Youth Response to Xenophobia and Racism in Europe: Guidelines

The Open Society Foundations place a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people across societies, especially marginalized and excluded communities. The Open Society Youth Initiative seeks to identify, support and promote the work of European youth seeking to combat xenophobia and intolerance and to promote inclusion.

Recognizing that economic, and at times social, realities make it hard for young people to obtain the funding needed to put their ideals into practice, the Open Society Foundations invite proposals for new and innovative initiatives that promote tolerance and inclusion and/or combat racism and xenophobia in Europe. Proposals to promote the full participation of youth with mental or physical disabilities in the cultural, economic, political and social life of their communities are also strongly encouraged. For the purpose of this call, Europe will be defined as the member states of the European Union as well as Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Proposals are sought that will focus on areas such as: political and civic engagement of youth; integration of minority and majority communities; use of new media tools to counter xenophobia and tackle discrimination; awareness raising of the importance and benefits of inclusion; as well as those that seek to promote explicitly, though not exclusively, the inclusion of minority groups, like the Roma, in the economic, social, political and social life of the community.

Grants will only be made to cover expenses directly related to the implementation of new initiatives; grants will not be awarded for activities or projects that the applicant is already implementing. Applicants are discouraged from requesting funding for rent, computer or vehicle purchases, or international travel. This grant program will not award fellowships to conduct research or to implement lobbying initiatives or cover the costs of school fees and tuition.

Eligibility

• Individuals, informal groups and registered civil society organizations can apply.
• Grant awards will be no greater than €2,000.
• This initiative will focus initially on funding projects in France, Belgium, Hungary and the Czech Republic. In France and Belgium priority will be given to applications from cities where the Open Society At Home in Europe project has conducted research: Antwerp, Marseille and Paris. In Hungary and the Czech Republic, the Youth Initiative will also prioritize projects that raise awareness of and help achieve the goals of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, an international initiative to improve the welfare of Roma, which focuses on education, employment, health and housing and aims to reduce poverty, combat discrimination and promote gender mainstreaming.
• Grant applications must be submitted in English, Dutch, French, Hungarian, or Czech.

Application Procedure

Please complete the application form below and send togylissauer@osi.hu.

Deadline

Applications for this grant are accepted on a rolling basis.