The Review of the NGO Sector in Latvia. 2015
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The Review of the NGO Sector in Latvia. 2015 CIVIC ALLIANCE - LATVIA Project “Improvement of Support and Monitoring System for Sustainable Development of Civil Society in Latvia” (project no. 2012.EEZ/INP/01) Authors Evija Caune Jadviga Neilande Baiba Krieviņa-Sutora Rasma Pīpiķe Editor of Latvian edition Inga Skuja The electronic version of the research is available on www.nvo.lv © Civic Alliance – Latvia In the event of republishing or citation, reference to the research “The Review of the NGO Sector in Latvia. 2015” is mandatory. The research „The Review of the NGO Sector in Latvia. 2015” is the activity of the project “Improvement of Support and Monitoring System for Sustainable Development of Civil Society in Latvia”. The project is implemented in cooperation with the EEA and the Society Integration Foundation. The project is financially supported by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. www.eeagrants.org www.sif.gov.lv www.eeagrants.lv Civiic Alliance – Latvia is responsible for the content of the research “The Review of the NGO Sector in Latvia. 2015”. 2016 2 Contents Glossary ........................................................................................................................ 5 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 7 Turning points in 2015 ................................................................................................... 9 1.The Scope of the Research ...................................................................................... 15 2. General Characteristics of the Operation of Associations and Foundations ............. 21 2.1. Situation characteristics .................................................................................... 21 2.2. Quantitative changes in the NGO sector ........................................................... 21 2.2.1. Number of NGOs ........................................................................................ 21 2.2.2.NGO density ................................................................................................ 25 2.2.3.NGO fields of operation ............................................................................... 26 2.2.4.Scale of NGO operation .............................................................................. 29 2.2.5.Frequency of organisation operation ........................................................... 30 2.3. Operation of NGOs in the field of lessening social inequality and advocacy ...... 31 2.4. Operation of public benefit organisations .......................................................... 36 3. Human Resources Attracted for the Operation of Organisations ............................. 39 3.1. Attraction of members ....................................................................................... 39 3.2. Attraction of employees .................................................................................... 41 3.3. Involvement of population in the operation of organisations .............................. 42 4. Cooperation among Organisations and Their Partners ............................................ 42 4.1. Characteristics of collaboration practice ............................................................ 42 4.2. Evaluation of the cooperation with state representatives ................................... 45 4.3. Evaluation of collaboration among NGO representatives .................................. 47 4.4. Overal rating of the collaboration practice ......................................................... 49 5. Publicity of Organisations and Their Recognition in Society .................................... 50 6. Civil Dialogue and Advocacy in Latvia ..................................................................... 53 6.1. Involvement of inhabitants in the decision-making process ............................... 53 6.2. Associations as participants of decision-making process .................................. 56 6.2.1. Opinion of organisations and population ..................................................... 56 6.2.2. Actual track-record of non-governmental organisations .............................. 58 7. Evaluation of the Legal Environment of Associations and the State Polciy of Supporting NGOs ........................................................................................................ 62 7.1 Regulatory Enactments ...................................................................................... 62 7.1.1 Association and Foundation Law ................................................................. 62 7.1.2 Voluntary Work Law .................................................................................... 63 7.1.3 Public Benefit Organisation Law .................................................................. 64 7.2 Amendments expected to the regulatory framework of business activities of associations and foundations ................................................................................... 65 7.3 Regulatory enactments regulating accounting of associations and foundations . 68 7.4 Amendments in relation to release buildings of associations and foundations of real estate tax .......................................................................................................... 69 7.5 Security and prevention of risk of threats in the NGO sector .............................. 70 7.1.5 Changes in the security situation and NGO as a non-military tool................ 70 7.5.2 Reasons for the necessity of changes ......................................................... 72 7.5.3 Regulatory framework in force ..................................................................... 74 7.5.4 Registration process of associations and foundations to be incorporated and competence of the Enterprise Register ................................................................ 75 3 7.5.5 Suspension and termination of operations of associations and foundations 77 7.5.6 NGO sector and state security ..................................................................... 79 7.6. Social entrepreneurship .................................................................................... 80 8. Review of the NGO Sector Finances ....................................................................... 82 8.1. Structure of NGO income and expenses ........................................................... 83 8.1.1. Analysis of income position data................................................................. 83 8.1.2. Membership fee, entry fee and other annual fees ....................................... 85 8.1.3. Received donations and contributions ........................................................ 85 8.1.4. Received subsidies .................................................................................... 86 8.1.5. Income from economic activity ................................................................... 86 8.1.6. Other income .............................................................................................. 88 8.2. Data analysis of expense positions ................................................................... 89 8.2.1. Cash payments to people ....................................................................... 90 8.2.2. Material expenses .................................................................................. 90 8.2.3. Remuneration ........................................................................................ 91 8.2.4. State mandatory social insurance payments .......................................... 92 8.2.5. Write-offs and value adjustements of fixed and intangible assets and other expenses ..................................................................................................... 92 8.3. Balance of income and expenses ...................................................................... 93 8.4. Comparison of three years’ income and expense balance ................................ 93 8.4.1. Comparison of NGO income .................................................................. 95 8.4.2. Comparison of NGO income from 2013 and 2014 .................................. 96 8.4.3. Comparison of NGO expenses in 2013 and 2014 .................................. 97 8.5. Balance sheet ................................................................................................... 98 8.5.1. The analysis of asset positions in the balance sheet .................................. 99 8.5.2. The analysis of liability position on the balance sheet .......................... 100 8.6. Inspection of annual reports ............................................................................ 102 8.7. Proposals for the improvement of the NGO accounting ................................... 102 9. ........................ Development of Set of Proposals for the Development of NGO Funding System in Latvia ........................................................................................................ 105 9.1. Analysis .......................................................................................................... 105 9.2. Available funding ............................................................................................. 105 9.3. NGO Fund financed by the State – preparation and status ............................. 105 9.3.1. Goals and possible models of the NGO Fund ........................................... 107 9.3.2. NGO Fund – political decision and strengthening of state