Netherlands Embassy in Poland: 2017 Embassy Funds for Developing Civil Society and Democracy in Belarus

Deadline: 13 February 2017

The Netherlands Embassy in Warsaw, Poland is seeking applicants for its Embassy Funds for Belarus 2017 in order to support the development of civil society and democracy in Belarus. The Netherlands is convinced that dynamic development of a vibrant, modern and energetic civil society is vital to the quality of democracy, economic development and civilization progress in Belarus.

The Netherlands has made two programmes available:

The Human Rights Fund
The Netherlands Fund for Regional Partnership – Matra (NFRP – MATRA)

Types of Programme

The Netherlands Fund for Regional Partnership – Matra (NFRP – MATRA): In order to be eligible for a NFRP – MATRA grant projects must aim at promotion of the process of transformation of Belarus into a pluralist, democratic country by helping to create a stronger engaged civil society. NFRP – MATRA is a demand-driven programme.
Human Rights Fund: The objective of the Human Rights Fund is to support initiatives that promote the implementation of fundamental freedoms and the protection of the rights of groups of people that are subject to discrimination.
- The main principles of the Dutch Human Rights Policy are set out in the document “Human Rights Policy – justice and respect for all”. For this call for proposals the Embassy will select projects explicitly focusing on:
  - Human Rights Defenders;
  - Equal Rights for Women;
  - Equal rights for LGBT;
  - Freedom of Speech and Internet; Freedom of Religion and Belief; Freedom of the Press;
  - Human Rights and Development;
  - Business and Human Rights;

Grant Information

The Embassy will award grants to a maximum of € 25,000,- (the Embassy reserves the right to award higher grants in exceptional cases).

Eligibility Criteria

Only non-governmental and non-profit organisations (including independent media) are eligible to take part in this call for proposals.
The following projects, activities and budget items are not eligible for funding under NFRP – MATRA or Human Rights Fund:
- Projects that have already started OR that have been submitted after the closing date of the calls for proposals;
- Commercial activities;
- Projects that entirely repeat previous projects;
- (Re)construction costs (buildings) in projects;
Applications must be relevant to the NFRP – MATRA or the Human Rights Fund objectives;
The duration of a project may not exceed twelve months;
The project should be an initiative responding to local needs;
The project goal should be clearly stated, as well as the expected results;
The target group should be clearly defined;
The target group should be actively involved in all stages of the project;
The target group should carry a part of the project burden (financial or in kind)
The project should clearly indicate how it contributes to the improvement of Human Rights in Belarus;
Assessment of the proposal will also take into account the management capacity of the implementing organisation. Eligibility for funding is, as a rule, limited to local costs (the project should be cost effective).