First it was the "Kivotos tou Kosmou" ("Ark of the World") scandal. Then it was the "Allos Anthropos" ("The Other Human"). People in civil society feel the brunt of the stigma. How can the NGOs regain the trust of society?
Father Antonios and Konstantinos Polychronopoulos, two people who were associated with volunteerism were “cancelled” after the revelations against them. The initial shock to society was great, but the aftershocks were even greater.
A few days ago, Angeliki Kosmopoulou, director of the Athanasios Laskaridis Charity Foundation, together with her husband Kostis Sfyrikidis, put on the characteristic red vest and became "salespersons for one hour" of the "Shedia". This is the well-known program that gives the opportunity to friends and supporters of the street magazine to temporarily take over one of the posts by stepping into the shoes of a seller, and looking into the eyes of passers-by, asking for their support. "We were on Tsakalov Street and saw the scorn in people's eyes," says Angeliki to "K". Eyes lowered, heads turned away. "With the red vest we became invisible. It was very strange."
Ms. Kosmopoulou clearly connects this experience with the developments in the "Other Human" case. The shock was great, but the aftershocks are greater. "This too shall pass, but standing in Tsakalov I felt that the person who sees you is surprised, but also that he considers you part of a fraud. This is very difficult. What is tearing us apart is that the people who need it most, who need food and shelter, will be hurt by all this. And of course the citizen who wants to participate, who gives his contribution is now thinking about whether he will do it again". As she says, the institutions-NGOs will do it again, it's in their DNA. “They are there to fulfill a public service objective. Safeguards may change, but they will remain in place. Undoubtedly, they are protected, shielded, they would never fund an entity that didn’t have legal status."
However, the case of the "Other Human" was quite particular because he received donations in kind. "I know of serious businesses that have strict regulations and were giving away food." Some people seem to have turned a blind eye for the sake of a photo on social media.
Whatever stance they have taken in the past, domestic NGOs are now receiving a share of suspicion and discredit. Alexandros Theodoridis, one of the founders of "Boroume" ("We Can"), an organization that "rescues" food and offers it to charitable entities throughout Greece was at a children's party a few days ago. "Everybody knows what I'm doing and I understood from what they were asking me that there is a lot of suspicion." (The same school used to send their proceeds of their annual bazaar to the "Other Human"). But as he says, "in Greece people are always waiting for us to make a mistake".
Precisely for this reason, when they founded “Boroume” in 2012, they decided that regardless of what the civil code stipulates for NGOs, they would upload their charter online, their faces online, not only of the founding members, but of everyone involved (“let the world know who is behind our organization. You see Organizations-Factories of European Programs and you do not know who are behind them”), the financial statements, etc., while on their own initiative, “Boroume” was audited by certified public accountants. “If I were on the other side, I would like to know everything about the NGOs” says Alexander, “You can never be 100% sure”.
“We have colleagues who need to defend themselves to family and friends because they work for a humanitarian organization. There is an established prejudice”.
The strange thing is that the more formal/correct you are in Greece, the greater the suspicion around you. Do you follow the rules? The laws? There must be a catch somewhere. The fact that “Boroume” refrained from donating to Konstantinos Polychronopoulos’ organization is precisely because it had no legal status, was certainly not appreciated by some. “He is a very nice person and he was really helping a lot, but I told him, we may do different things, but because we are part of the same civil society and they are waiting for us to make a mistake, look at the issue of transparency, because we’ll all take the fall”.
On the other hand, legitimacy pays off. “This is how we convinced the presidents of the farmer markets to trust us, as well as small and large companies; This is how we also cooperated with the European Commission (editorial note: they are a member of the Platform of Experts since it was created in 2016, and “Boroume” has passed through its Transparency Register)”. In 2017, “Boroume” was also bestowed the European Citizen Award by the European Parliament. (The same Award was also bestowed to the Social Kitchen “Other Human”, but Mr. Polychronopoulos had refused to receive it, “considering it hypocritical to be awarded by those who imposed on 65% of the Greek population to live on the poverty line, according to the budget of the Greek Parliament in 2014”). This is, however, the reason why today “Boroume” has not seen a change in offers and donations from citizens and businesses. “You don’t build a respectable reputation for the good day, but for the bad one”.
The “bad day” arrived at the organizations dealing with the refugee issue a long time ago. As Lefteris Papagiannakis, director of the Greek Council for Refugees tells “K”, “What is happening now with the “bad” NGOs, we have been going through this for a long time, we have gone from being the enemies of the state to traffickers and collaborators of Turkey”. Nevertheless, they are fatally affected by everything that happens in the field of NGOs. “We have colleagues who need to apologize to relatives and friends because they work for a humanitarian organization. There is a built-in bias. We have lawyers that when they go to a police station for one of our cases, they hear “don't tell me you’re from an NGO?”, every time. Generalization also gives that extra “push”. When you talk about suspicious NGOs, it creates a problem for everyone.”
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It is precisely because of this targeting that Refugee organizations are asking for increased transparency, having submitted specific proposals to the authorities. “There is a need for transparency, the way the money was handled in this particular case was not right for a well-governed state. However, a small organization cannot pay for an ISO or a certified public accountant, so another way must be found.” It must be noted that refugee organizations are included in a special register of the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum, which is linked to funding. “To be tarred with the same brush benefits all those who want to tighten the rules, not in the direction of transparency, but of control.” The existence of the register in question is linked in the relevant reports to issues of the pulling back of the Rule of Law in Greece. “We experience the paranoia, where as in Europe the organizations present themselves as partners of the governments, but in Greece we are considered enemies”, concludes Mr. Papagiannakis.
The law is not absent
According to Konstantinos Liarikos, head of the development department of WWF Greece, the legislation is in place, but it is not observed. “The tax legislation provides for some things, so one cannot say that we are missing the means. It’s the State that doesn’t take measures to implement its own legislation”, he tells “K”. “If the State applied the legislation, 95% of the problems would be fixed.” However, he says, organizations that maintain very high standards of transparency and accountability to the public and to the people who support them, will not be particularly affected. “When you emphasize this issue, that is to say being responsible, accountable and transparent, it pays off.” At the same time, as he says, when there is such negative publicity concerning an organization that was close to the people, such as the Social Kitchen (“The Other Human”), “one would expect the Media and the State to defend these programs instead of also “throwing mud” at them.” To break the trust of the citizens is probably the worst blow.
Only 45% of organizations publish a balance sheet
If the failure of solidarity is the result, it is society itself that lays the foundations for this to happen, argues Myrto Xanthopoulou, Strategy consultant of Civil Society and an active volunteer. “Society maintains a rather immature, suspicious, emotional relationship with the Civil Society. It values popularity over professionalism, communication over measurable work, emphasis on persons over transparency and accountability, personal relationships over organized systems, and the most spontaneous approach over the safest. The more organized an organization is, the more corrupt it is considered, more insincere, more selfish.”
On the other hand, the Civil Society in Greece is weaker than the rest of Europe. As Ms. Xanthopoulou says, the “Thalis” survey of the Peloponnese University (2020) shows that in Greece 45% of the participating organizations post their balance sheets on their website, while the public bodies do not post balance sheets at all. However, only 35% of the organizations have appraisal reports and only 30% have CPA reports posted online.
Change of Attitude
“What can a citizen do to support his/her social work more effectively? They must emphasize measurable impact over emotion; Look for protocols and professionalism even from small, purely voluntary organizations. They must demand transparency in finances and governance – oversight and control mechanisms separate from management staff. To should avoid the personal approach – do research, even a little: read the website, look at the finances, ask questions and visit the organizations as much as possible. It doesn't take time or experience, but it does take a small but essential change of mindset about the essence of Civil Society and the value of philanthropy. Can one support unorganized, non-systemic, purely voluntary organizations that don’t have legal status? Of course, but the individuals should know that the risk of non-transparency is much greater and that the systemic safeguards will not be in place.”
Source: Lina Giannarou - Kathimerini