Celebrated 20 years of working of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development

Two decades celebration from the foundation of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development (NFCSD) gathered more than 470 guests representatives of international institutions, state administration bodies and regional and local self-government as well as the representatives of CSOs.

The Emerald Hall of the Esplanade Hotel on November 6 this year was too small for everyone who wanted to participate in this festive event. The celebration began with the welcoming speeches by the Prof.Ph.D. Dražen Vikić-Topić, president of the Board of Directors of the National Foundation, His Excellency Juan Gonzalez-Barga Pere, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain in the Republic of Croatia, M.Sc Marko Pavić, repesentatiive of the President of the Croatian Parliament, M.Sc Marija Pejčinović Burić (video message), Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Dubravka Šuica, Vice President of the European Commission for Demography, and Ivan Vidiš, representative of the Croatian Prime Minister.

On this occasion the Director of the National Foundation, Ms Cvjetana Plavša-Matić, highlighted the NFCSD contribution to the development of civil society based on building trust, mutual understanding and respect. Ms Marija Boltek, Deputy Director for development Programmes, Mr Luka Bogdan, Deputy Director for European and Systematic Programmes and Ms Jelena Šišara, Head of the Independent Department for Finance and General Affairs highlighted through the video work the activities and achievements of the National Foundation over the past 20 years of work.
 
The development role of the National Foundation was emphasized in his speech by the Ambassador of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, His Excellency Simon Derek Thomas, the Director of PHILEA, Ms Delphine Moralis (video message), on behalf of the CSOs Ms Đordana Barbarić from the Association Bridge and Ms Božena Ivankov from the“Stanovi”  Elementary School from Zadar which has been participating in development-oriented programmes for many years volunteerism and philanthropy among children and young people.
 
The ceremony ended with a musical performance by the children’s choir “Zvjezdice” with an appropriate performance of the song “Kad bi svi”.
 

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