Istanbul Information Day for the Civil Society Dialogue Grant Programmes will be Hosted by the EU Minister Volkan Bozkır

An Information Day of the 2015 Call for Proposals of the Civil Society Dialogue Programme will be organised on Wednesday, 6 May 2015, from 10 AM till 5 PM in the Point Barbaros Hotel, Istanbul. The meeting is hosted by the Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator, Volkan Bozkır. The aim of the day is to inform representatives of civil society organisations, local authorities, universities and also professional organizations on the grant programmes and the project preparation process.

The Ministry for EU Affairs allocates 11 million Euros to civil society organisations under nine different grant schemes. Projects are to be generated under the following priorities of the negotations process: Environment; Energy; Consumer and Health Protection; Justice, Freedom and Security; Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services; Regional Policy and Coordination of Structural Elements; Enterprise and Industrial Policy; Agriculture and Fisheries; and Education. The projects are anticipated to consolidate sustainable dialogue and cooperation between civil society in Türkiye and the EU member states. Each of the projects funded under the Civil Society Dialogue Grant Programmes will be allocated 150.000 Euros at the highest. Within the funded projects, civil society organisations from Türkiye and the EU member states need to conduct joint activities. Deadlines for applications are the end of May or the beginning of June, being different for each grant scheme.

Detailed information on the Info Days of the Civil Society Dialogue Grant Programmes are available on the web sites of the Ministry for EU Affairs (www.ab.gov.tr) and the Civil Society Dialogue Programme (http://civilsocietydialogue.org/)

Information on the Civil Society Dialogue between European Union & Türkiye Project

The Ministry for EU Affairs has implemented the “Civil Society Dialogue between the EU and Türkiye (CSD) Project” since 2008 with the aim of promoting cooperation among civil societies in the EU and Türkiye.  Until today, approximately 32 million Euros were allocated to 271 projects.

The project is funded under the “Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)”. The first phase of the project comprising the years 2008-2009, funded 119 projects with a budget amounting to 19.3 million Euros. Supported priority areas were “Towns and Municipalities”, “Professional Organizations”, “Universities” and “Youth Initiatives for Dialogue”. The second phase of the project (2010-2012) funded 97 projects with a budget amounting to 5,3 million Euros in the fields of “Agriculture and Fisheries”, “Culture and Arts” and “Micro Grant”.

Now under implementation, the third phase of the project was commenced in 2014. It is comprised of three components being “Political Criteria”, “Media” and “Media Dialogue Seminars”. Currently, 55 projects are in the implementation phase. The total budget is 7 million Euros.

The fourth phase of the project will provide approximately 11 million Euros to civil society organisations under nine different aquis and policy priorities. Detailed information on the Civil Society Dialogue Grant Programmes is available on the following web site: http://civilsocietydialogue.org/