Active Citizens Fund seeking Applications for Ad-hoc Action Projects (Croatia)

Deadline: 24-Aug-20

The Active Citizens Fund has announced the Ad-hoc Action Call to support civil society organisations and civic initiatives when urgent responses are needed either to tackle immediate challenges (e.g., pressures on civic space and incidences of hate speech) or to seize very specific windows of opportunity for influencing public opinion and policy process through various forms of citizen participation and public action including campaigning and advocacy, legal, communicational or other.

• Democracy, active citizenship, good governance and transparency,
• Human rights and equal treatment through combating any discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity,
• Social justice and inclusion of vulnerable groups,
• Gender equality and gender-based violence,
• Environment and climate change.

• Strengthened civil society watchdog/advocacy role;
• Increased support for human rights, rule of law and good governance;
• Strengthened democratic culture and civic awareness and engagement;
• Enhanced capacity and sustainability of civil society (organisations and sector)
• Enhanced collaboration between Croatia and donor state entities involved in the Programme
• Strengthened regional (cross-border) cooperation in the civil society sector.

• Requested contribution of ACF funding: between 1.000 and 5.000 EUR:
• Available indicative budget for AHA projects: 215.000 Euros
• Remaining budget available: 181.588 Euro
• Project maximum funding rate: 100 % of eligible expenditure.
• Project duration: 1 – 3 months

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants are civil society organisations (CSOs) established in Republic of Croatia if they meet following definition:

• “A non-profit voluntary organization established as a legal entity, having a non-commercial purpose, independent of local, regional and central government, public entities, political parties and commercial organizations. Religious institutions and political parties are not considered NGOs”.

• Are non-profit organizations that have not been created nor operate to generate personal profit. Although they may have paid staff and may engage in revenue- generating activities, they do not distribute profits to their members nor to their board. Where revenuegenerating activities are undertaken, these should not represent the purpose of the NGO but should be solely a means to support its mission and values;
• Have members who do not have any direct commercial interest in the outcome of the work of the organizations or of its commercial activities and should not pursue the commercial or professional interests of their members. This requirement therefore excludes trade and professional associations, where the aims and purposes of the association are to further the specific interests of its membersonly;
• Are voluntary in nature, formed voluntarily by groups or individuals and usually involving an element of voluntary participation in theorganization;
• Act in the public arena and for the public good on concerns and issues related to the wellbeing of people, groups or society as awhole;
• Have some degree of formal or institutional existence, unlike informal or ad hoc groups, involving formal statutes or other governing document(s) defining their mission, objectives and scope;
• Have transparent structures and an elected chair / board, and are accountable to their members and donors;
• Are independent of local, regional and national government and other public authorities;
• Are independent of political parties and commercial organizations,
• Conducts transparent financial operations validated through Register of Non-profit Organizations (RNO) with Croatian Ministry of Finance.

For more information, visit https://acfcroatia.hr/en/ad-hoc-action-projects/