On March 23rd 2021, 83 civil society organisations sent an open letter to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Skylakakis, expressing our concern about the lack of transparency and limited opportunities to participate in the drafting of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The letter was also copied to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, and the European Commission Recovery and Resilience Task Force (RECOVER). So far, the government has not responded.

Greece’s cabinet approved the National Recovery and Resilience Plan on 29th March and the government announced  it on 31st March.  They are expected to submit it to the Greek Parliament within the week. Publicising the document just a few days before submitting it to the European Union for approval, leaves no time for either Greek MPs or civil society to give meaningful feedback on the plan’s content and strategic directions.

In a recent statement, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the National Recovery Plan concerns all Greek citizens. The signatory organisations strongly believe that the only way to achieve public support for the plan, and for citizens to truly benefit from its implementation, would be to meaningfully engage the public in its design and implementation. Without inclusive participation, the recovery plan is very likely to overlook many of our fellow citizens and critical issues that need support in order to recover from the present crisis and mitigate future ones.

The government’s greatest responsibility going forward, in addition to the proper allocation of available resources to social justice and environmental protection measures, is to ensure that civil society has the chance to participate meaningfully in carrying out the plan’s directives as well as any other activities related to the recovery. Transparency and accountability are also paramount to successfully implementing the plan. In this spirit, we ask the government to immediately explain what it will do to invite the active participation of civil society and ensure parliamentary control and transparency throughout the process. 

The open letter sent on March 23, 2021 originally co-signed by 70 organisations that come from a variety of fields  (13 more have since added their signatures for a current total of 83) expresses the anxiety felt by a broad swath of civil society organisations about the country’s post-pandemic course. It also emphasises their desire to help design a national recovery plan that truly meets peoples’ needs and paves the way for a sustainable and socially just future. This is a unique opportunity to invest resources for a better tomorrow and it must not be wasted.

 

Signatory organisations

  1. ActionAid Hellas
  2. Action for Wildlife
  3. ANTIGONE – Information and Documentation Centre on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non Violence
  4. Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation
  5. Arion – Cetacean Rescue and Rehabilitation Research Center
  6. ARSIS – Association for the Social Support Youth
  7. Association of Social Responsibility for Children and Youth -Skep
  8. Attica Bike Community – Podilattiki Koinotita
  9. Better Days Greece
  10. Boroume
  11. Callisto
  12. Centre for Research on Women’s Issues “Diotima”
  13. Changemakers Lab
  14. Common Ground Greece
  15. Doctors of the World Greece
  16. DRC Greece
  17. ECHO100PLUS
  18. Ecocity
  19. Ecological Movement of Drama
  20. Ecological Movement of Patras
  21. Ecological Movement of Thessaloniki
  22. Ecological Recycling Society
  23. ELIX
  24. Emfasis Foundation
  25. Ethelon
  26. European Expression
  27. Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid
  28. Food On
  29. Friends of Monde
  30. Generation 2.0 for Rights, Equality and Diversity
  31. GIVMED
  32. Greek Association of People Living with HIV “Positive Voice”
  33. Greek Council for Refugees (GCR)
  34. Greek Forum of Migrants
  35. Greek Forum of Refugees
  36. Greek Housing Network
  37. Greenpeace Greece
  38. Hellenic Liver Patient Association “Prometheus”
  39. HIAS
  40. HIGGS
  41. HumanRights360
  42. International Rescue Committee (IRC)
  43. Irida Women’s Center
  44. iSEA
  45. Ithaca
  46. Ithaca Laundry
  47. Lesvos Solidarity
  48. MEDASSET
  49. Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos – MedINA
  50. Melissa Network
  51. METAdrasi – Action for Migration and Development
  52. Mobile Info Team (MIT)
  53. Nature Friends Greece
  54. Network for Children’s Rights
  55. NPCP “Me Alla Matia”
  56. Odyssea
  57. Organization Earth
  58. Organization Tulipa Gulimi
  59. Pan-hellenic Network of Ecological Organizations
  60. People Behind
  61. Praksis
  62. Promitheas
  63. Refugee Rights Europe
  64. Samos Volunteers
  65. Schedia Street Magazine
  66. Social Action and Innovation Center
  67. Society for the Care of Minors and Youth
  68. SolidarityNow
  69. SOS Children’s Villages
  70. Steps
  71. Symbiosis-School of Political Studies in Greece, affiliated to the Council of Europe Network of Schools
  72. Syn-eirmos NGO of Social Solidarity
  73. Terre des hommes Hellas
  74. Thalassa of Solidarity
  75. The Bee Camp
  76. The Good House
  77. The Green Tank
  78. The HOME Project
  79. Union for the Protection of the Environment of the Corinthian-Patra Gulf – O Nireas
  80. Velos Youth
  81. We are Solomon
  82. Wind of Renewal
  83. WWF Greece

READ THE LETTER

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

2021-NRRP-ft-img