Spezialinstrumente
NGO-Globalzuschuss

Slovak NGOs; institutions of different types, municipalities, regional authorities.

The real development of the Civil Society in Slovakia started after the so called ‘velvet revolution’ in 1989. This development, which had to face many constraints during the last two decades, has still not reached a level allowing the non-profit sector to significantly influence public discussions or the state policy. NGOs lack stabile financial sources and they depend largely on funding from the 2% tax assignation mechanism. No NGO programme or development strategy is available in Slovakia. However, a governmental plenipotentiary for civil society development has been designated recently.

The goal of the NGO and Partnership Block Grant is to strengthen the participation of NGOs at addressing specific needs of the society and to reinforce the relations and cooperation between Slovakia and Switzerland. The Block Grant specific objectives are: (i): Increased accessibility and level of social services as well as an increased level of social cohesion; (ii): Enhanced protection of the environment, increased awareness of environmental issues and the application of sustainable development principles; (iii): Established network of cooperation among the Slovak and Swiss municipalities, institutions and social partners to promote and exchange best practices and transfer of know-how in variuos thematic areas.

The Ekopolis Foundation administers the fund and organizes the calls for proposals for the identification of sub-projects. Ekopolis is responsible for the acceptance, evaluation and approval of proposals. It will ensure the monitoring and evaluation of sub-projects. Ekopolis will delegate certain responsibilities to its 2 partners, to Socia Foundation and the Carpathian Foundation, both being well recognised NGOs. The Intermediary will offer consultation and advice for the NGOs and applicants within the partnership component through seminars and other means. As well, the Intermediary will ensure publicity at level of the Block Grant but also require the publicity at the sub-project level.

The expected results are:

• CHF 1.5 million granted to minimum 8 Small Projects in the "environmental" field;
• CHF 1.5 million granted to minimum 8 Small Projects in the "social" field;
• CHF 1.3 million granted to minimum 8 Joint Projects.