ASSOCIATION OF ASSOCIATIONS OF SLOVENIA ZDOS

Already in 1994, 16 central associations, though informally, linked together and formed the Council of Associations of Slovenia.

Their goal was to agree and pursue views for the collusion with national institutions. The Council quite efficiently cooperated in changing the then adopted, for many associations inappropriate, legal measures, in adopting the first Associations Act and all its later changes, and in the preparation of the last novel of the Act which changed into the »draft of the proposal of the new act«. In all years of its informal action the Council especially tried to establish an environment as kind as possible for the associations, in which associations and all other non-governmental organisations could successfully develop, efficiently act, and contribute to the development of Slovenia.

The governmental bodies continued to ignore the fact that ZDOS is an important pillar of the non-governmental section and/or legitimate network of the central national associations. It has continued to support and finance only one of the NGO connections and made it the only representative of the whole non-governmental sector. Therefore it was decided last year that it is necessary to formalise this kind of coordination and form an association, which would ensure marketability and greater efficacy in the representation of associations and other non-governmental organisations in negotiations and partnership with the state and international governmental organisations and associations.

In the spring of 2003 11 central associations founded the Association of associations of Slovenia (ZDOS). The current members are the following organisations:

Automobile Association of Slovenia
Fire-fighting Association of Slovenia
Olympic Committee of Slovenia - Association of Sports Federations
Alpine Association of Slovenia
Fishing Association of Slovenia
Tourist Association of Slovenia
Association of Pensioners of Slovenia
Associations of Engineers and Technicians of Slovenia
Association of cultural organisations of Slovenia
Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth
Association for technical culture of Slovenia
Association of Chauffeurs and Car Mechanics of Slovenia

These organisations integrate approximately 10.000 associations from all over Slovenia with approximately a million members, which represents a large proportion of the whole non-governmental sector in Slovenia.
Membership in and cooperation with ZDOS is under the same conditions open to all other central national associations who wish to join.

ZDOS mission is:

To pursue and with its operations contribute to the provision of better conditions for the work and the development of associations, which contribute to the whole social development and welfare of people.

Purpose and goals of ZDOS are as follows:

Integration of associations to ensure a beneficial state of associations in the Republic of Slovenia,
To pursue the acknowledgement of the meaning of associations activities, and/or non-governmental activities as the third sector in the society,
To represent common interests of the members to governmental and other organisations in the Republic of Slovenia,
To pursue the appropriate (co)financing of the operations and to search for permanent legitimate finance resources for the operations and development,
To prepare and train organisations and its management to confront new challenges in the society, and more efficient and quality operations,
To integrate with other related organisations and networks in Slovenia, as well as in the international area, with the goal to increase the welfare.

The expression of common interests of a bigger number of these organisations means an important contribution to the enhancement of the civil society, which must gain a much greater meaning in our state as it now carries. The non-governmental sector in Slovenia, as this is subject to developed democracies, must be granted an important role in strengthening and acknowledging the democracy, plurality and welfare in the society. The associations integrated in the Associations of societies organisations of Slovenia are convinced that we have already contributed greatly and will contribute more in the future. Hence, we expect from the state that besides acknowledging the meaning of the non-governmental sector it shall ensure system and other conditions for a faster and more efficient development of associations and non-governmental organisations in general, and their more professional and efficient operations.