Through the Grants Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein are the largest donors in Europe for Roma inclusion after the EU. Read more about our Roma support.
Social and economic inclusion
The Grants feature a twofold approach in support to the Roma, combining perspectives of fundamental rights and of socio-economic inclusion.
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have made the social and economic inclusion of the Roma a priority in the current funding period (2009-2014), ensuring that special measures are taken to include the Roma as a target group in relevant programmes.
Focusing support on specific sectors
The Grants are one of the prime funding schemes for civil society in Central and Southern Europe. The programmes tackle horizontal concerns and promote tolerance, multicultural understanding and Roma inclusion.
There are several other programme areas, which are relevant from a Roma inclusion perspective, such as:
- Children and youth at risk
- Public health
- Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
- Domestic and gender-based violence
- Correctional services
- Schengen cooperation
- Judicial capacity building
- Local and regional initiatives to reduce national inequalities and to promote social inclusion
- Research
Strategic cooperation
Policy coordination is a way of enhancing impact. This is why the Grants have established a partnership with the Council of Europe, a donor programme partner in a number of programmes relevant for Roma inclusion, as well as close cooperation with the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and other EU bodies. Furthermore, the Grants also work closely with the Open Society Foundations.