Democracy and Human Rights
By establishing the Fund, donor countries of Iceland, Lichtenstein and Kingdom of Norway help to reduce economic and social disparities in European Economic Area while strengthening bilateral relations between donor countries and Slovakia.
Democracy and Human Rights Programme forms part of EEA Financial mechanism 2009-2014, by which donor countries of Iceland, Lichtenstein and Kingdom of Norway help to reduce economic and social disparities in European Economic Area. The programme implementation period starts in January 2013 and lasts until April 2016. In this period, the Programme administrator, NOS-OSF, will have allocated 3 199 910 € . Since this Programme’s establishment in 2013, NOS-OSF has provided NOGs with funding amounting to 3 105 276,11 € .
The programme is focused on enhancement of cooperation between civil society, public and private sector by supporting project partnerships on all levels in all programme areas. Integrating phenomenon of the programme is development of NGO capacities and improvement of their position in society.
Development of bilateral cooperation between NGOs in Slovakia and NGOs as public and private sector entities operating in donor countries stands out as specific objective.
At least 10% of allocated amount will be donated for support of children and youth at risk. The programme also specializes in minority needs.
The Fund Operator will ensure the highest possible level of transparency and responsibility during the implementation of the Program and future NGO projects. The Fund Operator will also ensure compliance with the principles of good governance, sustainable development, gender equality and equal opportunities.
The programme will support NGO projects in 4 areas:
- Democracy, good governance and transparency.
- Human rights including minority rights.
- Gender equality and gender-based violence.
- Fight against discrimination, racism and xenophobia
In the areas 2 and 4 the programme also supports community organisations on local level via its Small grants scheme. The assistance is targeted at human rights and minority protection projects and elimination of unequal treatment.
The Programme will support projects that contribute to implementation of these objectives:
- Strengthening of active citizenship
- Increased NGO involvement in policy and decision making on local, regional and national level
- Support of democratic values, including human rights
- Development of advocacy and watch-dog activities
- Strengthening of NGO capacities and improvement of civil society functioning
- Empowerment of vulnerable groups
| Call opening |
Grant budget in EUR |
Maximum project implementation period |
| February 2013 |
30,000 – 150,000 |
28 months |
| January 2014 |
30,000 – 65,000 |
17 months |
| 3,000 – 5,000
Small grants |
| May 2015 |
5,000 – 15,000 |
8 months |
| 3,000 – 5,000 |
| Small grants |
Funding and its distribution
To support NGO activities, the amount of 3 105 276,11 € will be distributed via three open calls for proposals. In the first call for proposals, the amount of 1 94 0723,41€ was distributed, i.e. 65 % of the overall budget. The amount of 938 645,83€ was allocated in the second call and the third call for proposals will be announced in May 2015. Total amount to be allocated is 225 906,87 €.
