• To support democratic, pluralistic society and peaceful participation in the transition to democracy.
• To strengthen the operations and performance of civil society organizations in representing constituencies' interests and advocating for peaceful change.
• To improve government responsiveness and accountability.
• To build tolerance for alternative views and opinions.

• Support civil society efforts to organize public forums, debates, and peaceful demonstrations.
• Build capacity of civil society organizations to define, articulate, advocate and disseminate political agendas.
• Assist efforts to contribute to electoral and other national debates.
• Publicize models of effective civic action.
• Sponsor workshops and trainings on areas of need, including team-building, media relations and conflict management.
• Help elite organizations reach out to constituents and develop grassroots support.
• Link civil society groups with elected officials and media representatives.
• Assist civic groups in developing strategic plans and effective messages.

In Serbia, OTI backed the efforts of civil society groups such as Otpor, a student opposition group that helped generate grassroots support for Milosevic's defeat in October 2000. OTI provided in-kind assistance for Otpor's outreach work, including hall rentals, air time for TV and radio, printing costs, and other campaign materials.

In DROC, through small grants administered by CARE, OTI offers direct material and technical support to national and local groups undertaking innovative peacebuilding and civil society development projects. OTI-sponsored activities provide ways for civil society organizations to enhance their outreach capacities, and develop the skills needed to participate in decision-making processes.

Lessons Learned about Civil Society Development

In Serbia, OTI sponsored billboard and public information campaigns to encourage citizens to combat corruption in their communities.

• Civil society must work with media during all phases of a transition to create momentum for political change. Although media are useful for communicating information, research shows that information alone is not enough to change opinions or actions. NGOs are needed for people to learn about an issue and then be able to act on it. Creating partnerships between NGOs and media grantees can maximize donor impact.
  
  
• Each program should set up clear and specific criteria to decide when civil society funding is productive to the overall goals of the program.
  
  
• Support to civil society organizations should include message development and encouragement to pursue these messages in all organizational activities. However, there needs to be a balance between not having any involvement with the grantees once the funds are awarded and having complete control over their actions and messages. Grantee organizations have important roles to play in building civil society, but their impact will be limited if the public believes that they are merely puppets of foreign governments.