The deadline for submitting applications is Friday, 31.03.2023 at 24.00hrs. About the Human Rights Fund

The Human Rights Fund is a tool of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Its purpose is to support activities by civil society organisations around the world, to encourage them to actively engage in the promotion and defence of human rights.

We invite the Romanian civil society organisations to submit project proposals which can strengthen the promotion of human rights in Romania as well as enhance their capacity to work with the Romanian local and/or central government towards the implementation of public policies related to human rights, as both Romania and the Netherlands are committed parties to the European Convention on Human Rights.

The project applications must be in line with at least one of the Dutch government’s human rights policy priorities. For this year’s call we invite civil society organizations to focus on:

• equal rights for women and girls – activities focusing on the promotion of women’s political participation at national and local levels; promotion of gender equality in decision-making; promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights; fostering an environment where boys and men respect and promote gender equality; fight against domestic violence, sexism and/or harassment;
• equal rights for LGBTIQ+ persons – activities focusing on awareness raising on equal rights for LGBTIQ+ persons as human rights; strengthening the capacity of local organisations promoting equal rights for LGBTIQ+ persons;
• freedom of expression and internet freedom – activities focusing on promoting critical thinking among youth; fight against fake news and disinformation; investigative journalism; freedom of the press; access to data and information.

Funding criteria for the Human Rights Fund

Project proposals need to meet the following criteria in order to be considered eligible for funding:

• Applications must be presented in the requested format (the project application form is available here;
• Applications must focus on (one of) the priority areas mentioned above and directed at activities in Romania;
• Applicant organisations should be registered in Romania and should have a solid track record of activities in and commitment to the policy area and the communities targeted by the project;
• Projects must start in 2023 and finish no later than 2025;
• Grants requested from the Human Rights Fund should fall within the range €10,000 to €20,000.

Priority for financing will be awarded to:

• Applications which set clear and feasible goals to deliver sustainable results, including cooperation with relevant governmental stakeholders where appropriate;
• Applications aiming to actively involve youth and innovative approaches towards attaining the proposed objectives;
• Applications aiming at implementing activities outside Bucharest.

Not eligible:

• The following activities are not eligible under the HRF: humanitarian aid; projects that largely or exclusively involve the delivery of goods or materials; commercial activities; ongoing projects; projects with a predominantly academic focus, i.e. research; infrastructural or construction projects; bursaries or education programmes; feasibility studies; and, vehicles, household appliances, hardware, etc.
• The Human Rights Fund cannot be used to pay regular salaries, cover office related costs or buy equipment.

Application procedure

• For submitting project proposals to the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bucharest, please contact us. Only proposals sent in this form will be considered.
• The subject line of the email should read ‘[Name of the applicant organisation] – Application HRF 2023’.
• Proposals must be submitted using the standard application form (the project application form is available here.
• The application form should be accompanied by the following annexes: a detailed overview of the planned budget and 2 letters of recommendation.
• Proposals longer than 5 pages in total (without annexes) will not be considered.
• Applicants will be informed about the outcome of the call for proposals by the 15.05. 2023, at the latest.

The deadline for submitting project proposals is 31/03/2023 at 24.00hrs. Only proposals sent before this deadline will be considered.