Croatian language World Bank Provides Small Grants for Eight Civic Engagement Projects in Croatia Zagreb, May 4, 2006 – Eight Croatian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) received today grants in the amount of US$ 34,000 from the World Bank 2006 Small Grants Program. The grants will help the NGOs implement eight civic engagement projects supporting activities that empower and enable civil society groups to take initiatives and influence development outcomes. The activities also strengthen mechanisms for inclusion, accountability, participation, and partnerships with public sector and other civil society organization. The Program is also focused on empowerment of marginalized and vulnerable society groups. After carefully reviewing 103 projects proposed by NGOs from across the country, the selection committee, consisting of the Croatia Country Office staff and representatives of the donor community, selected eight projects and NGOs. This year’s winning projects cover a wide range of civic engagement activities like promotion of youth activism and volunteerism; youth participation and empowerment; advocacy for women’s rights, raising awareness on single parent families, social inclusion of disabled people, civic participation in local governance, and informal education for social justice in post-conflict areas. The grant amounts awarded range from USD3000 to USD5000.
The following NGOs and projects are the winners of this year’s Small Grants Program: ZUM – Organization for Promotion of Youth Employment and Development, Pula. Through Education To Activism project is designed to fulfill the need of youth for informal education and to promote the youth activism and to involve them in the process of development of the local community. HILS - Croatian Institute for Local Government, Osijek
Citizen Participation in Local Governance in Eastern Slavonia project focuses on promoting the way for citizens to address local authorities and get attention for issues relevant for the development and well-being of their communities. Croatian Assossiation for Guide Dogs Training and Mobility, Zagreb
How to Approach and Communicate project aims to inform the youth, children and broader public as to be better responsive to specific needs, rights and possibilities of disabaled (blind) people in improving their social inclusion in the towns of Varaždin, Čakovec and Koprivnica. MMH – Croatian Youth Network, Zagreb
Establishing Regional Youth Councils in Central Croatia project aims at creating Regional Youth Councils in Varaždin, Karlovac and Koprivnica-Križevci counties as independent entities which gather various youth organizations. Open Academy -- Step by Step, Zagreb
Education for Social Justice - Anti-bias Education project targets 30 students of the Osijek-based Teachers Academy, who will through informal education gain knowledge and understanding of mechanism that create and perpetuate prejudices and stereotypes towards disadvantage groups (based on ethnic, religious, social background, or disability), as well as to develop capacity for change on personal, and future professional and institutional level. KRIK - Youth NGO, Slatina
Youth Participation project aims at mobilizing young people of Slatina town to actively participate in planning and implementation of development projects of local self-governmet. Flight - Life Quality Improvement NGO, Zagreb
Awareness Raising on Single Parent Families project is on publishing the 2nd edition of the Handbook for Single Parents and Their Children and organizing consultancy meetings and round tables in 4 Croatian cities where single parents, experts, representatives of local authorities will discuss the needs of single parents and possible ways of addressing those needs. Dominoes - Association for Dvelopment of Civil Society and Promotion of Women's Rights, Split Let's Learn More About Our Rights –Women's Rights project aims to inform citizens, particularly women, on their rights as stupulated in Croatian Gender Equality Law and to advocate for its enforcement at all levels.
The program, created in 1983, complements and facilitates the social development agenda of the World Bank by providing grants through Country offices to civil society organizations. It is aimed at promoting dialogue and dissemination of information on development, and to enhance partnerships with the civil society at the country level. Since the program’s inception in Croatia in 1999, a total of US$ 204,000 has been awarded and some 70 NGOs have benefited from the program. * * * *
Since Croatia joined the World Bank in 1993, the Bank has been active in providing financial and technical assistance, policy advice and analytical services to the country. So far, the Bank has supported 30 projects totaling US$1.97 billion, and has provided over 41 grants totaling US$44.8 million. All completed projects to date have satisfactory ratings. Overall portfolio performance in recent years is also above the regional average, and disbursement rates are high. For more information about the World Bank’s Small Grants Program in Croatia, visit
http://www.worldbank.hr or contact
Mrs. Vera Dugandzic
vdugandzic@worldbank.org
Ms. Mirjana Milić, mmilic@worldbank.org
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