EEA Civil Society Fund Slovakia Supports 16 Projects with Grants in First Round

Bratislava, 9 May (TASR) - In its first evaluation round, the EEA Civil Society Fund Slovakia programme supported 16 projects from civil society organisations with nearly €400,000, TASR has learnt from the programme's communications manager Lucia Hasbach. According to her, the supported initiatives focus on protecting democracy and the rule of law, strengthening transparency and public oversight, combating disinformation, developing media literacy, as well as protecting human rights and supporting vulnerable groups, including young people and individuals from Ukraine. "Civil society plays a key role in protecting democratic values and human rights. The supported projects show that even a relatively small grant can have a significant impact – be it in strengthening public oversight and supporting vulnerable groups, or in building resilience against disinformation," stated programme manager Veronika Zahradnikova. The call for small grants is an open call with a total allocation of €990,000, where projects are evaluated on an ongoing basis and applications may be submitted until the available funds are exhausted. Announced on 29 January this year, the call is a response to the current situation in Slovak society. "In the first evaluation round, which covered the period from the announcement of the call on 29 January to 31 March, a total of 103 project applications were submitted, confirming the high level of interest among civil society organisations in responding to the current challenges and in actively participating in the protection of democratic values," stated Hasbach, adding that "an expert evaluation committee supported 16 projects from civil society organisations". jrg/df/ko