Capacity Building Programme: Focus on Romania
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In September 2017, we concluded the fourth module of our Capacity Building Programme in Romania. In Romania, twenty organisations revised their strategic plan and developed their communication strategies.
Launched in 2012, the Capacity Building Programme is designed to develop the capacity of both national and European patient organisations through various training modules. The programme is currently active in Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Poland.
Raising the profile of Romanian patient organisations
The training module on mid-term revision of the strategic planning and strategic communication is the fourth training module offered to Romania patient organisations as part of the EPF Capacity Building Programme. It follows on the strategic and operational planning module (2013 and 2014 respectively) and the first thematic training on fundraising (2015).
The overall objective of the training was to strengthen the capacity of the twenty participating organisations in the area of strategic communication, with the view to enable these organisations to create long-term communications planning and tools and achieve better visibility and sustainability.
Thanks to the capacity building module, the participating organisations were able to:
- acquire knowledge on internal and external communications;
- design or upgrade their communications strategies and plans;
- enhance visibility at national and international level with communications tools;
- identify communication approaches that best suit their organisation.
Some examples
As a result of the training the National Coalition of Patients in Romania, COPAC, revised their communication plan. In 2017, they successfully organised the second edition of the COPAC Gala, celebrating and assigning prizes to projects in the health field that distinguish themselves for a specific attention to patients.
We also coached another organisation, the National Union of Patients of HIV on kicking off their campaign “Are you HIV Negative? Test yourself and be sure” as well as an anti-stigma campaign dedicated to high school students.
The Association for Patient with Multiple Sclerosis revamped its communication strategy supporting the opening of new branches and organising a series of events (MS Patient’s Organisation Ethic Code workshop, MS Summer school, National Seminar MS 2017) with the aim of increasing their visibility. Amongst other things, their hard work helped them in obtaining a new agreement with the Romanian Health Minister for better future cooperation.
And these are just some examples! The module proved to be highly useful for all the participating organisations. In their feedback, they highlighted the importance and value of being able to share experiences with fellow patient organisations.
The module was also the occasion to strengthen the collaboration between the Romanian National Coalition COPAC, EPF members and partners on the ground, and its participating members.
Keep an eye for our 2018 calls!
We are currently revisiting our current Capacity Building Programme and developing new formats. If you would like to know more about the Capacity Building Programme, with updated news on what is happening in each country, have a look at our website.
Contact person:
Elena Balestra, Membership and Capacity Building Officer