Capacity projects: Results of the Capacity project call are known
On March 25, 2022, the board of the Active Citizens Fund (ACF) approved the results of the second Capacity call for proposals: of 160 competing projects, 35 were awarded a grant, the total grant sum amounting to 666,204.17 Euro. 8 projects envisage a partnership with bodies of the EEA and Norway Financial Mechanism donor countries.
The approved projects were submitted by both small local-level organizations, and organizations on regional and national level, representing very different fields of activity, such as community development, youth, education, social assistance, environmental protection. In total, the 35 supported organizations operate in 19 municipal territories in all regions of Latvia.
In order to achieve the objective of the ACF, which is civil society and active citizenship strengthened and vulnerable groups empowered, specific conditions were kept also for the second capacity project call to encourage Latvian associations and endowments to plan more purposeful activities in order to strengthen the organizations in the long term in at least one of the following aspects: attraction of funding independent of projects, building their image and informing the public about their work, as well as developing their management process quality and the professionalism of the persons involved. In parallel to these activities, other actions in line with the entities’ capacity strengthening needs could be planned within the Capacity projects.
As a result of the implementation of the project, 19 organizations plan to increase the share of non-project revenues by implementing various activities for diversifying financial sources and promoting financial independence of organizations, for example, extensive donations-raising campaigns or activities for the development of economic activity.
33 of 35 supported organisations plan to strengthen their recognition purposefully within their projects, i. e., they will implement activities for regular public information on their operations, including communications strategies, improved homepages, and intend to expand into new communication channels
24 organizations will pay special attention to organizational management issues for more effective achievement of goals and greater impact, for example by implementing different types of quality management approaches in their daily work.
22 projects plan to improve the proficiency of the organisation's staff and volunteers for work within the organisation, training an entire number of 616 people.
Within the framework of 5 projects, new entity networks and co-operation platforms shall be built or existing ones strengthened, which among others will encourage more coordinated and balanced performance in terms of interest representation in the long term, will exchange good practice and support the creation of meaningful synergies. Another 8 organisations plan to develop their operations within network organisations, becoming members and joining the activities of network organisations both in Latvia and on an international level. In turn, 21 projects plan to develop various strategies for the sustainable development of organizations.
“We sincerely hope that this project call will help to strengthen Latvian civil society organizations, because strong and modern organizations are a prerequisite for a strong and active civil society. Lessons from crises in recent years have shown that civil society organizations are an invaluable force in crisis management, capable of immediately providing need-based services, as well as mobilizing and coordinating volunteers and humanitarian aid, especially at times when the state or business sector cannot provide it. The ACF is delighted to be able to support the growth of organizations so that they can be successful in achieving their goals, and to lend a helping hand when and to whom it is most needed.”, says Kristīne Zonberga, chair of the board of the ACF and head of the Civic Alliance Latvia when resuming the results of the project call.
Considering the high quality of the projects and the limited funding available for the call for proposal, a reserve list of projects was also created. As the projects supported so far will probably have unused funding balances, it is to be expected that these might be directed to the implementation of additional Capacity projects, thus ensuring the most effective use of the funding for this programme in Latvia and providing a larger number of organizations with the opportunity to receive support. Organizations included in the reserve list will be informed about the availability of funding individually.
All project applicants will be informed about the decisions adopted via the ACF project system by March 29th.
The Active Citizens Fund is a grant programme of the EEA and Norway Financial Mechanism, which is implemented in Latvia from 2020 till 2024 with the purpose of strengthening civil society and civic participation, and enhancing the capability of vulnerable groups. The programme is administered by the Civic Alliance Latvia, the Dienvidlatgale NGO support centre, the Kurzeme NGO centre, the Latvian Rural Forum, the Valmiera Region Community Foundation, and the Zemgale NGO centre. For more on the EEA/Norway Financial Mechanism in Latvia, see https://eeagrants.lv
