One of the main pillars of the Programme is inclusiveness – to engage and support new actors in the dialogue process. To this end, the Consortium created a Grant Scheme to invite organisations and individuals from Armenia and Turkey - other than the Consortium members - to propose and implement their own project ideas, which will contribute to the overall objective of the Programme and multiply the shared outcomes.
The Grant Scheme has a total funding of € 150,000 and aims to support from 5 to 15 applicants with grants ranging from € 5,000 to € 20,000.
Applications are welcome from civil society organisations and individuals other than the Consortium partners. However, individuals will have to participate in the pre-grant meeting at HDF (for the applicants from Turkey) or EPF (for the applicants from Armenia) to provide clear division of tasks and responsibilities for the project implementation. Grant Scheme may also provide grants to profit-making organisations in case the grant funds contribute to the overall objective of the Programme and not used to make profit. Applicant organisations should have a formal registration either in Armenia or in Turkey. Individual applicants should be either citizens of Armenia or Turkey or should have permanent residency in Armenia or Turkey. Governmental/public agencies and political entities are not eligible to apply.
Applications will be considered by an Evaluation Committee, comprising designated representatives from all members of the Consortium. The selection criteria upon which the Evaluation Committee will consider the applications include the following:
- Does the project contribute to the overall objective of the programme Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process?
- Is the project relevant to the particular needs and constraints of the target groups it is addressing?
- Does the project include partnership between Armenia- and Turkey-based individuals and/or organisations?
- Does the project propose a minimum level of sustainability for the effort after the end of funding?
- Is the project innovative and does it offer an added value?
- Is the budget realistic and consistent with the proposed project?
- Does the applicant have enough capacity to successfully implement the proposed project?
The Consortium will assist the awarded projects with networking and publicity. The Consortium will also share the results of the awarded projects through the tri-lingual website of the Programme. The awarded grantees will be included in the pool of Consortium contacts and will receive updates on the Programme as well as invitations to various Consortium events.
The Grant Scheme was first launched by the Consortium in 2014 with two open calls in May and September, and received a total of 130 applications, 60 from Armenia and 70 from Turkey, out of which 11 applications, 6 from Armenia and 5 from Turkey, were funded.