Norwegian Financial Mechanism

Key facts

Programme Operator:
Directorate General for European Programmes, Coordination and Development
Programme ID:
CY04
Status:
In implementation
Programme Donors
Council of Europe (CoE)
Date of approval:
Total amount:
€3,580,000
EEA Grants fund:
€0
Norway Grants fund:
€ 3,580,000

Currently available funding

Programme Summary

Why is the programme needed? The cross-sectoral programme addresses important issues for Cyprus in the fields of Public Health Initiatives, Domestic and Gender-based Violence, Justice and Home Affairs, and Civil Society Support. The Bone Marrow pre-defined project intends to upgrade the infrastructure of the Cyprus Bone Marrow Donor Registry, address many of its technical and operational weaknesses, improve its capacity to serve the needs of all (Greek and Turkish) Cypriots as well as international patients, and help maintain its sustainability. The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING) project aims at establishing a National Translational Facility in Cyprus that will investigate biological samples from common and rare diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders to identify biomarkers for early detection and diagnosis. The shelter project aims to tackle gender-based violence by constructing, furnishing and equipping a new 800 square metre shelter dedicated to providing services to victims of domestic abuse. The overall objective of the Unit for Combating Money Laundering of Cyprus (MOKAS) project is to automate the analysis and investigation procedure by implementing an IT system for supporting the core activities of the MOKAS in order to improve its efficiency to detect money laundering and financing of terrorism. The specific purpose of the Home for Cooperation (H4C) pre-defined project is to contribute to and strengthen the operation and sustainability of the Home for Cooperation with the aim of transforming it into a vibrant space of dialogue and understanding. The project has set itself the objective to contribute to strengthened civil society development and enhanced contribution to social justice, democracy and sustainable development. Due to the small size of the allocation the support will be provided exclusively through pre-defined projects. These projects were identified to address the needs that have arisen in Cyprus in these areas and to serve the development aims of the Cyprus governments. What will the programme achieve? This programme has four major objectives: • Improve public health and reduce health inequalities; • Prevent and tackle gender-based violence; •Increase citizens’ security through improvement of the capacity of Cyprus in fighting organised crime and in particular money laundering and terrorist financing; • Strengthen civil society development and enhance contribution to social justice, democracy and sustainable development. How will it be achieved? In order to achieve the above targets, the programme foresees the following activities: - To generate new biomarkers for research on cancer and other diseases ; - To recruit 2000 new young donors from both the Greek and the Turkish Cypriot communities for the Bone Marrow registry; - To build a Shelter for victims of gender-based violence and train staff for the Shelter; - To acquire and install an IT system used in the fight against money laundering and train staff in its application; - To facilitate cooperation and activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) across the political divide through the Home for Cooperation. How will bilateral relations be strengthened? The programme operator will facilitate the establishment of several partnerships between the Cypriot project promoters and relevant institutions in the donor state. While two pre-defined projects foresee a donor programme partner - the Norwegian Secretariat of the Shelter Movement which will cooperate on the shelter project, and the Council of Europe which will partner on the Home for cooperation, the other project promoter will engage in long-term partnerships with their counterpart institutions in Norway. What are the partnership opportunities? N/A Who can apply for funding under this programme? Under the Home for Cooperation project, a ‘Small Projects Programme’ for NGO projects will be launched centred on the H4C.