Documentation and Analysis Department – defending the good name of Poland

Project co-financed from the state budget funds within the framework of the Government Program for the Development of Civic Organizations and the Government Program Civic Initiatives Fund NOWEFIO, edition 2022

Competition PROO-1a Edition 2022

application no. 48363-2

Within the PROO 1a competition „Sustainable Organizational Development – Support for Mission Activities and Institutional Development”, our organization received support for the implementation of mission (statutory) activities and institutional strengthening.

The Government Program for the Development of Civic Organizations (PROO) is a government grant program for organizations in the non-governmental sector, under which beneficiaries will receive funds to support the development of their organizations which will enable them to better carry out their statutory activities.

The main objective of the Government Program for the Development of Civic Organizations is to support the institutional development of civil society organizations and to increase the participation of these organizations in public life and the dissemination of democratic norms of citizenship.

The specific objectives of the Program are:

1. Increasing the involvement of citizens and civic organizations in public life;
2. Strengthen civic organizations strategically;
3. Improve the financial stability of civic organizations.

The project will include building human capital and technical resources within the framework of a coherent, multi-year strategy and program for the development of the organization, in particular the expansion of the Foundation’s main tool – the Analysis and Documentation Department, the expansion and modernization of the information system, the initiation of cooperation with a professional law firm specializing in disinformation and protection of personal rights, and the implementation of interventions with the help of a translation agency.

The overriding need of the Foundation is the personnel expansion of the key element of the activities of the Polish League Against Defamation – the „Documentation and Analysis Department”, which is the pillar of the organization’s activities, while being the main tool in the realization of the statutory goal, which is to defend the good name of the Republic of Poland and the Polish Nation against disinformation acts. The Polish League Against Defamation, thanks to the work of the Documentation and Analysis Department, can effectively counter attempts to falsify the image of Poland and Poles, falsify history (e.g., the use of the phrase „Polish concentration camps”), „fake news” about our country and other defamatory acts occurring both online and in public space. The replenishment of the department’s staff will result in a reorganization of the department, the creation of a position overseeing the work of the department and the division of experts in relation to specific areas (so far there is one general area).

A key element is also the improvement of the existing information system (an instrument to support searching information on the web regarding defamation and fake news), enabling the Foundation to bring to a higher level of efficiency in searching for defamatory content on the Internet, which will search the software’s online resources faster, more efficiently and more effectively. Expenditures will be used to purchase, develop and operate a state-of-the-art information system that aggregates data from cyberspace, as well as experts to process and analyze the collected information and search the public space for potential acts of diffamation.

Ultimately, as part of the Program, we will supplement the need to adapt the workplace to meet a range of office requirements, including the addition of space for the safe storage of documentation (which we collect in significant quantities and keep for many years as part of our interventions). In addition, the enlargement of work space for employees, resulting from the expansion of the team to include more specialists, necessary for the implementation of awarded projects, the hiring of a permanent employee with a disability, and the need to meet with people in need of the support offered by our Foundation. Hence the need for greater accessibility of the office space for such employees (with disabilities – such as elevators) and visitors (who are often elderly or ill).

All of the above categories of problems are significant constraints on the development of the Foundation and impede the effective realization of the statutory goal of defending the good name of the Republic and the Polish Nation. Participation in the PROO-1a Program addresses these needs and gives the Foundation the opportunity to carry out our mission, through support in enabling the rental of the Foundation’s office, improving the information system, and supporting the staff of the Documentation and Analysis Department.

Project implementation date 2022/2024