International organizations
These organizations are made up of members from numerous countries and are sometimes called ìmultilateralî organizations. The members are usually governments. Examples of international organizations are the Council of Europe, the European Union (EU), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), United Nations (UN) organizations, and the World Bank.
Because of their membership bases and size, international organizations often have large resources, technical expertise, and legitimacy with governments. They are active in most countries of the Soros foundations network. When they do not have an office in your country, there is usually a formal liaison with these organizations in the government. International organizations may also be contacted through their international headquarters or regional offices.
Partnering with an international organization can yield substantial co-funding, professionalism, access, legitimacy, influence, and recognition from governments and the donor community. These organizations often play a leading role in donor coordination. Their staff are being increasingly encouraged and even required to cooperate with NGOs in the countries they serve. This provides an opportunity for the Soros foundations network.
A relationship with an international organization does not always need to be based on co-funding. Contact with them can result in a valuable exchange on strategy and priorities in a specific sector and the efforts of the government and other donors in your country. Participating in dialogue with international organizations might also help to put an overlooked or even controversial issue on the national agenda.
The staff of international organizations often possess broad and comparative experience. The Soros foundations can invite technical specialists of these organizations to seminars and workshops, usually at no charge. Organizations such as the OECD and the World Bank can also recommend specialists and provide access to international networks.
National foundations may request background papers, technical assessments, and project plans that international organizations prepare in the course of their work. At the request of the international NGO community, many of these organizations have been loosening their restrictions on the release of documents. Through their offices, the OECD and the World Bank make available a wide range of country assessments and comparative studies. Your national government also has copies of major reports by these organizations concerning your country, usually translated into the local language.
The Soros foundations network should be realistic about the possibilities of co-funding with international organizations. In your country, an organization might not be working in your sector of interest. An international organization will finance programs only in those sectors that have been agreed upon by the government and the organization as funding priorities. Even if an international organization has an interest and willingness to partner with the Soros foundations network in a specific area, the national government must also be in agreement.
Because international organizations operate with the resources and formal consensus of their many members, their decision making on funding is bureaucratic and time-consuming. Often, the contracts for goods and services supplied to projects funded by these organizations are awarded through competitive bidding to suppliers in their member countries. Some organizations are trying to streamline their procedures and increase the flexibility of their programming. Nevertheless, even when a national government and an international organization have agreed to work in a given sector, it can take several years to formulate, formalize, and begin a major program.
Let's look at a few examples.
World Bank funding for education in your country can be disbursed only if the national government and the World Bank have agreed that education is a funding priority, if the necessary technical analysis and preparation has been completed, if the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has approved the loan or credit, and if the government has formally signed the World Bank's loan or credit for education. Agreement by the Minister of Education is not sufficient; approval by the Council of Ministers and even the Parliament is often required before funds flow.
Funding from EU programs is generally allocated to those priority sectors that have been formally identified by the recipient government in consultation with the European Commission.
Many UN agencies, such as UNDP, UNESCO, and UNICEF, work through country programs with multi-year plans and allocations that have been negotiated with the national government.
It is difficult, but not impossible, for the Soros foundations to influence decisions on funding priorities made by national governments and international organizations. A national foundation that has good relations with the national government and regular contact with the international organization's office in the country may be in a position to make suggestions on priorities and program design. When a government changes, consultations with international organizations often reopen, and there is opportunity to reshape priorities.
If involved from the early stages, the Soros foundations can be an important catalyst and partner in the broad programs of international organizations and the national government.
There are several possible forms of collaboration:
When a national foundation is considering partnerships with international organizations, it will need to weigh all these factors and possibilities. Because the partnership could involve political dimensions, technical complexity, and large amounts of funding, the staff may decide to involve the national foundation's leadership or call upon specialists and senior management of the Soros foundations network.
When an international organization and the government are developing a program in a given area, a national foundation might provide ideas, insight, background information, or materials from its experience in the country concerned and the Soros foundations' experience in other countries.
A national foundation can sponsor public information and open debate on controversial issues of reform related to the program of the international organization and the government.
A national foundation can provide seed funding, implement a pilot project, or help launch a program before the financial resources of the international organization are available.
A national foundation can finance and implement an effort to meet an urgent need in the short term, while the international organization and the government are working on a more sustainable solution for the long term.
A national foundation can fund and implement a project that is not covered in the program and financing of the international organization and the government but falls within their overall strategy.
A national foundation, the international organization, and the government can match one another's resources for a project component or a broad program.
