On 3 September, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the grant project competition Support for Development Co-operation Projects in the Recipient Countries as Defined by the Republic of Latvia. Non-governmental organisations (associations and foundations) are invited to submit their project applications before 4:00 pm on 30 September.

Applicants eligible for support are non-governmental organisations established on the basis of private initiative, which are not-for-profit oriented, and which are listed with the Register of Associations and Foundations.

Beneficiary countries for the projects to be submitted for the competition are Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. For each country, certain priorities have been defined, and specific information about them can be obtained from the Regulations for the competition.  A project may be prepared for only one of the named beneficiary countries.

Further information may be received by submitting questions, on in writing or by e-mail, to the Development Co-operation policy department of the Foreign Ministry. A reply will be prepared and sent within five days.

The budget estimate for one project may be from LVL 5000 to LVL 20,000. The total amount of funding available under this grant project competition is LVL 100,000.

The projects will be evaluated by an independent expert commission by 24 October. The information on the winners will be published  on the MFA website.

The implementation period for the projects is from 10 November this year to 1 March 2009. The project implementation may take a shorter time period, but not before or after the specified dates.

The grant project competition provides a good opportunity for Latvia's non-governmental organisations to develop co-operation with their partners in beneficiary countries, sharing their experience and knowledge obtained in the development and reform process in Latvia, as well as to enhance their skills of project preparation and implementation in the area/field of  development co-operation.

More comprehensive information on the project competition is available on the Foreign Ministry's website at http://www.mfa.gov.lv/lv/Attistibas-sadarbiba/projekti/granta-projekts/ (in latvian).

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