The East East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders is one of the initiatives implemented by the Open Society Foundation in London. It operates in all countries of Eastern and Central Europe, Turkey, Central Asia and Mongolia responding to the needs of people in many diverse societies.
In Slovakia the program provides grants for international projects implemented on Slovak territory and assists Slovak participants to become involved in projects carried out in other countries of the region. The Sub Program for European Integration prioritizes cooperation among new EU member states, candidate and potential candidate countries and the EU’s eastern neighbors.
Slovak non-governmental organizations and other institutions can apply for grants for projects implemented in cooperation with partner organization from at least one country of the region (Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, and Central Asia). Projects can address different spheres of life, they must have clearly defined goals and set concrete results. The involvement of partners from the region should not be incidental but should initiate or develop sustained cross-border cooperation of people and institutions; a cooperation which may contribute to developing good models of social activity and to solving problems at a local and regional level.
The East East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders provides financial and human resources that enable civil society activists to:
- build and/or strengthen resources and expertise;
- share best practice/lessons learned in social transformation;
- collaborate on innovative solutions to common challenges;
- create and/or strengthen international advocacy coalitions.
The program gives priority to long-term initiatives with clear goals and a realistic potential for effecting positive change, for example, by:
- empowering marginalized and/or vulnerable sectors of society;
- promoting cultural, ethnic and social diversity;
- managing the impact of social, economic, and political change;
- making information accessible and available to the public;
- encouraging public engagement and empowerment in civic dialogue.
The program responds to the needs of people in many diverse societies and empowers them to work beyond their borders to achieve shared goals and use international experiences and perspectives to promote an innovative social agenda.
The East East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders is open to institutions and NGOs. Priority will be given to projects within the following areas:
Equal Opportunities:
- monitoring, assessment, analysis and case study development for efficient advocacy and awareness building,
- active involvement of target groups in decision-making processes,
- increasing public awareness about problems of target groups and available solutions,
- increased reliability and transparency of NGOs,
- cross-sector cooperation.
Civil Society Development:
- knowledge endowment,
- advocacy for a better NGO environment,
- financial and legislative stability for NGOs,
- a watchdog, advocacy and monitoring role for NGOs,
- development of philanthropy.
Knowledge Transfer:
- pre-EU-accession,
- decentralization,
- the Freedom of Information Act,
- sustainability of the NGO sector,
- community initiatives
Grants can cover participants’ accommodation from countries of the region in Slovakia, translation of materials, interpretation and partial organizational costs (travel costs of foreign participants are covered by foundations from the OSI network in these countries).
The East East Program does not make grants for congresses, conferences, research and scientific projects, cultural and artistic events, translations and publications or administrative costs.
Applications are recommended by the Open Society Foundation Bratislava. The final evaluation is made by the Regional Office of the Program in the Open Society Foundation in London.
Grants for the participation of Slovaks in projects carried out in other countries of the region
Grants are made for people invited to participate in projects carried out in other countries of the region if the project is supported by the foundation from the Open Society Institute network operating in this country. Grants can only cover travel costs (accommodation costs are covered by other foundations from the OSI network).
Participants invited to the projects should submit an application with their CV. The knowledge and expertise of an applicant should correspond with the project’s subject matter (an invitation does not guarantee immediate financial support).
Sub Program for European Integration
In 2005 the program launched a Sub Program for European Integration. This sub program will prioritize cooperation among new EU member states, candidate and potential candidate countries and the EU’s eastern neighbors. Specifically the sub program seeks to maximize EU accession experiences in Central Europe for future EU member countries and EU eastern neighbors. The sub program will seek to discover and inspire the new vision and energy required to address civil society collaboration between new EU member states, future member states and the EU eastern neighborhood, specifically to share experiences between new EU member states and the new neighborhood. The sub program is open to Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Program manager
Jana Paczkowska