Strengthening Civic Activism in Rural Hungary

In Hungary, the Pécs-based Power of Humanity Foundation (PHF) is ECE’s key partner is pursuing that goal. A recipient of ECE grants, it offers capacity-building support to civil society organizations (CSOs) or civic activist groups in peripheral and rural areas, tailored to their individual needs, as part of it “incubator program”. 

Following a “combining funding with learning” approach, PHF provides microgrants for newly founded or institutionally less-developed CSOs to support the implementation of their projects. Its mentors closely follow all phases of project implementation, from program planning through realization up to reporting and reflection on lessons learned. They also provide individual support and skills development where they identify significant needs, whether in financial or program management, communications, or other areas of civil society work.   

“Over the past decade, democracy has been systematically demolished in Hungary”, says PHF chairman András Nyirati. “Civil society is facing serious challenges in terms of functioning and sustainability. The politically biased distribution of state funding and the gradual loss of dialogue and advocacy are creating a shrinking space around civil society organizations”. 

“At PHF, we work for a livable society that respects human rights and equality, and where democracy prevails”, he adds. “We feel that the growth of a strong, local civil society is essential for strengthening democracy in Hungary. Promoting and supporting this and encouraging the development of local civil society organizations and communities is an important activity of ours. Each year we support around 60 NGOs through grants, training, and capacity building”.

PHF was founded in 2006 and has since emerged as one of the key civic resource centers outside of Hungary’s capital city, Budapest. Capacity-building for CSOs, which it has been engaged in since 2017, is not its only field of activity.

In the field of human rights education PHF works to bring the concepts of European values and fundamental rights closer to young people. This type of work in the challenging and frequently hostile environment of today’s Hungary is often the only source of objective, factual information for students about key democratic values, which often do not find their way into classrooms and formal citizenship education. PHF is also one of the pioneers of the “gamification” of civic and democracy education in Hungary. 

Cooperation and networking are also fundamental pillars of PHF’s civil society work. It operates a co-working community office in the center of Pécs, in southwestern Hungary, and provides working places for other CSOs. PHF is also a funding member of the Aspect Group (Aspektus Csoport), a collaborative network created to offer capacity building for CSOs in rural Hungary. 

The founding of the Aspect Group was the result of a collaboration between PHF and three other organizations, respectively based in Debrecen, Miskolc, and Szeged. The four organizations work as regional resource centers to strengthen democracy and build autonomous local communities. In practice, this means re-granting, training, mentoring and networking activities. The Aspect Group builds on the long-term alliance of the four organizations and creates new activities and resources through collaboration.

PHF strives to create meaningful, thought-provoking communication between people to bridge different groups. It does so by peaceful means and with the power of humanity, consistently adhering to the values that it has dedicated itself to transmitting.