Deadline: 15 June 2016
The Roma Initiatives Office (RIO) invites Roma and pro-Roma organizations and formal or informal networks to apply for advocacy grants aimed at ensuring that civil society remains a critical actor in the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of European Union financial assistance. The program is funded by the Open Society Foundations.
Roma and EU Funds is a new grant-making portfolio that will provide support for civil society organizations to engage in advocacy interventions with a strong potential to influence the impact of EU-funded reforms at national and local levels and to promote the provision of inclusive services by national governments.
Priority Areas
Proposals must fall under at least one of the following priority areas:
- Advocating for the improved absorption of EU assistance in order to support inclusive reforms at the institutional and systemic levels and to bring meaningful changes to the lives of Roma. The following themes have been identified as potential areas for intervention:
- Partnerships and participation
- Results-oriented investment
- Policy-centered interventions
- Supporting synergies with broader civil society movements and across member states in order to strengthen agency, engage different audiences, and ensure wider support. The following themes have been identified as potential areas for intervention:
- Linking EU funding issues with wider and stronger civil society movements
- Enhancing advocacy with strategic and targeted communication
Eligibility Criteria
Applicant organizations must fulfill the following two criteria:
- While it is not necessary for applicant organizations to be Roma NGOs, applicants must demonstrate Roma leadership or partnership with a Roma organization on an equal footing in all phases of the action. Roma should also benefit from the policy change targeted by the action.
- Projects must take place in at least one of the eligible countries mentioned below.
How to Apply
- A complete application consists of a narrative proposal of no more than 10 pages, a budget, and all relevant appendices.
- Applications must be submitted in English through the Open Society Foundations Grant Portal.
Eligible Countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain.
For more information, please visit Roma and EU Funds.