Grants for ten more CSO networks
09/05/2022The third SIGNACT in 2022 was held at the Belgrade Museum of Science and Technology on May 5th, marking the beginning of the implementation of ten new projects that received financial support within the ACT project, financed by the SDC as a strategic support of the development of civil society in the Republic of Serbia.
Ten new grants were awarded through the second public call for project proposals under the grant scheme Network Advocacy Grants. In addition to the ten grants for CSO networks approved during 2021, the SDC has supported a total of 20 CSO so far, and more than 60 citizens’ associations in Serbia within those networks. Approved projects will be implemented on the entire territory of Serbia, having in mind the fact that some of the projects have national coverage, while the rest of them will be implemented in one or more administrative districts.
Biljana Dusic Radmilovic addressed the audience on behalf of the donor, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Maja Stojanović, Executive Director of Civic Initiatives and Jens Engeli, International Leader of the ACT Project and Regional Director of Helvetas for Southeast Europe, spoke on behalf of the ACT consortium.
Addressing the representatives of the grantees, Jens Engeli pointed out that the CSO networks are among the strongest mechanisms for orchestrating the voice of citizens, communicating their demands for better governance and more responsible public administration. According to Engeli, the CSO network has the capacity to unite the requests of citizens for the improvement of public policies and to strategically put pressure on decision-makers to involve citizens in the creation of public policies at the local and national level. He also stressed that support for advocacy initiatives is among the main priorities of the ACT project as a whole.
