/or programs.
East-East Cooperation
The cooperation with Slovakian groups, for example the Center
for Public Advocacy, is as good as it was before the splitting
of the country. Hnuti Duha's magazine is also published in both
countries. Furthermore Hnuti Duha is a member of the Bankwatch
Network with NGOs from several other CEE countries. Additionally,
the new program on forests is active within the CEE Working Group
on Forests.
Advantages / Motivation
The three types of East-East cooperation in which Hnuti Duha is
involved are all self-motivated. The cooperation on forests is
because all members are dealing with the same, often transboundary,
issue. The connected groups in the network have the same working
culture and style as Hnuti Duha has and this makes the cooperation
easy and pleasant. The cooperation within the bankwatch network
is mainly because of the interesting and important topic. The
working cultures of the other groups differ a lot, but collaboration
is possible. The East-East cooperation with Slovakia is simply
a historical fact, cooperation always existed between the two
countries, so why should they stop now? The activists in the
environmental movement don't take the splitting up of the country
that seriously.
Problems / Obstacles
The main problem for Hnuti Duha is to find an equal partner in
another CEE country, since there are very few campaigning groups
in the CEE. And if they exist, they just started and lack the
capacity and power to do common campaigns with Hnuti Duha. Furthermore
the working style and philosophy towards environmental problems
and solutions in the partner groups has to be more or less the
same, otherwise it is very hard to agree on a certain political
statement. Finally it should be mentioned that most activist groups
have more then enough work to do in their own country. But
before it's possible to go to the international level your organization
must be strong on the national level.
Surplus Value / Results of East-East cooperation
Two successful cooperative campaigns should be mentioned. The
first is a victory over the World Bank, who wanted to destroy
the Slovakian forests with a very environmental unfriendly proposal
for so called forest management. Together with Slovakian NGOs,
Hnuti Duha succeeded in stopping the program. The second was the
campaign against the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) which wanted to finance the Mohovche nuclear power plant
in Slovakia. After a successful campaign involving Hungarian,
Czech, Slovakian and Polish environmental NGOs, the EBRD decided
not to fund the completion of this nuclear power plant.
Necessary features of a NGO for East-East cooperation
NGOs need to have enough capacity and influence on national level.
If an NGO does not have control its national campaigns, it is
not very smart to concentrate on international activities. And
without influence on a national level, it is very hard to have
any influence on an international political level. Additionally,
cooperating NGOs need to work on a common topic seen from a similar
philosophical point of view. And finally it is absolutely imperative
to have friends in important places who can provide you with information
and who give the cooperation a stable background.
Possible reasons for others not to start East-East cooperation
Cooperation in general is only useful when it helps to reach the
groups goals. This means that local groups have no need to cooperate
internationally. Furthermore it is a matter of capacity, internal
problems in the groups and being too busy with the national activities.
Future of East-East cooperative behavior of the NGO
Hnuti Duha will continue to cooperate as they do now. East-East
cooperation is not that easy for campaigning groups at the moment,
but when it is possible to find strong enough partners and/or
to help to develop (on their request) similar groups in other
countries Hnuti Duha will definitely join into common actions
or programs with them. In the future it will be easier to begin
East-East cooperation, because more campaigning and politically
active groups will be powerful enough. Sooner or later 'old' environmental
NGOs will become more radical or new politically active NGOs will
be established.
REC and East-East cooperation
Hnuti Duha applied for and received an Earmarked Grant in the
past, so the REC and its procedures are well known. The REC should
promote East-East cooperation, but very carefully. First enough
capacity has to be built in the NGO community itself. NGOs which
are not able to run a cooperative project shouldn't get big amounts
of money for it. The evaluation procedure of the Earmarked Grants
Project has to cooperate more with the REC local offices and
the NGO community, because they know much better which groups
specialized in what topic and kind of projects. Personal contact
with potential project leaders and or potential grant winners
can prevent failures of East-East cooperative projects. When the
REC wants to promote East-East cooperation it should focus on
NGOs which have an international agenda and which have enough
capacity to run such projects. Finally we have to realize that
cooperation is a process that shouldn't be pushed too much. With
the time more and more East-East cooperative projects will be
established, since the CEE countries have a common position, a
common background and common problems for which a common regional
alternative should be developed.
REC * PUBLICATIONS * BEYOND BORDERS - SIDE REPORT * THE CZECH REPUBLIC
