The Role of the Polish Red Cross as a Non-Governmental Organization in the Social Sector
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Date
2019-06
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Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences
Abstract
One of the characteristic phenomena of the modern world is the growing importance of non-governmental organizations. In the case of developed capitalist societies, where NGOs are a permanent and significant element in the space of social institutions, they view the base for the social economy, whereas in the post-socialist countries the third sector takes on a completely new dimension with which hopes for the development of civil society are associated.
Establishment, development and activity of non-governmental organizations should be treated as one of the main determinants of the development of civil society. Organizations referred to as this are the third type of state and market institutions that meet collective needs in the sphere of social services. In each case, non-governmental organizations are presented as significant entities of social policy. Inclusion of public sector institutions and non-governmental organizations in the process of creating local social policy is an element of building a civil society.
For more than a dozen years, Poland has been in the phase of forming a new social reality, in which actions aimed at improving the situation of the weakest members of society are particularly important. The systemic transformations and difficulties related to them in many areas of life evoke and begin to reveal new needs and challenges, and consequently cause the necessity to undertake assistance activities towards the weakest social groups. Difficulties with finding a new social situation, especially the older generation, helplessness and inability to organize one's life, mean that an increasing group of people in the social welfare are in need of various forms of support. This broad social context becomes the determinant of organizing various forms of care, help, upbringing and social support for many needy social groups, including the elderly.
Non-governmental organizations, complementing the institutional structure of the state, become an important element of social cooperation and self-help. Their main strengths include: independence of operation, accurate recognition of community needs and existing social problems, relatively low operating costs, the ability to use various sources of financing, and above all, the capital inherent in people who selflessly engage in the common good.
Changes in contemporary social assistance cover various areas of its functioning. Of important among them is the organization of caring, nursing or activating activities, which are increasingly and more often carried out by non-governmental organizations. After many years, the non-governmental sector was in the field of interest of the authorities, both from the national and local level, and non-governmental organizations were included in the landscape of functioning in the local dimension as well as the entire social system.
The basis for their implementation are still mostly employees and institutions of a public nature, but more and more often their activities are supplemented by non-governmental organizations, such as the Polish Red Cross or self-help institutions operating in the immediate environment of the mentee.
Among the Polish organizations, associations and foundations dominate. One of such examples is the activity of the Polish Red Cross, which is the oldest Polish humanitarian organization that provides social services. The aim of the presentation is to present various forms and scope of assistance offered by the Polish Red Cross to its beneficiaries.
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Keywords
Non-governmental organization, Social sector, Humanitarian organization, Polish Red Cross, არასამთავრობო ორგანიზაციები, სოციალური სექტორი, ჰუმანიტარული ორგანიზაცია, პოლონეთის წითელი ჯვარი