Call for Proposals: Romani Women's Empowerment

The Romani Women’s Empowerment Grants initiative aims to empower Romani women throughout Decade of Roma Inclusion countries to be able to take part in all processes while mainstreaming gender in policies and practices. This initiative seeks to give voice to Romani women and men, stimulate civic engagement, and build local capacity and leadership in an inclusive and equitable process.

The Romani Women’s Empowerment Grants initiative is administered by the Roma Participation Program in Budapest. More information about the program can be found in the publication Broadening the Agenda: The Status of Romani Women in Romania.

Who Can Apply?

Roma civil society organizations, in particular Romani women’s organizations working on Roma community issues and gender within the Decade of Roma Inclusion countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain.

What Types of Activities Are Supported?

The initiative supports activities with the objective of local community development through Romani women’s empowerment. It encourages activities that:

• increase Romani women’s participation at national and international levels;
• involve men in promoting the principle of gender equality;
• encourage women to participate in the electoral process;
• facilitate inclusion on the labor market for Romani women;
• address the issue of early marriages;
• support leadership and community action of Romani women and girls;
• support measures for combating human trafficking;
• support activities around Romani women IDPs and refugees;
• support advocacy and policy objectives at local, national, and European levels; and
• support research studies on Romani women using an empowering methodology. (Romani women should be included in the elaboration and implementation of research and final recommendations).

Award Amounts

Grants will be up to EUR 10,000 per project. A nongovernmental organization can apply for funding for two different projects at the same time.

Application & Deadline

Please download the application form below. Applications in English or Romani should be sent by e-mail to rpp@osi.hu by Monday, March 23, 2008.

Selection Criteria

The Romani Women’s Empowerment Grants initiative gives full consideration to all proposals. The review may take up to one month to complete.

Evaluation of proposals will take into account criteria such as the impact of the proposed project and the innovative approach it brings to the issue of gender empowerment. An added value of a project proposal would be its leverage in building the capacity of Roma women’s NGOs to attract European funding.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Roma Participation Program will monitor and evaluate the activity of grantees through field visits, progress reports and final reports. Report forms are available for download below.

Contact Information

Isabela Mihalache
Senior Program Manager
imihalache@osieurope.org
Fax: +36 1 327 3841

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