The overall objective of the NGO Fund in Romania is "Strengthened civil society development and enhanced contribution to social justice, democracy and sustainable development".

The Programme will contribute to improving governance in Romania by encouraging citizens' active participation, NGOs effective and extensive involvement in policy debates and specific measures such as those looking at corruption and rule of law. 

Over one third of the re-granting allocation covers the core areas of concern related to democracy, human rights, good governance and transparency, participatory democracy, combating racism and xenophobia, anti-discrimination, social inequalities, poverty and exclusion (including in rural areas), gender equality, gender-based violence. In line with the Memorandum of Understanding for Romania, the Programme shall address the specific needs of minority groups with a special focus on Roma by fighting social exclusion and promoting community engagement that generates solutions to community problems. More than 20% of the Programme allocation is dedicated to the provision of welfare and basic services to vulnerable groups and an important financial allocation is also foreseen for protection of the environment and climate change. Over 10% of the funds are allocated for projects addressing children and youth.

 A dedicated financial allocation was set aside for activities countering hate speech as they represent a special focus of the Programme. The other horizontal concerns addressed by the Programme are extremism and hate crime, racism and xenophobia, homophobia, anti-Semitism, tolerance and multicultural understanding, Roma, sexual harassment, violence against women and trafficking.  

Civil Society Development Foundation together with its partners Romanian Environmental Partnership Foundation and Resource Center for Roma Communities is the Fund Operator in Romania, being entrusted to implement the Non-Governmental Organisations Programme.

Overall value of the Programme: 36 millions EUR

 

Expected outcomes:

• Active citizenship fostered
• Increased involvement of NGOs in policy and decision-making processes with local, regional and national governments
• Cross-sectoral partnerships developed, particularly with government organisations at local, regional and/or national level
• Democratic values, including human rights, promoted
• Advocacy and watchdog role developed
• Developed networks and coalitions of NGOs working in partnership
• Strengthened capacity of NGOs and an enabling environment for the sector promoted
• Increased contribution to sustainable development achieved
• Provision of welfare and basic services to defined target groups increased
• Empowerment of vulnerable groups

 

The Grants Programme has 5 Components, as follows:

 

Components	Total allocation for 1st Round	Sub-Components
ENGAGE Component Objective: to encourage active citizenship and participation in community life, to ensure the respect and practice of fundamental democratic values	3,600,000 Euro	Participation in decision-making and community engagement Volunteer Encouraging democratic values
SOCIAL JUSTICE Component Objective: to contribute to combating social exclusion and widening disparities within society and between various groups of society such as some affluent urban centers and small urban and rural areas	3,780,000 Euro	Rural interethnic communities development Fighting social inequalities, poverty and exclusion.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Component Objective: to support sustainable development and the improvement of the environment in Romania through the contribution of the NGOs and through public participation	2,100,000 Euro	N/A
WELFARE AND BASIC SERVICES Component Objective: to increase access to and provision of welfare and basic services to vulnerable groups	4,800,000 Euro	N/A
NGO CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT. NETWORKS AND COALITIONS Component Objective: to support the overall development of the NGO sector in Romania as well as the development of effective networks, coalitions and think tanks	1,650,000 Euro	- Support for coalitions and networks at regional and national level and for think tanks - Support for initiatives that contribute to an enabling environment for NGOs in Romania and strengthen the overall sector representation - Strengthening membership and volunteer base of organisations and increase participation of members/volunteers in organisation activities

Information regarding results of Round 1 and launching of Round 2 will be published on the Programme website: http://fondong.fdsc.ro

As part of the NGO Fund, Funds for Bilateral Relations are available and aim to increase cooperation among entities from Romania and respectively donor states (Norway, Iceland and Leichtenstein), to improve knowledge and mutual understanding and to share results.

 

The overall allocation for Bilateral Relations is of 500,000 Euro.

 

Over the whole period of implementation of the NGO Fund in Romania, the main actions envisaged for financing under the Funds for Bilateral Relations include:

• Two Calls for Proposals within Measure a. Partnership building (2013)

• Match making seminars and thematic workshops, involving Romanian organisations and potential partners from Donor States (2013) 

• Call for proposals for participation in seminars, conferences and other events facilitating contact and exchange of experience between Romanian entities and donor state entities, to be launched under Measure b. Networking and exchange - ongoing call 2014/2015; financial allocation - 161,591 Euro

• Study visits organised by the Program Operator under Measure b. Networking and exchange (in 2014/2015). Tentative themes refer to: social inclusion issues and social services provision model; education/children and youth; environment protection.

• Seminars and workshops for partnership projects to summarize the experience and lessons learned and discuss future perspectives , organized by the Program Operator.

 

Pre-defined projects:

1. Social Atlas of Roma Communities in Romania focuses on development of an updated dataset on Roma communities defining their typologies and profiles from the point of view of their wellbeing - EUR 150.000, implementer to be selected through competitive bidding

 

2. NGO Forum focuses on bringing together NGOs from all over the country in a view to develop an annual strategic programme for the civil society development in a transparent, participatory manner- EUR 150,000, implementer to be selected through competitive procedure

 

 

 

Programme website: http://fondong.fdsc.ro

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FondulOng

Contact: fondong[at]fdsc.ro; +4021.310.01.77 (contact person: Adriana Popescu)