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
- ActionAid Hellas
- Action for Wildlife
- ANTIGONE – Information and Documentation Centre on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non Violence
- Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation
- Arion – Cetacean Rescue and Rehabilitation Research Center
- ARSIS – Association for the Social Support Youth
- Association of Social Responsibility for Children and Youth -Skep
- Attica Bike Community – Podilattiki Koinotita
- Better Days Greece
- Boroume
- Callisto
- Centre for Research on Women’s Issues “Diotima”
- Changemakers Lab
- Common Ground Greece
- Doctors of the World Greece
- DRC Greece
- ECHO100PLUS
- Ecocity
- Ecological Movement of Drama
- Ecological Movement of Patras
- Ecological Movement of Thessaloniki
- Ecological Recycling Society
- ELIX
- Emfasis Foundation
- Ethelon
- European Expression
- Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid
- Food On
- Friends of Monde
- Generation 2.0 for Rights, Equality and Diversity
- GIVMED
- Greek Association of People Living with HIV “Positive Voice”
- Greek Council for Refugees (GCR)
- Greek Forum of Migrants
- Greek Forum of Refugees
- Greek Housing Network
- Greenpeace Greece
- Hellenic Liver Patient Association “Prometheus”
- HIAS
- HIGGS
- HumanRights360
- International Rescue Committee (IRC)
- Irida Women’s Center
- iSEA
- Ithaca
- Ithaca Laundry
- Lesvos Solidarity
- MEDASSET
- Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos – MedINA
- Melissa Network
- METAdrasi – Action for Migration and Development
- Mobile Info Team (MIT)
- Nature Friends Greece
- Network for Children’s Rights
- NPCP “Me Alla Matia”
- Odyssea
- Organization Earth
- Organization Tulipa Gulimi
- Pan-hellenic Network of Ecological Organizations
- People Behind
- Praksis
- Promitheas
- Refugee Rights Europe
- Samos Volunteers
- Schedia Street Magazine
- Social Action and Innovation Center
- Society for the Care of Minors and Youth
- SolidarityNow
- SOS Children’s Villages
- Steps
- Symbiosis-School of Political Studies in Greece, affiliated to the Council of Europe Network of Schools
- Syn-eirmos NGO of Social Solidarity
- Terre des hommes Hellas
- Thalassa of Solidarity
- The Bee Camp
- The Good House
- The Green Tank
- The HOME Project
- Union for the Protection of the Environment of the Corinthian-Patra Gulf – O Nireas
- Velos Youth
- We are Solomon
- Wind of Renewal
- WWF Greece