Deadline: 20-Sep-2024
The Minority Rights Group Europe (MRGE), along with PILnet, has partnered together on the Minorities, Accountability, Rights, Independence and Organizational Development (MARIO) programme to build a supportive environment for grassroots Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) engaged in the promotion and protection of EU values across Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia.
They select, provide financial support, and build the capacity of grassroots CSOs representing minority communities with grants. They do it for both national and transnational values. They do it to increase the resilience of grassroots CSOs. They do it to advance the protection, promotion and awareness of EU fundamental rights and values in the EU.
Objectives and Results
- Through the sub-grants they will be funding projects which aim to achieve the following objectives and results:
- CSOs representing minority groups are equipped with the tools to meaningfully engage in awareness raising on EU Fundamental Rights and values
- Minority CSOs and stronger and more sustainable though financial support of the grants
- Increased knowledge and understanding of EU fundamental values among minority communities
- Strengthen community capacities to hold local and national authorities (and other duty-bearers) to account through application of national and European human rights mechanisms
- Minority communities are more aware of EU fundamental rights and its effect on their life
- Decision makers better understand minority concerns and make some moves towards improving policy.
- Media coverage, campaigns and research as grant activities raises minority concerns in general public
Limitations
- They want to address these limitations: the lack of relevant funding opportunities, the lack of access to EU structures and mechanisms that protect and promote human rights, the lack of institutional support and related partnership opportunities, and the limited capacity for awareness-raising and advocacy, and how all this limits the potential of so many promising organizations.
Funding Information
- Annual grants of €15.000
Eligible Activities
- Local accountability projects i.e., community-local authority problem solving workshops and dialogues.
- Activities that investigate, address, or publicise gaps or failures in the rule of law.
- Projects that contribute to democratic participation, including civic responsibility education projects, and advocacy with local authorities or relevant political parties for inclusion of minorities.
- Legal capacity projects and campaigns that build communities’ legal capacity to access justice mechanisms to achieve their rights i.e., direct legal advice, mediator training, legal support involving violation of the rights of minorities.
- Local advocacy projects and campaigns that give voice to local minority (and majority) concerns and support policy changes to address challenges and failings.
Eligibility Criteria
- In ordered to be considered eligible, organizations interested in applying must:
- be registered legal entities, to be non-profit making organisation and civil society organisation, have a bank account, be established and active in the target countries;
- prove having no public debt, comply with GDPR, anti-corruption measures and prove absence of conflict of interest;
- demonstrate their commitment and compliance to EU fundamental rights and values;
- have a balanced gender composition or community members represented within their internal leadership and team structure (desirable, not mandatory);
- be a small, local, rural, grass-root CSO representing the rights of minority and vulnerable groups, including minority/community led organisations, and have a close working relationship with and the trust of one or more disadvantaged ethnic, religious or linguistic community (including migrants and refugees).
For more information, visit Minority Rights Group.