Call for Proposals: EU Support to Confidence Building in Serbia

Deadline: 3-Aug-23

The second public call for project proposals is published within the regional project “Support of the European Union to building trust in the Western Balkans”, which is financed by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The goal of the public call is to support the projects of civil society organizations aimed at the promotion and protection of the rights of victims and survivors during the conflict of the 1990s, as well as their families.

The project will provide professional support to judicial and law enforcement authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia in the processing of war crimes cases at the national level, improve the conditions for regional cooperation in the processing of these cases, improve the provision of support victims of war crimes and witnesses and to strengthen the capacities of relevant actors in supporting victims. In this way, the efficient and effective processing of war crimes in the Western Balkans, focused on victims and respect for human rights, would be improved.

The project will strengthen local actors to raise public awareness of past crimes, including dialogue and exchange of views between a wide range of stakeholders, especially young people and future leaders, to contribute to a better understanding of the crimes committed during the 1990s conflict in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The project will effectively include gender equality, by systematically including a gender perspective and gender-responsive justice.

All interventions will aim to increase both responsibility for war crimes in the region and public support for it, as well as strengthening dialogue within societies and between ethnic groups about the crimes committed during the 1990s, all with the aim of achieving sustainable peace in the region and building a more resilient society and stronger social cohesion.

Objective

• The public call is aimed at civil society organizations, including victims’ associations, which provide support to victims and their families in a gender-responsive manner.

Funding Information

• The total financial resources for awarding grants amount to EUR 800,000 and will be awarded.
• The minimum amount per grant is EUR 5,000
• The maximum amount per grant is EUR 80,000

Duration

• Duration of the proposed project: minimum 4 months, maximum 24 months.
• In exceptional situations, when it comes to complex projects, they can last 36 months, which are preferably implemented by two or more entities, and if there is a solid justification for this.

Eligible Activities

• The activities supported by the public call are:
  • Supporting victims and survivors to achieve better access to justice and institutional services, including, for example, exercising the right to compensation and reparations, informing victims and survivors about their rights;
  • Support for criminal justice, among other things, by providing witness access to the premises of courts and prosecutor’s offices, support for the participation of survivors (witnesses, victims, injured parties) and trial observers in trial processes;
  • Psychosocial support for victims, survivors and their families – external or peer (including addressing the effects of transgenerational transmission of trauma);
  • Public advocacy campaign to improve the rights and status of victims and survivors;
  • Supporting victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (including their families, especially children born after war rape, to address the effects of transgenerational transmission of trauma);
  • Capacity building and mentoring of small civil society organizations by more experienced organizations (to increase their sustainability in relation to project planning and implementation, fundraising, campaigns, public advocacy and communication, etc.) improving their operational infrastructure;
  • Enable and promote better and direct communication between victims and relevant local authorities.

Criteria

• Applicants who meet the conditions for receiving grants are:
  • Non-governmental organizations and associations that gather victims of war crimes as well as survivors and their families, and deal with the protection and promotion of the rights and interests of these groups (registered in Serbia);
  • Non-governmental organizations and associations dealing with the promotion and protection of victims and their rights, transitional justice, human rights, providing psychosocial support, free legal aid;
  • Non-governmental academic, research and scientific organizations, which are active in the field of victimology.
• Each grant can be awarded to a project led by one qualified organization, or two or more qualified organizations (consortium); in the case of a consortium, only one entity applies as the main applicant, who signs the contract with UNDP and is responsible to UNDP for the implementation of the project.

For more information, visit United Nations Development Program (UNDP).