Tbilisi, 25 May 2005. The World Bank Georgia Office announced the Small Grants
Program (SmGP) winners for 2005. A total of $34,000 available for this year’s
SmGP will be used to finance the projects which were selected out of the 97
grant applications submitted. The Small Grants Program was created to provide a way for the World Bank to promote dialogue and dissemination of information on development, and enhance partnerships with key players in the development arena. This Program supports non-profit, non-governmental organizations. The Small Grants Program finances activities related to the organization of conferences and seminars, publication of special editions, production of audio-visual materials, or other innovative networking efforts that small organizations generally find difficult to fund through their regular program budgets. The grant activities are focused on socioeconomic development problems such as poverty reduction, health and education, environmental protection, anti-corruption and governance, and other crucial areas for development. To reinforce the empowerment dimension of poverty reduction, the Small Grants Program has developed a new focus on civic engagement. The new purpose of the Small Grants program is to support the empowerment of citizens to have greater ownership of development processes, thereby making these processes more inclusive and equitable. Applications submitted in FY 2005 were carefully reviewed by the World Bank project staff and further evaluated by a Small Grants Selection Committee, members of which this year represented the World Bank, the “Horizonti” Foundation, and “Youth Voices” group members, who made the final decision on awarding the grants. The following non-governmental organizations are the winners of the World Bank Small Grants Program in Georgia : | q Imereti Regional Youth Scientific-Informational Association ASA – Ecomigrants, Government and We | | q Union“Interlaw” – Information and Consulting Center | | q Intersectoral Research Group - Piloting and Development of the Health Care Ombudsmen Network in Imereti region | | q Children of youth rights protection – Tourism and youth | | q United Nations Association of Georgia – Establishing informal network between mass-media, non-governmental and governmental sectors | | q New steps – “New steps” |
A traditional event will be held at the World Bank’s Office later on to present the winners to media and civil society representatives. The World Bank Tbilisi Office has been implementing Small Grants Program since 1998. Since then, about 46 projects submitted by local NGOs have been successfully supported through this Program in the country. |
RSS