Call #1 Strengthening Democracy and Rule of Law through Civil Society Initiatives

Call #1 – Strengthening Democracy and Rule of Law through Civil Society Initiatives is implemented under Outcome 1: Democratic values and rule of law strengthened, contributing directly to its achievement. This call aims to achieve the following objectives: • To enhance CSOs’ capacity to promote participatory governance, engage citizens, and ensure institutional accountability. • To support CSOs in safeguarding democratic values, human rights, and the rule of law, while enabling them to shape policies and strengthen long-term democratic processes. Projects approach: systemic change, policy influence, institutional strengthening, and development of sustainable and scalable models. Target groups: civil society sector, general public, underrepresented groups, public authorities and institutions etc. Up to 20% of the total project budget can be allocated for activities that contribute to the organizational development of the Applicant and, if the case, of the CSO Partner/s from Romania. Between 3% and 5% of the total project budget may be allocated to monitoring and rapid response actions. Eligible Applicants are non-governmental and non-profit organizations, legally established in Romania, organized and operated in accordance with the relevant Romanian laws.