The role of non-governmental organizations in the period of socio-economic transformation

Abstract

The socio-economic system of Ukraine has been in constant transformation over the last decades, which highlights the importance of establishing mechanisms for improving the social protection system of the population by delegating state social functions to other actors, such as: the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in order to use public funds more efficiently, better meet the needs of population in social services and achieving maximum social protection in general. Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to explore the role and importance of NGOs in the context of social policy, to analyze potential threats and opportunities for delegating social service delivery functions to non-governmental organizations. Thus, a systematic approach and SWOT analysis were used to achieve these goals. It has been argued that socio-economic transformation is an impetus for reviewing the distribution of social functions between sectors of the economy, as well as the development of civil society and the system of non-governmental organizations. Hence, the coordinated actions of the NGOs and businesses to provide social protection to the population in a period of transformation and global crises contribute to the weakening of the financial pressure on the State budget, increase the level of public trust in the state, unity of the population and its voluntary involvement in solving pressing social problems. The results of the SWOT analysis confirmed the effectiveness and the necessity to involve NGOs in providing social services based on their decentralized management; territorial proximity to service recipients; a high level of adaptability to social and service demand changes; in addition, such a reorganization of the social service delivery system contributes to improving the quality of social services and creating competition between service providers, increasing the level of citizens' involvement in decision-making processes on further community development, and the accumulation of social capital. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of social service delivery, as well as the mechanisms for involving the private sector in providing social services and helping to address social problems.