Intro
Romania and Bulgaria became the tenth and eleventh country to launch funds for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with support from their European Economic Area (EEA) partners Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The NGO funds are eagerly anticipated by civil society organisations in these countries, arriving at a time when other donors are pulling out and shifting focus to non-EU members.
The NGO funds under the EEA and Norway Grants make available funding to civil society organisations within areas such as the environment, human rights and democracy, social services and capacity building. The overarching aim of the EEA and Norway Grants is reduction of social and economic disparities in the enlarged EU and European Economic Area (EEA) after 2004, and the strengthening and development of the civil sector is seen as a pivotal part of this.
“This support to NGOs is extremely valuable, timely and noble in a crucial moment, when for many years donors are in the process of withdrawing, the EU funding system is still unstructured and not functioning, and the support of the Bulgarian government limited” , stated Mr. Zdravko Sechkov, Acting Director of the Foundation for Local Government Reform.
Several major international donors have gradually pulled out as countries became members of the EU. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004, and Romania and Bulgaria became members in 2007. Donors such as USAID, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and Open Society Institute are now looking further east, towards countries who have not yet joined the European Union.
So far, the EEA-EFTA states have approved 18 NGO funds totaling more than €83 million in assistance from the EEA and Norway Grants. An NGO fund is also in the pipeline in Cyprus. Largest of the NGO funds, the €41.5 million Polish fund is expected to support more than 1000 projects that will involve several thousand people through the activities that these grants will generate.
“The NGO funds have sparked strong interest across Europe. It has been the ambition of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway from the very start that the EEA and Norway Grants should contribute to strengthening civil society in the new member states”, Stine Andresen said, Director of the Financial Mechanism Office, which administers the EEA and Norway Grants.
Lubomira Kolcheva, Director of the Bulgarian Environmental Partnership Foundation, said the NGO fund’s accessibility for smaller organisations would be of major importance. “The EEA Grants will make a difference through its flexibility to respond to real needs and to enable not only big organisations, but also small ones to have access to funding. I expect that the EEA Grants will have significant impact on the improvement of the environmental conditions in the country,” she said.
The importance of reaching out to NGOs with limited resources was echoed by Executive Director Ionut Sibian with the Civil Society Development Foundation, managing the NGO fund in Romania. Sibian also underlined the significance of the new funding schemes in bringing Romanian NGOs, local communities and public administrations together in solving local challenges. “We will target areas that are strategically important for Romania. Grants will be awarded to public policy initiatives, activities aimed at further developing issues such as child and youth involvement in the community, social inclusion, cultural heritage preservation, as well as creating responsibility regarding environmental issues”.
More about the Bulgarian NGO fund:
- Funded 100% under the EEA Grants
- €2.06 million
Focus areas:
- Protection of the environment and promotion of sustainable development;
- Provision and development of social services, such as health and childcare;
- Development of civil society and protection of human rights.
Fund coordinators:
- FLGR – Foundation for Local Government Reform
- BEPF – Bulgarian Environmental Partnership Foundation