Mission, aims and general activity:

The Association of Nonprofit Human Services of Hungary - ANHSH - is one of the largest umbrella organisations of Hungary, with 126 member organisations, representing the whole territory of Hungary, founded in 1992 for national representation of interests, for protection of interests and professional activities on national level, as well as helping the cooperation between nonprofit organisations working on the same field of human services.

For their member- and partner organisations we are 

• organizing trainings - social professional, organisational, quality management, advisory, fundraising, media,
• organizing trainings that help to reach the different funds of the European Union, to be present in the European cooperation,
• organizing conferences that help the dialogue between the sectors, the cooperation between the different actors - with the participation of Hungarian and international experts,
• publishing Hungarian and international professional  literature, publications based on their own researches and experiences.

The mission of the organisation is to articulate the common interest of the  third sector. In order to achieve this, ANHSH is initiating and fostering social dialogue on all possible levels. Our primary public partner in this process is the public department responsible for employment and social affairs. The department has been leading the Consultative Committee since 2005, this is the highest level of formal social dialogue forum. The ANHSH is representing the interest of the third sector through this body.

Main activities, successful projects:

1.)   We have developed and implemented a pilot programme of social dialogue in the least developed region of Hungary. The following actors are included as partners: local governments, public actors, organizations of employees and employers, civil organizations, the representatives of the church and the representatives of science. The programme is implemented in co-operation with the Centre of Social Dialogue.

2.)   The organization is representing the interest of civil society organizations working on the field of social services and employment in the Hungarian Economic and Social Council.

3.)   ANHSH is committed to European co-operation by initiating international partnerships within the confines of community programmes. We were, we are active participants of the Youth and Youth in Action programme by sending and hosting volunteers, participating and organizing youth exchanges. The organization has also realized Leonardo da Vinci pilot projects. An e-learning project titled "e-Indelo" was aimed at NGOs of six European member states, and enhanced the professional linguistic skills of people working at social service providers, in order to improve and foster the European co-operation.

4.)   Besides European co-operation, ANHSH is paying particular attention to regional initiatives. Perhaps our most remarkable project concerning Central and Eastern European regional initiatives was the "Common Way to Europe" seminar-series, supported by the International Visegrad Fund. The particular purpose of this project was to get closer civil NGOs of Visegrad countries, to make known how these new member states can fulfill the requirements of the European Union regarding to national level planning and how the civil sector can react and take part in it, how NGOs can organize themselves and initiate a dialogue with governmental sector. We were interested in whether are there similar structures for representation of civil interests and can they influence the planning process. Beside national planning process we have taken a look at some element of it, like operative programs aiming the development of human resources (like HEFOP in Hungary) and a community initiative as EQUAL.

5.)   ANHSH own full membership in the Youth and Social Work Forum since 2005. The Y.E.S. Forum is a European network of 22 organizations in across 14 countries in the EU and one partner in Russia. It is bound together by a commitment to social inclusion and active participation of all children and young people who experience disadvantage and exclusion. As the Y.E.S. Forum is a network of organisations that work with and for young people, it is a platform for exchange of good practice for the various stakeholders of vocational training, youth work etc. Further the Y.E.S. Forum is recognised by the Commission as a partner and external expert in various working groups of the DG EAC. Hence it is conversant in transferring experience and knowledge from the practical field to actively influence European policies.

6.)   Four non-profit umbrella organization are co-operating to provide advisory and professional support services on three levels: professional forums on national level, territorial co-ordination, local advisory activity. The aim of this service is to improve the capacity of NGOs in order to improve the quality of their activity on both national and European levels. The title of the program is "EU-Háló"(EU-Net).

7.)   The HEFOP-Gordiusz project is complementing the "Eu-Háló" programme, by creating working communication between public donors and applicant civil society organizations, and by representing the interest of applicants.

8.)   ANHSH is a founder member and giving the current president of the Civil Employment Workshop(CFM). The CFM was founded in 2003 to unite those umbrella organizations taking an active role in the employment policy which was a governmental monopoly before. All the member organizations of the CFM are developing, using such special services and employment forms which are not realized by the employment institutions of the government because of either lack of authorisation, competence, professional capacity or adequate confidental capital. The latter is exceptionally important because the governmental employment institutions are providers and authorities  at the same time, so their clients - the unemployed individuals- do not have enough confidence toward these institutions. The CFM is the only civil organization in Hungary which has signed a bipartite agreement of cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour As improving employment levels and decreasing unemployment with innovative methods is both an important national and European aim, the existence and work of the CFM is crucial.

9.)   ANHSH is an active member of the NGOs for the Publicity of the National Development Plan(CNNy) action group. CNNy"s objective is to monitor and analyse the public consultation process of the National Development Plan II, and also, to work out recommendations concerning the actual implementation of the plan.

10.)                       The Watch Dog Programme aims to involve all of ANHSH"s member organisations in the legislative procedures by giving them forum for expounding their experience and opinion regarding the existing laws, their suggestions for modifying those that are not in conformity with the needs and the demands of the clients. ANHSH is collecting case studies, editing them in Watch Dog brochures, handing them to the competent legal actors in order to influence their work.