The Embassy of the Netherlands in Bucharest is launching an open call for project applications within its delegated Human Rights Fund
– The deadline for submitting applications is 30 April 2021 at 12.00. –
About the Human Rights Fund
Human rights are the cornerstone of human dignity, freedom and the development of free societies. Romania and the Netherlands are both committed parties to the European Convention on Human Rights. The Human Rights Fund is a tool of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Its purpose is to support activities by civil society organisations around the world, to encourage them to actively engage in the promotion and defence of human rights.
The Embassy of the Netherlands is inviting Romanian civil society organisations to submit project proposals focusing, on one hand, on strengthening the promotion of human rights in Romania and, on the other hand, on enhancing their capacity to work with the Romanian government towards the implementation of public policies intended to effectively defend human rights.
The project applications must be in line with at least one of the Dutch government’s human rights policy priorities and should be focused on the areas mentioned below:
- freedom of expression and internet freedom – activities focusing on investigative journalism; access to data and information; the fight against fake news and disinformation;
- freedom of religion or belief – activities focusing on the promotion of tolerance and awareness raising on freedom of religion or belief;
- equal rights for LGBTI persons – activities focusing on awareness raising on LGBTI rights as human rights;
- equal rights for women and girls – activities focusing on the fight against trafficking in human beings; the fight against domestic violence; the promotion of gender mainstreaming in decision-making related to public policies; the promotion of sexual and reproductive rights; the promotion of women’s political participation.
Funding criteria for the Human Rights Fund
Project proposals need to meet the following criteria in order to be considered eligible for funding:
- Applications must be presented in the requested format (the project application form is available here;
- Applications must focus on one of the priority areas mentioned above;
- Applicant organisations should have a solid track record of activities in and commitment to the policy area and the communities targeted by the project;
- Applications must set clear and feasible goals to deliver sustainable results, including cooperation with relevant governmental stakeholders where appropriate;
- Applications must not relate to ongoing projects, humanitarian initiatives and profit-
- generating activities, as they are not eligible for funding;
- Projects must start in 2021 and finish no later than 2023;
- Grants requested from the Human Rights Fund should fall within the range €5,000 to €24,999.
Application procedure
- Project proposals must be submitted to the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bucharest by email, BKR-HRF@minbuza.nl. Only proposals sent to this email address will be considered.
- The subject line of the email should read ‘[Name of the applicant organisation] – Application HRF 2021’.
- Proposals must be submitted using the standard application form (the project application form is available here)
- Proposals longer than 5 pages in total (without annexes) will not be considered.
- The deadline for submitting project proposals is 30 April 2021 at 12.00. Only proposals sent before this deadline will be considered.
