Bucharest, June 3, 2019 – The Civil Society Development Foundation and its partners launched today the Active Citizens Fund programme, which will made available 46,000,000 Euro for financing non-governmental organizations over the next 6 years.
Active Citizens Fund seeks to develop the long-term sustainability of civil society, strengthening its role in promoting democratic participation, active citizenship and human rights.
“It is not possible to develop resilient and pluralistic democracies unless the voices of a wide spectrum of society are heard, and their interests taken into consideration in governmental processes”, declared Mr. Thor Kleppen Sættem, State Secretary for the Minister of Justice and Immigration of Norway during the launching event.
In Romania, Active Citizens Fund is operated by the Consortium composed of the Civil Society Development Foundation, Romanian Environmental Partnership Foundation, Resource Center for Roma Communities, PACT Foundation and Frivillighet Norge. The programme will be implemented during the next 6 years. 11 Calls for proposals will be launched starting this autumn in the 6 areas of support:
- Democracy, active citizenship, good governance and transparency;
- Human rights and equal treatment through combating any discrimination on the grounds of racial or
ethnic origin, religion or belief, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity
- Social justice and inclusion of vulnerable groups
- Gender equality and gender-based violence
- Environment and climate change
- Capacity building for NGOs.
Youth inclusion is one of the programme priorities. A special attention is paid to empowerment of vulnerable groups and 33% of the re-granting budget is allocated to this.
The launching event that took place at the National Bank of Romania this afternoon was attended by the representatives of the Norwegian Government, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Bucharest and the Financial Mechanism Office of the EEA and Norway Grants, 150 civil society representatives from Romania and the European Union, and other partner institutions. The discussions provided an overview of the situation of the non-governmental sector in Romania and Europe, as well as of the main directions of support of the civil society organizations through the Active Citizens Fund Programme.
Further programme details are available on its official website www.activecitizensfund.ro.
* For more information, please contact: iuliana.rada@fdsc.ro / 0749.088.885
About Active Citizens Fund in Romania
Active Citizens Fund in Romania is part of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021. The overall objective of the grants is to reduce economic and social disparities, and to strengthen bilateral relations between 15 b
eneficiary countries and the donor states (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). ACF programme is administered by the Consortium composed of the Civil Society Development Foundation, Romanian Environmental Partnership Foundation, Resource Center for Roma Communities, PACT Foundation and Frivillighet Norge, acting as Fund Operator designated by FMO – Financial Mechanism Office of the EEA and Norway Grants. Active Citizens Fund in Romania aims to strengthen civil society and active citizenship and to empower the vulnerable groups. With a total allocation of 46,000,000 Euro, the programme will pursue the long-term development of the civil society sector sustainability and capacity, stepping up its role in promoting democratic participation, active citizenship and human rights, while strengthening bilateral relations with donor states Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. For more information, visit www.activecitizensfund.ro.