B&H Citizens� Perceptions of NGO Work

Agencija za lokalne razvojne inicijative

In June 2006, the Agency of Local Development Initiatives � ALDI conducted an over the phone public opinion survey, with the aim to identify and categorize the perceptions that Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens have regarding the work of non-governmental organizations in the country.

The main conclusion of the survey is that B&H citizens believe that the country would enjoy many benefits if NGOs were more included in the public policies creation processes.

The results show that, of the whole sample, 84.6% doesn�t know a single NGO that works on the whole territory of B&H. The citizens lack proper information on the manner and goals of activities of the NGOs in local communities.

Also, some 61% of the total number of people included in this survey, doesn�t have any information about the work of B&H NGOs. On the other hand, 34 percent said that they know very little about the NGOs, while only 5 percent have detailed information on NGO�s work and activities.

The survey was conducted under the New Role of NGOs in Process of Creation of Public Policies, supported by the European Commission Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of NGOs to take part in the process of creation of public policies on local level, increase public awareness of the need for improved public polices, and strengthen the instruments available to local government institutions to develop quality public policies.

This survey has to detect the level to which the citizens are informed about the work done by non-governmental organizations, the level of their satisfaction with that work, communication with NGOs, and whether the citizens would benefit from a greater inclusion of NGOs in the process of public policy creation.

The survey also provided answers to questions regarding citizens satisfaction with the existing decision-making procedures and what might be the source of their dissatisfaction.

The complete results of the survey are available at this Link.