We met with the Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen
On the 4th of September the Director of the National Association of Creative and Cultural Industries (NKIKIA) Edita Sabalionytė, together with members of the National NGO Coalition, met with Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. The meeting focused on the most important issues of the NGO sector ahead of the autumn session of the Seimas. The main topics of discussion included increasing funding for NGOs, improving the legal framework, improving conditions for volunteering and the role of NGOs in strengthening democracy in the context of the upcoming elections.
Key issues discussed:
💠 The possibility of increasing the NGO funding basket in the planning and adoption of the triennial budget. This initiative aims to ensure more sustainable funding and further growth for the sector;
💠 An initiative to transfer the assets of NGOs that are being de-registered to an NGO fund, in order to use resources more efficiently and to help organisations in the sector;
💠 Support for the proposal to amend the Civil Code to facilitate the provision of donations, so that the requirement of a notarial form is only applicable to donations over €100,000;
💠 Supplementing the Law on Volunteering to allow for the reimbursement of volunteers’ expenses on the basis of fixed rates. This amendment would help to attract more volunteers and facilitate the activities of NGOs;
The role of NGOs in strengthening and safeguarding democracy in the context of the forthcoming parliamentary elections;
💠 The transfer of public services to the NGO sector, parliamentary scrutiny of the suppression of NGO initiatives at the municipal level and other issues of concern to the sector.
The meeting was productive and the NGO representatives expressed their hope that their proposals will continue to be discussed and supported during the autumn session of the Seimas. We thank the President of the Seimas, Viktorija Čmilyte-Nielsen, and the members of the National NGO Coalition for this important dialogue.
NKIKIA, together with other NGOs, is working to ensure that the needs of the sector are adequately reflected in national policy and public life, and that their voices are heard on important issues.