Building new dams and small hydropower plants, water pollution, inappropriate river management and other ways of damaging watercourses continue to burden the environment as well as local communities across Bosnia and Herzegovina. To support local civic initiatives trying to solve current problems of their rivers at the regional level, Czech non-governmental organization Arnika, the Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of BiH and the Center for Environment (BiH) with a financial support of the Transition Promotion Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic are launching a Small Grants Program.
Who can submit a grant application?
The Small Grants Program is intended primarily for registered voluntary-based civic initiatives and organizations. “We also encourage new initiatives to submit their ideas. It is an opportunity to get financial support for protection of the environment and enforcing rights of local communities. Even though only one project from each initiative can receive the grant, one applicant can apply with several project ideas,” explains Zuzana Vachůnová from Arnika.
To find out more and to consult individual ideas, a special informational webinar for anyone interested will take place on October 5th at 5 p.m.
Within the Program, support will be given to projects aimed at combating damage to rivers, with an emphasis on solving specific problems on local level, for example information campaigns, public discussions, negotiations with local governments, petitions, independent examinations, analyses, studies and measurements, participation in decision-making processes, documentation of the problem through journalistic investigations, interviews, photographs and videos, social media campaigns, etc.
“The goal of the grant program is to support civic society and to help the local communities with finding sustainable solutions in river protection. We want to focus on solving local problems related to endangered rivers and on supporting active involvement in social processes,” introduces the main program objectives Dragana Skenderija, coordinator of the Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The total grant fund is 20,000 BAM and 7-15 projects will be supported. The amount of each grant can vary from 1,000 to 3,000 BAM. In 2020, 8,000 BAM can be allocated to support 3–8 projects. The next round of small grants is planned for 2021. More detailed information about the Small Grants Program and the application can be found here: www.eko.ba/male-grante
