Deadline: 17-May-24
Proposals are now being invited to support projects designed at strengthening local initiative groups, coalitions and platforms built within the Council of Europe project, which will enhance participation of national minorities and Roma in the decision-making at local level during the conflict, working in close co-operation with regional and local authorities.
This call for proposals is launched in the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Supporting the reform of the national minority legal framework and the resilience of national minorities and Roma in Ukraine” implemented till 31 December 2024, funded through the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026.
Project proposals shall aim to produce an added value to the Council of Europe efforts in this domain and during current circumstances.
The purpose of the Project is to enhance the legal and policy frameworks to protect national minority rights, help to strengthen capacities of relevant institutions at the local level, to replicate good practices at local level and disseminate them to the rest of the country through training of multipliers, changing relevant policies and enhancing networking.
Aims
- In particular, it aims to:
- ensure that relevant institutions and other stakeholders effectively implement legal and policy reforms on protecting and promoting the rights of national minorities, including Roma, in accordance with the provisions of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML);
- foster co-operation among local authorities, local initiative groups and national minorities, including Roma, for a stronger societal cohesion and resilience in conflict and post-conflict times. Specific attention is given to internally displaced persons from minority communities from the occupied regions in the East/Southeast of Ukraine;
- give continuity to the assistance so far provided to the Roma community in Ukraine, notably by enhancing the capacity of central and local level institutions in the field of Roma inclusion policies, as well as Roma participation in political and public life at local level.
Funding Information
- The indicative available budget under this call for proposals is 30,000 EUR (thirty thousand Euros).
- The Council of Europe intends to award 6 grant(s) of a maximum amount of 5,000 EUR (five thousand Euros) each.
- Subject to availability of funds and extension of the Project initial duration, the Council of Europe reserves the right not to award all available funds, and/or to redistribute the available funds in a different manner depending on the project proposals received and on the outcome of the call for proposals.
- Duration
- The implementation period of the projects should start on 01 June 2024 and shall not extend beyond 30 September 2024.
- Reporting requirements shall be completed on 31 October 2024 at the latest.
Eligible Activities
- Projects may include specifically tailored activities to the conflict circumstances, notably by proposing the following sample activities:
- Assistance at the local level to internally displaced representatives of national minorities and Roma due to the conflict to support their active participation in social and public life;
- Provision of legal and other social form of assistance to youth from national minorities in cooperation with public institutions to promote their participation in local public governance;
- Awareness-raising activities targeting national minority groups and civil society organizations aimed at raising awareness on social challenges and political issues, as well as on the important role of national minorities in solving these problems.
Eligible Projects
- Projects/actions proposed by NGOs in partnership with the authorities working with/on national minority issues during conflict times;
- Projects/actions targeting the following regions in Ukraine: Odesa, Volyn, Transcarpathia, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv and Vinnytsia;
- Projects/actions involving the initiatives related to combating discrimination, strengthening the participation of representatives of national communities in the decision-making process at the local level, as well as increasing the cohesion of IDPs from national minorities.
Ineligible Projects
- 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.
Eligibility Criteria
- be legally constituted as a non-governmental organisation in Ukraine;
- be entitled to carry out in Ukraine activities described in its project proposal;
- have been active for at least 3 (three) years in the field of protection of national minorities, and/or 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 Council of Europe.