Reyes AnnaCooperation to achieve a certain goal, solve specific problems or a long-term partnership involves combining and coordinating efforts and resources, equal participation of each party and joint responsibility for the results of activities.
Such interaction is possible both at the level of institutions within the same sector – for example, between civil society organizations (CSOs) – and between different sectors – the community, government and local authorities, law enforcement agencies, business, donor organizations, media, etc. This makes it possible to attract as many necessary resources as possible, and thus to cover a wide range of social, economic, environmental, information and communication, and other tasks, to overcome conventional and real barriers, and to effectively address important social issues.
For example, cooperation between government and local authorities and civil society organizations is a sign of a democratic society in which its needs are at the heart of public policy. In its turn, the “third sector” contributes to the control of the state by the society, establishing public relations between the community and the authorities on the basis of openness, publicity and partnership.
Cooperation of the public sector with business not only promotes activation and development of its social responsibility, but also unites efforts around common tasks (for example, development of the territory – a separate area, the whole city, region, and the state as a whole. However, partnership between these sectors will be possible only if CSOs work transparently, clearly understand what changes they want to achieve, and position themselves not as “beggars” (give us money because we are good), but as equal partners.
Cooperation between civil society organizations and the media should also be based on the principles of openness and transparency. However, its main condition is the absence of a business component. Both the public sector and the media act within a certain community and for the sake of the community, using only different tools and pursuing different primary goals. However, when establishing a dialogue, both parties should understand that the key point of intersection of their interests is not in the fact that some receive journalistic material and others receive money for its placement, but in raising public awareness of possible ways to address pressing issues, its activation, development, and thus an increase in the overall level of well-being.
Intersectoral partnerships mean new experience, new opportunities, new solutions, a new look at things that have been known for a long time, and the formation of a new culture of relationships in society. Provided that constructive interaction between the government, community and business is established, we can talk about social partnership in the management of society.
It is clear that partnerships do not exist in a perfect format – they need to be built taking into account the interests of all parties and possible risks. However, the basis of these relations is the recognition of the equality and independence of each of the participants. Equality does not mean exactly the same influence on processes or contribution of equivalent resources – it means the possibility of equal participation in decision-making, “playing” in a team according to common rules and principles. On the one hand, this will build mutual trust between partners, and on the other hand, it will prevent conflicts of interest.
One of the important elements of establishing a quality dialogue between partners is effective communication – the ability to listen and hear, exchange information, and disseminate jointly adopted key messages. Stereotypes, especially between the community-government and community-business sectors, are a major obstacle to quality cooperation, although the media often have a biased attitude towards NGOs: they are not considered professionals, their activities are considered frivolous or even useless. This stereotype exists partly as a result of the functioning of unscrupulous, irresponsible, “pocket”, politically biased civic activists and organizations, which automatically casts a shadow on other representatives of the “third sector”. That is why it is important for civil society institutions to properly communicate information about themselves, their values and goals, as well as to clearly state what support they expect from potential partners and what they are ready to do to solve certain problems.