Programme of Financial Support to Local Non-Governmental Organisations

Objectives
The project objective was to promote NGO cooperation on priority environmental issues within and beyond CEE and NIS borders.

The aim was to provide solutions to cross-border or region-wide environmental problems by enabling CEE/NIS NGOs to run cooperative projects and involve Danish NGO expertise. The programme objectives were: ¤ To raise public awareness of ecological aspects of priority themes and to encourage broader dialogue within and beyond borders; ¤ To promote active participation in the decision-making process and in defining priorities concerning the environment; ¤ To enhance cooperation between different stakeholders in solving environmental problems; ¤ To promote an integrated approach toward solving environmental problems.

Background
This call for proposals was intended to provide support to NGOs from CEE in carrying out environmental projects on nationally specific areas ('brown' environmental priorities as a preference). This was done through a competitive granting programme tailored to grassroots NGOs seeking to strengthen the capacity to carry out their own projects. The call for proposals within the project "Supporting NGOs Within and Beyond CEE Borders" was conducted in Serbia and Montenegro with DANCEE support. The selected topics for Serbia and Montenegro, so called 'brown issues,' were Waste Management and Local Water.

Activities
Preparing grant announcements at national and regional levels; ¤ Managing NGO grants; ¤ Cooperating with Danish Granting organisations; ¤ Providing capacity building for NGOs/proposal preparation assistance; ¤ Conducting environmental project monitoring and result evaluations; ¤ Ensuring quality control of the projects; ¤ Facilitating multi-stakeholder cooperation at national and regional levels; ¤ Promoting cross-border/regional cooperation; ¤ Promoting cooperation between CEE and Danish NGOs; ¤ Promoting cooperation between CEE, SEE and NIS NGOs; ¤ Promoting sustainable solutions to the 'brown issues' in CEE; ¤ Managing information dissemination at national and regional levels; ¤ Publishing.

Country-specific results
¤ Five grants worth a total of EUR 25,000 were awarded to NGOs in Serbia and Montenegro through this initiative. The grant implementation lasted less than one year (from July- August 2002 to June 2003). The programme results show the high overall impact of the granting programme. These small grants helped to increase the consciousness of citizens regarding roles and available possibilities for better participation and cooperation with local stakeholders and governmental institutions. The participation of a high number of different groups and citizens in concrete actions of this granting programme revealed the level of interest related to the addressed issues. The majority of activities implemented through the small granting programme has helped the capacity building of all involved stakeholders. Joining different stakeholders and bringing different opinions regarding supported project issues resulted in a better understanding of the problems and issues, as well as proper roles of each and every actor in these processes in local communities. Building cooperative experiences among all stakeholders is one of the results in response to the previous lack of previous (political reasons mostly). The actual results of the small grants supported through this programme showed that cooperation is much stronger and effective when built upon concrete issues of common interest for the local community.