Announcement of opportunity to apply for grants for projects under chapter 164, Peace, reconciliation and democracy, item 71, ODA-approved Balkan countries

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hereby announces an opportunity to apply for grants for peace and state building projects in the Western Balkans.

The projects must be in line with the objectives of the grant scheme, as set out in the budget proposal (Proposition No. 1 (2010-2011) to the Storting), and the grant scheme rules.

The Ministry calls attention to the fact that parts of the grant scheme are administered through separate programs/funds with their own guidelines and deadlines. Potential applicants are asked to familiarize themselves with these guidelines in order to determine which application regime would be correct depending on the priority area and size of the project in question.

Information on the following programs/funds can be found at:

• Embassy Funds for small scale projects
• Bilateral cooperation with Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro
• Program for Higher Education Research and Development (HERD)
• New fund for civil society development

Pleas find information about applications for grants under the relevant heading.

Embassy Funds for small scale projects
The Norwegian embassies in Zagreb, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Prishtina and Skopje administer own funds for smaller development projects. Projects under NOK 500 000 per annum in these countries are referred to the embassies for processing. Pls consult the respective embassy’s homepage for information on application procedures:

• Royal Norwegian Embassy i Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro)
• Royal Norwegian Embassy in Prishtina (Kosovo and Albania)
• Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
• Royal Norwegian Embassy in Skopje (Macedonia)
• Royal Norwegian Embassy in Zagreb (Croatia)

Bilateral development cooperation with Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro
In the development cooperation with Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro bilateral cooperation for reform of the central government administration has been established.

This entails that applications for these type of interventions are not to be submitted directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but via the national authorities in these countries and national application procedures of the respective countries have to be followed.

More information 

New Fund for Civil Society Development
From 2011 separate funds for support to capacity building of civil society organizations i Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia will be established.

It will therefore not be possible to apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this kind of support in these three countries in the future.

More information

Program for Higher Education and Development (HERD)
This program was established in 2010 in order to increase Norwegian support to innovation and economic development in the region. All applications for support to research and higher education must be directed to the administrator of the relevant HERDs sectorprogram.

More information

Applications to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for grants for Peace- and state building in the Western Balkans:
The deadline for applications is 1 March. Applications received after 1 March will be considered in the second half of the year in so far as the budget allows.

As a rule, applications should be sent by email to: post@mfa.no with a copy to: s-vb@mfa.no. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs form S01 should normally be used for applications for grants under this scheme.

More information about application requirements can be found in the grant scheme rules, and in application form S01 and the accompanying instructions.

Please note that as a part of the planned scaling down of Norwegian support to the region, the budgetary allocation has been reduced from NOK 575 in 2010 to NOK 500 in 2011. In addition, 60% of the allocation for 2011 is already tied to signed agreements. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to increase the efficiency and improve the follow up of the development cooperation by reducing the number of projects and concentrate the effort in fewer sectors.

Applicants should be aware that:

• applications of less than NOK 500 000 will be processed only in exceptional cases
• projects of more than NOK 1 million p.a. will be given priority
• programs as well as initiatives running for several years will be given priority, especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo

Geographical and thematic priority areas in 2011
In reality there are no available funds for new initiatives in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Albania.

It is possible to apply for support to projects in the following priority areas within the respective geographical areas:

Regional initiatives:

• Regional cooperation: Support to organizations for regional cooperation; networks for improved cooperation within the justice- and security sector and for the fight against organized crime and corruption
• Human Rights and Development of Democracy: Strengthening  regional cooperation for furthering human rights, especially gender equality and women’s rights, the rights of sexual minorities, children and youths and support to cooperation for establishing mechanisms for monitoring of international human rights standards in the region
• Reconciliation: Support to regional work on documentation and information on war crimes and criminal prosecution and regional networks for local reconciliation initiatives

Bosnia-Herzegovina:

• Good Governance, including the Justice Sector: Support will be given to institution building within different levels of the administration, with main emphasis on further consolidation of the State level. Priority will be given to projects within the justice sector
• Defence- and Security Sector Reform: Norway will continue her active support to the defence- and security sector reform. The support will be concentrated on reorganization projects and reform of central institutions. The gender perspective and implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 1325 will be prioritized. The support to humanitarian mine clearing will be continued up to 2014.
• Private Sector Development: Priority will be given to follow up of the existing incubators for the ICT-industry, support for establishing new innovative milieus and capacity building to further EU- integration
• Education: There will be an extended engagement in the education sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Prospective programs will be developed in cooperation with the authorities of B-H. It might therefore not be possible to start up any possible initiatives before second half of 2011.

Kosovo:

• Good governance and institution-building, including reform of the defence, security and justice sectors
• Peace and reconciliation within and between countries in the region, and safeguarding minorities’ and other vulnerable groups’ rights
• Democracy and human rights, including gender equality
• Economic development and job creation through private sector development, research and innovation, and education services, with focus on women and young people
• Development of a sustainable energy sector where environmental and climate change considerations are taken into account

Macedonia 

• Good governance, priority is given to; anti-corruption measures, reform of the justice sector, support to the EU-accession process and measures preparing Macedonia for the EU accession negotiations. Public administration reforms enhancing transparency, professionalism and political independence. 
• Energy, environment and climate change mitigation. Support to development/implementation of legal frameworks and capacity building measures of the environmental and energy sector significant for the EU accession process and foreign direct investments. 
• Peace and reconciliation. Support to measures aimed at improving ethnic integration and peaceful coexistence between ethnic groups, including support to implement models for ethnic integrated education. Support to the implementation of the Ohrid Framework agreement. 
• Job creation. With special emphasis on competence building and educational measures aimed at improving the job market situation for ethnic minorities, women and young peoples.

Further information
All enquires about the grant scheme should be sent to:

The Western Balkans Section, email: s-vb@mfa.no

The grant scheme rules, application form, etc. can be found at:

http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/ud/dep/tilskudd