PLEASE NOTE THAT THE WESTERN BALKANS 2020 CALL DESCRIBED HERE HAS NOW CLOSED.
PeaceNexus has been supporting organisations in the Western Balkans since 2014 and currently supports 9 organisations across the region (for more information about our programme and testimonials from our partners, click here).
With this 2020 Western Balkans call, we wish to partner with organisations that contribute to social cohesion in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia and organisations that work on the regional level. We are particularly interested in supporting actors that work to increase the quality and intensity of collaboration across ethnic and national lines, thus contributing to regional mobility, dialogue and reconciliation. Likewise, we wish to support organizations able to mobilise and engage citizens in support of transitional justice and democratic reforms.
Under this call, we do not support specific projects nor provide institutional (core) funding. Instead, we provide: conflict sensitivity support to help organisations adapt to their context and contribute to social cohesion; organisational development support to help peacebuilding organisations become more effective; or inclusive dialogue with business support to enable relevant actors to facilitate collaborative solutions to business-community-government issues that are relevant for social cohesion.
In these uncertain times, PeaceNexus believes that it is critical to continue investing in organisations and initiatives geared towards social cohesion. While the scale of our funding and the type of accompaniment we offer is not compatible with emergency funding nor operational support, we believe that our process support can be catalytic in helping organisations adapt to changing circumstances. In all three areas of support, we work with partners to help them overcome internal or external challenges that hinder their effectiveness and ability to reach their own goals. If you are selected for our support, we will start by visiting you (as soon as possible) to make sure we understand the specificities of your situation and can accompany you accordingly.
Before putting together an application, you are strongly advised to consult this PDF overview and to go through the documentation specific to the support area you are interested in. These documents give additional information on our support, including concrete examples and frequently asked questions (FAQs) specific to each support area.
Applicants need to complete a webform and upload their application by 7 June (23.59pm CET). Applicants may only apply to one support area.
Indicative timeline for this Call :
*or as soon as COVID-19 – related travel restrictions are lifted |
Conflict sensitivity is relevant in environments such as the Western Balkans, where societies have moved away from violent conflict but remain affected by underlying lines of tension and polarisation. Due to the legacy of the past, Western Balkans organisations often face context-sensitivity challenges: for example, they can do harm by unintentionally reinforcing existing prejudices between different groups. At the same time, organisations often have untapped potential to contribute to social cohesion, regardless of whether they work on reconciliation directly, or have a different mandate focused for example on journalism, democratic engagement, education or culture. We aim to help realise through this potential by helping organisations adapt to their context.
Under this support area we welcome applications from all organisations that want to maximise the positive impact of their work by better adapting to their context. We’re particularly keen to support:
If you are interested in this support area, please consult our Conflict Sensitivity Concept Note & FAQ
The turbulent and fast-changing political context of the region creates significant internal challenges for organisations, regardless of their size and of the level at which they operate. We see that many organisations working on social change face challenges related to their strategies, leadership, internal systems and sustainability. They need to nurture specific approaches, develop related internal capacities, mobilise resources and networks in order to be effective. Likewise, they need to be able to manage a changing and often adversarial environment for civil society organisations, seldom supported by government institutions and the general public. PeaceNexus’ organisational development support provides organisations with the opportunity to invest in internal change processes tailored to their needs and mission.
Under this support area, we welcome applications from organisations that want to address internal challenges to maximise their impact on reconciliation and peaceful democratic development. We seek out change-makers with a demonstrated potential to challenge the status quo.
If you are interested in this support area, please consult our Organisational Development Concept Note & FAQ
We believe that while economic development has a high potential to positively contribute to stability and peaceful relations, it is also often a source of tension in environments that have not fully recovered from past conflicts or are affected by social polarisation. Therefore, citizens, governments and businesses all have a stake in promoting economic development that is well managed and realises its potential to build social and economic resilience. This is why we support inclusive dialogue: when it is well-facilitated and prepared, it can be a powerful tool to enable these actors to solve disputes early on and eventually identify sustainable win-win decisions.
Under this support area, applicants can be any civil society organisation (either working at local or national level), informal community group, government institution or business that is a stakeholder regarding a particular case of economic development involving the private sector in divided communities or across multi-ethnic areas. Prospective applicants need to be directly affected by the issue at hand and be ready to participate in a multi-stakeholder dialogue to address it constructively.
If you are interested in this support area, please consult our Inclusive Dialogue with Business Concept Note & FAQ