The Active Citizens Fund is a specific programme area within the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The objective of the Active Citizens Fund is: “Civil society and active citizenship strengthened, and vulnerable groups empowered”.

The Programme will seek to develop the long-term sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector, strengthening its role in promoting democratic participation, active citizenship and human rights, and empowerment of vulnerable groups. 

Priority Areas

Projects focusing on the following five areas are eligible for support:

• Democracy, active citizenship, good governance and transparency
• Human rights and equal treatment through combating any discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity
• Social justice and inclusion of vulnerable groups
• Gender equality and gender-based violence
• Environment and climate change

Outcomes

The Open Estonia Foundation is announcing an open call for proposals for civil society organisations working in public benefit for initiatives that contribute to the following Outcomes:

• Strengthened democratic culture and civic awareness
• Increased support for human rights and equal treatment
• Vulnerable groups empowered

Funding Information

Altogether EUR 1,250,000 is allocated for two types of Strategic Projects:

• Medium-size grants ranging from 30,000 to 60,000 euros in all thematic areas lasting between 18 to 24 months to allow CSOs to set long-term goals and pursue strategic work in their issue area.
• Large grants ranging from 80,000 to 100,000 euros in all thematic areas lasting between 18 to 24 months targeted at CSO coalitions allowing the grants to potentially have an impact on a sectoral basis and support sustainability and impact of civil society coalitions.

Eligibility Criteria

• As cross-cutting concerns, the Programme encourages the following across all outcomes:
  • Youth inclusion
  • Strengthen the capacity and sustainability of the civil society sector
  • Outreach to under-served geographic areas and target groups
  • Focus on intercultural understanding with special emphasis on national minorities
• The following list is non-exhaustive and elaborates on the types of activities that are eligible for support:
  • Civic action in shaping public policies and strengthening of democratic practices
  • Advocacy, awareness-raising and outreach to citizens
  • Watchdog and monitoring, including following up on recommendations of international monitoring bodies
  • Citizen activism, volunteering and civic participation
  • Participation in policy and decision-making processes, including promoting an enabling environment for civil society
  • Support for freedom of expression, investigative journalism and media
  • Countering hate speech, including support to networks working with hate crime victims
  • Promoting LGBTI rights and anti-discrimination activities
  • Capacity building of the civil society sector, including sustainability, networking and accountability of CSOs
  • Partnerships between CSOs, public and private sector entities
  • Civic education and training
  • Research and analysis to inform policy-making
  • Social innovation and social enterprise development
  • Intercultural dialogue, including platforms for minority/majority interactions
  • Inter-generational cooperation
  • Awareness-raising and capacity building on environmental issues including climate change and adaptation
  • Access to information, participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters in accordance with the Aarhus Convention
• Partnerships with organisations from donor countries are encouraged and will receive additional scores in the evaluation process.
• The fund specifically welcomes projects that increase the engagement of national minority organisations and thus increase multicultural understanding; such projects receive additional scores in the evaluation process.
• Projects that foster cooperation between CSOs on multiple levels and engage specifically CSOs working on local level, receive additional scores in the evaluation process.

For more information, visit Active Citizens Fund