The primary focus of the support is promotion of democratization and strengthening of civil society in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries in line with the aspirations of the EaP policies of the European Union.

 

Projects are to fall within the following thematic categories:

1. Legislation and justice:

• new legislation or amendments to existing legislation,
• professionalization and transparency of justice and its administration,
• adoption of international standards of criminal law,
• law enforcement, crime-fighting, investigation and prosecution of offences, strengthening of public prosecution system,
• juvenile justice system, child protection and combating domestic violence

1. Good governance: public administration/public order/policy/immigration policy:

• good governance in terms of legitimacy, predictability, transparency and democratic character of government operations,
• decentralization and deregulation,
• management of public funding,
• fight against corruption—support of comprehensive fact-checking measures and factual accuracy monitoring initiatives, capacity-building of fact-checking platforms, support of partnerships among fact-checking platforms across the borders, support of open data initiatives on state-wide and/or regional levels,
• professionalization of the police, particularly in its relationship with the general public, public administration and public prosecution service, prevention, integrity and community policing,
• prison reform and probation,
• strengthening the immigration system vis-à-vis the Schengen rules, protection of EU’s external borders, implementation of EU’s asylum/migration policy

1. Communication, media and access to information:

• support of long-term sustainability of media outlets on state-wide and/or regional and/or community level,
• capacity-building of media management and journalistic skills,
• support of investigative journalism and fact-checking initiatives,
• fight against propaganda

1. Development of civil society/support of human rights and minorities:

• enhancing civil society’s management, fundraising and communication skills especially on local and regional level,
• creating relevant partnerships with international civil networks especially within the V4 region;
• support of grass-root initiatives aiming at long-term social, economic, environmental and/or cultural wellbeing of networks of communities,
• support of activities in the areas of human rights and integration of minorities with a special focus on gender equality, media freedom, religious freedom, and protection of minorities
• support of the role of local/regional governments in promoting human rights and protecting minorities,
• public information campaigns towards a functioning democratic society and strengthening a culture of tolerance towards minorities

General conditions:

• Non-governmental, civil society not-for-profit organizations are primary recipients of the funding
• Projects develop meaningful cooperation between entities in the EaP and V4 regions
• Projects are implemented within an active cooperation of 1 entity from the EaP region and 3 entities from different V4 countries at minimum regardless of the applicant (preference will be given to those projects involving other EaP countries as well as the full V4 region); subjects from other countries may, however, also apply or be project partners
• Projects are registered on line on the Visegrad Fund’s server at my.visegradfund.org and shall be submitted by 12:00 noon on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016
• Projects shall be implemented within 18 months from their envisaged start (starting 2 months after the Dec. 1 deadline at the earliest)
• Total requested budget per project do not exceed €100,000
• Grants can over up to 90% of total project costs (min. 10% of project costs are covered from other sources or by the grantee’s own in-kind contribution to the project)
• Purchases of tangible/intangible assets are limited to max. 7% of the requested/granted sums
• Overhead costs are limited by 7% of the requested/granted sum