The €6.5 million NGO Fund launched its first call on 10 April, and in order to better target the Hungarian NGO sector two categories of grants were available. NGOs could either apply for macro projects ranging from €25,000 to €80,000 or micro projects from €5,000 to €25,000. A second round for micro projects will be held in early 2009.
By the submission deadline, the Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation had received 955 applications. The projects were spread over the four thematic areas:
- Environmental protection and sustainable development:179 received applications
- Civil liberties and capacity building - 341 received applications
- Social cohesion, and health and childcare - 238 received applications
- Cultural heritage - 197 received applications
The separate grant scheme for Hungarian NGOs comes on top of the opportunities for NGOs to submit project proposals under the previous open calls in Hungary.
For further information on the Hungarian NGO Fund, see the website of the program: www.norvegcivilalap.hu.