Civil society organizations need support from the wider society to be able to fulfill their mission and maintain their legitimacy and financial stability. The importance of strengthened ties of the civil society organizations to the people and various groups around them has been demonstrated in post-communist Central Europe over the last decade in particular, when many organizations have been challenged by repeated attempts to delegitimize their work and to limit the space in which they operate. Moreover, the growing fragmentation has evolved as a deeper problem which is making the society break up into groups pitched against each other in a variety of situations. The ensuing distrust among people and organizations alike can undermine a healthy environment for democracy, including the civic space that civil society organizations need to uphold key values and deliver services for all groups in society.
In response to these trends, Open Society Fund Prague, Glopolis, Open Society Foundation Bratislava and the NIOK Foundation have created a consortium to implement the Stronger Roots Program since 2019 and jointly strive to strengthen the roots of civil society in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
The Stronger Roots Program aims to increase the resilience of civil society organizations and their networks, strengthen their social capital and embed them in the communities and societies in which they operate.