The €1 million Portuguese NGO Fund will support small-scale, local projects promoting gender equality and active citizenship. Portuguese NGOs can submit their project proposals to the national fund manager, the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), until 15 May. Grants in the range of €40,000 to €250,000 will be awarded to projects spanning over one to two years.
Vitor Peña Ferreira of the CIG, said the NGO fund would allow the organisation to work in a broader range of questions related to citizenship and gender equality. "The EEA Grants supported NGO fund match our previous activities. We will now be able to enhance the institutional capacity of Portuguese NGOs, and, more specifically, encourage young people to play an active part in their local communities," Ferreira said. Supported projects will target some of the more deprived areas in Portugal, and empowering vulnerable social groups in the area of employment and entrepreneurship is also a focus area under the fund.
Manuela Marinho, also of the CIG, said the possibilities for NGOs to carry out projects will have a double meaning for the organisations. "Projects targeting issues such as human rights, political participation and citizenship in general are not only important to empower NGOs, to make them stronger and more connected to their communities, but also because these projects spread the understanding of such problems," Marinho said, adding: "If we do a project on gender equality or citizenship in a community and really involve the people there, they are going to discuss and develop these questions also after the project ends."
For further information on the open call see the CIG website.