Eurasia Partnership Foundation’s (EPF) mission is to enable civil society actors to effect change and effectively participate in the governance of their communities and of the state. EPF has accumulated 26 years of experience in program implementation, grant making, and cooperation with the Armenian civil society. EPF has developed a unique portfolio of services to position itself as a ‘think and do’ tank with expertise in the nexus of project design and management, network building and consortium management, civil society capacity building, and policy research and advocacy. One of the major tools that EPF has used over the years to support civil society organizations (CSOs) is grant-making. In addition to the selection, distribution, evaluation, and oversight of grants, EPF builds the institutional capacity and internal controls of its beneficiaries and partners. Prior to grant implementation, EPF staff work jointly with grantees on project design, implementation schedule, evaluation process, and risk mitigation. Afterwards, EPF staff accompany and coach grantees throughout the grant project. EPF employs a unique proprietary grants management system, which enables a strict fiscal oversight of grant recipients. EPF provides a variety of types of grants: open-door (unsolicited) grants, based on open competition procedures; target (topical) grants; invited grants; as well as grants to individuals and unregistered groups. EPF may allocate grants of various sizes and various durations to various entities including physical persons, non-profits, and for-profits inside and outside of Armenia. Since mid-1990s, EPF (and its predecessor Eurasia Foundation) have allocated around $30 million in grants in Armenia. The majority of this money came from USAID. Other key donors included EU, SIDA, the Netherlands, FCO. In 2008-2019, EPF awarded around 400 grants totaling $8.5 million in Armenia. Major thematic areas of EPF grants include civil society development, local governance, human rights, anti-corruption, conflict transformation, media development, and youth. In its grant-making, EPF adheres to human rights based approach, gender equality, environmental consciousness, inclusiveness and participation at all levels. Currently, EPF has four major program portfolios: Cross-border (Armenia-Turkey and Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue); Human Rights (anti-discrimination, religious tolerance, and justice sector reform); Good Governance (local government, media, and promotion of non-violence); and Civil Society Development. EPF has developed an InfoTun Network comprising ten training and resource centers located in every region of Armenia. Over the years, EPF has developed a unique holistic signature methodology for CSO capacity building. Some of the methods and tools listed below are cross-cutting, such as Capacity Enhancement Tool, network-building, advocacy and communication trainings, etc.
