As Lithuania faces increasingly complex hybrid and security threats, the event drew more than a hundred participants representing NGOs, ministries, municipalities, and state institutions, with twice as many following the discussions online.
State needs the reach of civic organisations
Opening the forum, Minister of the Interior Vladislav Kondratovič emphasized that the challenges of recent years – from the pandemic and migration crisis to the reception of war refugees – have demonstrated the vital role of civic organisations.
“You are able to reach communities faster and more sensitively — often in places where the state’s hands have not yet reached,” said Minister Kondratovičius.
His words were echoed by Deputy Minister of National Defence Tomas Godliauskas and Head of the National Crisis Management Center Vilmantas Vitkauskas, who both underlined the growing appreciation of the NGO sector’s contribution to crisis response and preparedness.
Trust – the cornerstone of resilience
Within the project “NGOs Equipped for Civic Resilience,” initiated by the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania, the National NGO Coalition has organized crisis management training and tabletop exercises in ten municipalities.
“Our goal is for crisis preparedness to become everyone’s concern,” said Gaja Šavelė, Head of the National NGO Coalition.
According to Šavelė, the forum brought together experts from across the region to share experiences.
“Finland and Sweden have decades of experience involving volunteers in crisis preparedness, while Latvia is taking its first steps. The invaluable lessons of Ukrainians and Lithuanians working in Ukraine reminded us how essential trust and joint readiness already are,” she noted.
Šavelė stressed that trust remains the most important principle: “Even the strongest infrastructure cannot protect us if people do not trust the state – and the state does not trust its people.”
Civil resilience – a shared Nordic-Baltic priority
Ole Andreas Lindeman, Director of the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania, highlighted that the forum confirmed how similar the challenges facing the Nordic and Baltic countries are – making cooperation even more crucial.
“Resilience is strongest when civil society becomes an inseparable part of crisis management planning,” said Lindeman. “Clearly defined roles for volunteers, NGOs, businesses, and communities allow for swift and confident action.”
He emphasised that volunteerism can be both professional and reliable, and that the Nordic experience offers a model for the Baltic region to move from ad hoc initiatives toward structured, long-term resilience networks.
“Now is the time to act together,” Lindeman added. “We must plan even for the worst-case scenarios – precisely so that we can avoid them.”
In Nordic countries, the cooperation between the state and NGOs is institutionalised – volunteer engagement during crises is planned, organized, and embedded in legislation and crisis plans.
“Volunteers and organisations have clear roles, receive training and legal status, and are coordinated by a designated institution,” Lindeman explained. “A kind of ‘NGO register’ ensures that authorities know what resources are available – from organisations and their activities to their geographic coverage – enabling the state to mobilize civil society quickly and effectively.”
The Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania plans to continue projects that strengthen societal resilience across the region.
Lessons from Ukraine: resilience under fire
The painful but invaluable experiences of Ukrainian NGOs during the first days of Russia’s invasion were shared by Olha Milianovych, representative of the East Europe Foundation.
“It was natural that at first everyone experienced shock,” she recalled. “In the first weeks, volunteer organisations focused on the most urgent needs – helping humanitarian NGOs, adapting e-services to function in wartime conditions, and organising online emotional resilience courses for parents.”
As the emergency became the new normal, short-term efforts evolved into long-term programmemes. Milianovych urged NGOs across Europe to anticipate “day X” scenarios and plan how each person and organisation could contribute if disaster strikes.
Lithuanian NGOs ready to act together
The forum brought together representatives from the Lithuanian Network of Organisations for Poverty Reduction, Lithuanian Red Cross, Lithuanian Disability Forum, Caritas, Order of Malta Relief Service, Food Bank, Save the Children, and other humanitarian organisations – all expressing readiness to cooperate and act as one in future crises.
Marija Bočiarovaitė from the Lithuanian Disability Forum reminded participants of an often-overlooked truth: “People with disabilities are not only those who need help – they can also be an invaluable resource in both armed and unarmed civil resistance, in training, and in other essential tasks.”
The event was organized as part of the project “NGOs Equipped for Civic Resilience,” financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania and the Ministry of National Defence.
