Vox Civica Association

VOX CIVICA ASSOCIATION PARTNER PROFILE FOR ERASMUS+ PROJECTS NAME: Vox Civica Association OID: E PROFILE: Non-governmental organization FISCAL CODE: ADDRESS: Str. Răchitei nr. 3 bis CITY: Buzău Municipality, ZIP CODE: 120163 COUNTRY: Romania (RO) REGION: South-East PHONE: E-MAIL: WEBSITE: www.voxcivica.ro Legal representative: Iosif CĂLIN, e-mail: ; phone: First person: Iosif CĂLIN, e-mail: ; phone: . Second person: Andreea-Elena ȚURCAN, e-mail: ; phone: PLEASE SELECT THE MAIN SECTOR OF ACTIVITY: The main sector of the activities of our organization is supporting sustainable development of poor and marginalized communities, as well as of the disadvantaged people in various vulnerable groups, everywhere in Europe. BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE 1. Please briefly present the organisation/group (e.g. its type, scope of work, areas of activity and if applicable, approximate number of paid/unpaid staff, learners and members of the group) – maximum 4000 characters; Vox Civica Association is an NGO, Romanian legal entity of private law, non-profit, non-governmental, apolitical, independent and public interest, established in 2010, based on GEO no. 26/2000, having as founding members people from Buzau municipality. Vox Civic Association aims to advocate for: - Supporting the sustainable development of disadvantaged communities, especially those of national minorities at the county, national and European level; - Supporting the personal development of young people belonging to vulnerable groups in general, providing for them the conditions for asserting their ideals, values and aspirations; - Promoting and fostering tolerance, multiculturalism and diversity in multiethnic communities; - Combating ethnic discrimination and fighting for human rights respect. In carrying out its work, our organization is based on the principles of tolerance, multiculturalism, non-discrimination, respect, fairness, principled, accountability, legality, transparency, competence, professionalism, efficiency, solidarity, volunteering, advocating, also, for promoting the values universally recognized as freedom, dignity, equality. Concerning the domains in which we have a high level of expertise and in which we can bring an important added value, these are the same domains in which Vox Civica has implemented many projects in the last ten years, such as: - Education - we can draft curricula, perform extracurricular activities, achieve surveys among students and teachers, to develop activities of „Afterschool” type, we know very well the Romanian education legislation etc; - Entrepreneurship and Labour Market - we know the whole legislation and we know how to setting up, modifying and deleting a company or concerning the freelancers; we know to draft affair plans, development strategies, organize acquisitions and tendering, attract and promote human resources etc. - Youth - we are well known for developing strategies for attracting and involving youngsters in activities of public interest (NGO) such as public participation activities and community development, projects implementation, in various volunteering activities, as well as, to develop strategies and programs for the youth workers, we know how to work, empathise and manage the relations with the young volunteers, we know how to organize activities for personal development for this target-group, to offer for them mentoring activities etc. - Human rights - we know to draft and to develop promotion campaigns, sustain and fight for human rights and public rights violations; we can give free of charge consultancy for all kinds of human rights violations and to represent, pro bono, any person before the civil Courts. - New technologies - we are available to learn and, as well, to participate in the efforts of developing and imposing new technologies in Education, Entrepreneurship, Recycling, Climate Change and, of course, ICT. - As well, our organization is recognized as a training provider for adult education and carries out training in various fields of interest in NGO areas such as education, entrepreneurship, health, mentorship, human rights, volunteering, recycling etc. When we talk about our staff and key persons who can be involved in projects, at this moment, we have two permanent employees, with work part-time contracts (four hours a day), according to Romanian law, for whom we pay all legal fees and taxes. The hired persons are the secretary and the accountant, people without whom we can`t achieve our activity. In the project’s implementation we are working, also, with six volunteers whom we conclude work contracts during the projects, young people who come back at their status of volunteers when the projects end, and other five-six voluntary people with whom we are working occasionally. Many of our volunteers are working in various social services within public institutions or in education. Their professional background is mainly in the field of social assistance, sociology, psychology, law, public administration, education. Also, we have as volunteers students in law, social assistance, education, even student in local colleges, in the final years of the studies. 2. What are the activities and experiences of the organisation in the areas relevant to this project? What are the skills and/or expertise of key persons involved in this project? – maximum 4000 characters; Vox Civica was involved in many projects, mainly having as goals to improve the life of people living in poor conditions with fewer chances to access a normal life due to many factors, socially or personally. The projects we are implementing cover a large area of domains but particularly in the fields of education, health, entrepreneurship, labour market, informal and nonformal competence evaluation, human rights defending electoral education. All these projects managed to change to some extent measure the life of the beneficiaries, such as these have reached their objectives. Our projects had various financiers like European Union within pre-accession funds (PHARE), European Economic Area funds (EEA), Norway Funds, Open Society Foundation, European Social Fund within Sectoral Operation Program - Human Resources Development (in Romanian, POSDRU 2007- 2014), Civil Society Development Fund, Roma Education Fund, Buzău Municipality Local Council, Buzău County Council. Starting in 2013, Vox Civica was involved in European projects, first, as an informal Partner, in Grundtvig and Leonardo da Vinci projects and from 2015 in Erasmus + projects as a Partner with equal rights. Erasmus+ projects: 1. THRIVE II (No. 2020-1-RO01-KA): Mobilities for Adult Education – Drafting European Funds projects; 2. Roma Health Care II (No. 2018-1-DE02-KA): Education of health mediators for Roma people; 3. ROMINKO II (No. 2015-1-DE02-KA): Assessment of the informal and nonformal competencies of people in vulnerable groups; 4. THRIVE (No. 2017-1-RO01-KA): Mobilities for Adult Education – Combating illiteracy among Roma; 5. RomABC – the next dimension (No. 2017-1-DE02-KA): Combating illiteracy among Roma; 6. A New EntrANCE (No. 2016-1-DE02-KA): Developing entrepreneurial skills among people from vulnerable groups; 7. ROMINKO (No. 2015-1-DE02-KA): Assessment of the informal and nonformal competencies according to France procedures in Bilan de competences; 8. YouthCompass (No. 2015-2-HU02-KA): Assessment of the informal and nonformal competencies of young people according to France procedures in Bilan de competences; 9. RomABC goes Europe (No. 2015-1-DE02-KA): Combating illiteracy among young people in vulnerable groups. KEY STAFF Concerning the key staff of the organization, we mention the legal representative of Vox Civica Association, Mr Iosif CĂLIN and Mrs Andreea-Elena Țurcan. Mr Iosif CĂLIN is graduated in History and Philosophy and has a master degree in Public Administration. - After graduating, he worked almost 20 years as a teacher in History and Social Sciences in Buzău municipality (1983 - 2001); - Since 2001 he worked in public administration as counsellor of the Prefect in Buzău Prefecture for social issues and Roma minority (2001 -2005 and 2014 - 2019). Between he was the spokesman of the Prefecture. - Since 2006 he worked as counsellor of the Mayor of Buzău Municipality for Roma minority and social issues (. - Since 2001 he was involved in the drafting and implementation of many projects (education, entrepreneurship, labour market, electoral education, human rights) for the benefit of vulnerable groups, including the Roma minority. - He has a good command of English, French, Italian and Russian. Mrs Andreea – Elena ȚURCAN is graduated in Social Assistance having a master degree in Probation. - Right from the setting up of Vox Civica Association, in 2010, she became a passionate volunteer of the organization being involved in many activities and projects. - Student being, Andreea was hired to the Buzău City Hall as a local expert for Roma issues, within a project financed by European funds and implemented by National Agency for Roma. From 2011 she became an employee with permanent status. - She managed to solve many personal issues of Roma and other vulnerable people in Buzău regarding the identity papers and properties documents of the houses or the lands of the Roma. Since 2010, Andreea continues to work within Buzău Municipality as a local expert for Roma issues, being an important person in relations between local authorities and the Roma people. - She is one of the core staff of Vox Civica being skilled in many activities we implement in various projects.