Just as the need for social services was increasing, the government systems that had previously met some of this need began to dissolve. At the same time, access to information about civil society networks and the roles played by NGOs elsewhere in the world was increasing. Together with the growing availability of international funding, these factors provided the impetus for the explosion of the NGO sector in CEE/FSU. From Lesson in Implementation: The NGO Story 10 (1999).

NGOs in CEE/FSU not only provide vital social services where the state has failed to do so, but are increasingly serving as valuable resources and sources of expertise for the government itself. "As a number of countries begin to grapple with the realities of decentralization, local governments are beginning to find valuable experience, expertise and new resources in NGOs." In some situations, NGOs have so effectively stepped in to meet needs for social services that some local governments are experimenting with the idea of contracting with local NGOs to provide these services. From USAID, 2001 NGO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia 8 (2001). Throughout the region, governments and NGOs are creating different formal and informal mechanisms for cooperation. Estonia and Hungary have passed legislation that formalizes the relationship between the government and the NGO sector, and the Czech Republic has created a council composed of government and NGO representatives that is "responsible for informing the government about the non-profit sector, cooperating in the preparation of new legislation, disseminating information on donations from public sources, and cooperating in the creation and operation of an information system about NGOs." As USAID notes, the "establishment of such formal mechanisms of cooperation between NGOs and the government is a direct result of the sector's growing influence in these countries, and also ensures that NGOs will continue to have a public voice." From USAID, 2002 NGO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia 2 (2002).

While the development of the NGO sector varies by country, the explosion of NGOs throughout the region has had both positive and negative consequences. The positive consequences of this growth have included "institutional fluidity, a high level of pro bono labor, extraordinary energy and commitment, a propensity to attract youthful and talented leadership, and responsiveness to emerging social and political issues." Particularly for women, "NGOs have provided a vehicle for self-expression, an opportunity to take leadership roles, and a mechanism for dealing with pertinent social issues." At the same time, however, the rapid growth of the NGO sector has led to "[h]igh turnover of single-issue organizations and occasional bogus operations," "[w]eak organizational skills, particularly in the areas of strategic planning, governance, communication skills, partnership relations, and constituency building," and the "absence (until recently) of sectoral infrastructure or intermediary support organizations." From Lesson in Implementation: The NGO Story 10-11 (1999).

According to a report published by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Center, Women in Transition, NGOs working on women's issues are highly active in the region. The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 was "a catalyst for the organization and mobilization of new women's groups and organizations advocating women's equality—fresh alternatives to discredited national women's organizations inherited from the communist state." These NGOs not only make a significant contribution to the creation and implementation of civil society and gender equality, but also serve as "major vehicles in which women can gain experience, build skills and exercise influence." From UNICEF Innocenti Research Center, Women in Transition 101-102 (1999).

There has been considerable progress in many CEE/FSU countries in the development of legal frameworks governing the NGO sector, and "[b]asic framework legislation is now in place in most countries throughout the region." At the same time, however, passage and implementation of such laws continues to remain a problem. Particularly in Eurasia, for example, registration as an NGO remains difficult, if not impossible. Countries that passed legislation governing NGOs early in the transition process are also beginning to find that changes to that legislation are needed; this has meant "that countries where laws were passed later, including many in Southeast Europe, now serve as models for their northern neighbors." From USAID, 2002 NGO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia 3 (2002).

Yet the very political and economic transitions that have provided NGOs with the opportunity to play significant roles in transition processes can also present the greatest challenges to NGO survival. New organizations must often contend with inadequate resources and social instability, as well as difficulty in conveying to the public and the state an understanding of their work. As USAID has noted: "National politicians and government institutions often do not understand how to respond appropriately to public interest advocacy." NGO relationships with the public and the government are also complicated by a history of state-run organizations and a suspicion of voluntarism. The growth of the NGO sector in recent years has generally not been accompanied by development of "a broad-based ethic of philanthropy, wide public understanding of the role of the independent sector, or an intuitive appreciation of the importance of civil society and the creation of so-called social capital." From Lesson in Implementation: The NGO Story 11 (1999).

To some degree, organizations must also address the concern that agendas are driven by Western donors and do not respond to local priorities. USAID has summarized some of the public relations challenges faced by NGOs in the region:

Some countries have a deeply negative perception of the underlying motives of these organizations. Such attitudes have been influenced by years of communism and enforced volunteerism, but they may also reflect the historical absence of Western-style philanthropic activity. The public sometimes suspects NGOs of responding to foreign interests and making self-serving efforts to obtain special dispensations and preferential tax treatment. The new states have no laws imposing standards of transparency. Ambiguous legal definitions and the absence of a clear set of categories that distinguish public service, nonprofit organizations from commercial entities can add to the confusion and create lucrative opportunities for unscrupulous groups.

From Lesson in Implementation: The NGO Story 12 (1999). USAID's 2002 NGO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia discuses public opinion of NGOs, as well as other measures of NGO sustainability, in the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.