The Open Society Roma Initiatives seek proposals from Roma NGOs, advocacy organizations and think tanks to monitor and advocate for the preparation of comprehensive national strategies for Roma integration in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
ADVOCATING COMPREHENSIVE ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGIES AND MECHANISMS IN EU MEMBER STATES
Eligible countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Spain
Deadline: June 20, 2011
Context
The Open Society Roma Initiatives are announcing a Call for Proposals to address the current window of opportunity to influence the process and outcomes of developing and revising national strategies on Roma.
In April 2011, the Communication of the European Commission on an EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies seeks a clear policy commitment from Member States to develop or revise national strategies on Roma integration up to the year 2020. The strategies should pursue a targeted approach, in line with the Common Basic Principles on Roma Inclusion and embedded within the Europe 2020 National Reform Programmes. Member States have been requested to prepare or revise their national Roma integration strategies, and to present them to the Commission by the end of December 2011. In the spring of 2012, the Commission will undergo a process of reviewing the national strategies submitted.
Purpose
The purpose of this Call for Proposals is to encourage Roma NGOs, advocacy organizations and think tanks, with complementary capacities, to monitor and advocate effectively for the preparation or improvement of comprehensive national strategies for Roma integration to be submitted at the end of 2011. The supported organizations should also be able to provide substantive input to the national strategies review process to be undertaken by the European Commission in the spring of 2012.
The resulting national strategies should have clear and comprehensive implementation measures, adequate funding provisions and allocations, and well functioning mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation and stakeholder participation, especially Roma NGOs. Therefore, the current CFP encourages proposals that address the content of national Roma integration strategies and/or the process for designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating progress of Roma inclusion policies and programs.
Guidelines
Advocacy proposals should reflect an organized attempt to change policy, practice and/or awareness by presenting evidence and arguments for how and why change should happen. The Roma Initiatives encourage projects that include the production of an analysis based on the experiences and lessons from the Decade of Roma Inclusion (where applicable). In this way, actors take stock of what has been done (content); how it has been done (process) and the results (impact) of previous policies, strategies and action plans for Roma inclusion at local and national levels.
In terms of content design, this could include the research and analysis of concrete goals formulated in one or more policy area and the degree to which these goals were linked with concrete budget allocations. Here reference may be made to policy areas such as a) education; b) employment; c) housing, d) health and basic services; and e) tackling racist violence, discrimination and anti-Roma sentiments. In addition to these core areas, research and analysis that supports advocacy around issues of gender equality, youth empowerment and combating child poverty among Roma are also encouraged.
For policy areas where goals and budgets were set, then projects may also analyze and illustrate how the goals were actually implemented; whether they succeeded to reach local Roma; and to what degree they had a lasting impact, therefore contributing to the fulfillment of originally intended goals and objectives. This may include both positive and negative examples of efforts to scale up pilot initiatives; or case study analysis and presentation of models or practices with potential to be scaled up. Eventual recommendations based on the findings should seek to ensure that national strategies for Roma integration are firmly embedded and prioritized within the overall 2020 National Reform Strategies.
In terms of the process for engaging a broad range of stakeholders, applicants are encouraged first to describe and outline experiences, practices and results until now. This may include answering questions in terms of who has participated in the process; when they participated and what were the results? If recommendations were put forth by various stakeholders, then what happened? Were they taken up by governments? On the basis of these experiences, recommendations on how to improve the process, throughout various stages of policy design, implementation and monitoring, will serve to promote better assessment of progress in the future.
Recognizing that processes, methods, and structures for monitoring and evaluating progress also need to be improved, projects focusing on this aspect should also assess the experiences to date, exposing potential weaknesses and strengths in past and current practices. This includes monitoring of the current process for implementing the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies.
The current Call for Proposals seeks to support a range of activities, at local and national levels, including, but NOT limited, to:
· Issue and policy analysis.
· Case studies and research on implementation of policies at the local level (positive and negative)
· Network and coalition-building.
· Message and materials development.
· Media advocacy and outreach.
· Communications campaigns.
· Awareness raising and education of decision-makers.
For planning purposes, it is good to take into consideration that a core part of research and analysis should likely be finished by November 2011 in order to influence the national Roma integration strategies to be submitted by the end of December 2011. Depending on the nature and goals of the proposed project, advocacy may continue throughout the project period, targeting local, national and/or European levels.
Financial Allocation and duration of the project
For Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, theRoma Initiativesmay award a grant up to a maximum of USD 30,000 per project.
For France, Italy, Spain, the Roma Initiativesmay award a grant up to a maximum of USD 40,000 per project.
The duration of the project may be a maximum of 12 months.
Evaluation of proposals
When evaluating submitted project proposals, the following criteria will be taken into consideration:
a) Management and financial capacity of the applicant and partners.
b) Relevance of the project to the targeted Roma-related policy area.
c) Participation of Roma organizations and/or individuals in the design and implementation of the proposed project.
d) Effectiveness and feasibility of the project.
e) Sustainability and impact of the project.
f) Budget and cost-effectiveness of the project.
To Apply
Applicants are encouraged to form partnerships or consortia with other organizations which may bring complementary knowledge, skills and experience in the areas of Roma inclusion and evidence-based advocacy.
To apply you must complete all fields in the relevant grant application form provided at right. Do not leave any sections empty. Write N/A if not applicable.
Applications in English should be sent by e-mail to roma@osi.hu by June 20, 2011.
The review process may take up to six weeks.
In case you need more information or clarification, do not hesitate to contact staff of the Open Society Roma Initiatives.
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