Deadline: 19 May 2020
Under the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, and its action on “Promotion of diversity and equality in Montenegro”, the Council of Europe is launching a call for proposals with the aim to fund specific measures to favour inclusion and combat inequalities of vulnerable groups, and/or raise awareness against hate speech targeting these groups in the specific context of the spread of the COVID virus in Montenegro.
The purpose of the Action is improving the functioning of anti-discrimination mechanisms and their accessibility to vulnerable groups in line with European standards and CoE monitoring bodies’ findings and recommendations, notably those from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) as well where applicable those of the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and those of the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for the Regional and Minorities languages (ECRML).
In particular, it aims to:
- Support initiatives to harmonise the anti-discrimination framework across the country and to develop and implement the respective action plans/strategies in relation to anti-discrimination, LGBTI rights and combating hate speech;
- Strengthen the capacity of the authorities, local governments and/or equality bodies in order to allow them to better tailor their interventions to address discrimination and increase cooperation among authorities in this field;
- Increase the knowledge and awareness of the general public about the importance of ant-discrimination policies, about the rights of LGBTI persons and about the dangers posed by hate speech, offering means to develop counter-narratives.
Project partners include institutions of Montenegro, primarily the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and the Ombudsman, as well as the European Union delegation in Podgorica, civil society organisations, local authorities and other relevant stakeholders.
Objectives
The grants will fund activities aimed at supporting, in the context of the current situation of COVID virus spread, the concrete follow-up at local level on issues of inequality, challenges to social inclusion and discrimination which were raised in the last country report of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), as well as, where applicable, those of the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and those of the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for the Regional and Minorities languages (ECRML).
Projects designed could address the following issues:
- Promotion and protection of the right of vulnerable persons in the local communities including issues related to impaired access to health, adequate accommodation and facilities and social services;
- Combating hate speech and hate motivated violence, notably stigmatization of vulnerable groups and their increased exposure to violence.
Projects/Actions
- Combining multiple forms of discrimination and/or hate speech (e.g. against national minorities, LGBTI persons, women etc.);
- Supporting initiatives and actions that promote and encourage fighting discrimination such as on ground of ethnic or national origin, and enhancing intercultural dialogue, mutual respect, understanding and cooperation among all persons living in the local community;
- Linking local level existing strategies in the above-mentioned relevant areas (anti-discrimination, LGBTI persons, combating hate speech and hate motivated violence) or supporting the preparation of such strategies;
- Incorporating gender mainstreaming elements and paying particular attention to the interplay between gender and other discrimination grounds, such as ethnicity, nationality and language, which in time of COVID-19 emergency is likely to worsen the already existing structural disparities related to gender;With a strong link with Council of Europe work in the field of inclusion and anti-discrimination policies.
- Including list of visibility activities that should be implemented through the grant, aiming to promote tolerance, among general public – public has access to fact-based/well-researched information on antidiscrimination and/or sexual minorities (and their rights) and/or on hate speech. Based on this it can make a positive connotation with issues linked to the vulnerable groups in society; stimulate media interest and increase the number of media reports aimed at increasing awareness related to the promotion of tolerance, combating hate speech and discrimination; provide visibility of the contribution of the HF II Programme as well as EU and CoE support to “Promotion of diversity and equality in Montenegro”.
The following types of action will not be considered:
- Projects/actions providing financial support to third parties (re-granting schemes);
- Projects/actions concerning only or mainly individual scholarships for studies or training courses;
- Projects/actions supporting political parties.
Funding Information
- The indicative available budget under this call for proposals is 20.000 Euros (twenty thousand Euros). The Council of Europe/the European Union intends to award grants of a maximum amount of 10.000 Euros each.
- The implementation period of the projects should start on 31 May 2020 and shall not extend beyond 30 September 2020 (3 months).
- Reporting requirements shall be completed on 31 October 2020 at the latest.
Target stakeholders
Projects should target, in particular, the following key stakeholders:
- Civil society organisations
- Vulnerable groups
- General population
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be eligible for a grant, an applicant must:
- be legally constituted as a non-governmental organisation in Montenegro;
- be entitled to carry out the activities described in its project proposal on the territory of Montenegro;
- have been active for at least three years in the field of human rights/anti-discrimination;
- have sufficient financial capacity (stable and sufficient sources of funding) to maintain its activity throughout the period for which the grant is awarded and to participate by way of its own resources (including human resources or in-kind contributions);
- have sufficient operational and professional capacity, including staff, to carry out activities described in its project proposal;
- have a bank account.
For more information, visit https://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/horizontal-facility/-/call-for-proposals-support-to-civil-society-organisations-in-fighting-discrimination-during-covid-19-crisis-promotion-of-diversity-and-equality-in-mon