The noncommercial youth organizations of Moldova can receive logistical and financial support from the state to implement youth initiatives, programs and projects. The Program of Grants for youth organizations, which was launched in Chisinau today, will support projects that will contribute to implementing the youth development strategy “Youth 2030”. The deadline for submissions is July 17, IPN reports.

Minister of Education and Research Anatolie Topală, said the sum allocated this year for the Program of Grants is twice higher than last year and is of 10 million lei. “We set down three priorities in the policy document. We want to come with support for youth centers and youth workers as they, by the services they provide, help as many young people as possible. We aim to increase the young people’s participation and the way in which they influence decisions,” he stated.

According to Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei, chairwoman of the Parliament’s commission on culture, education, research, youth, sport and the media, the organizations should attentively follow what is proposed and the priority areas so that the documents on which the responsible institutions worked so hard do not remain on paper.  They should become involved in the planning of efficient activities intended for the young people and should support the youth sector, while the impact should be assessed so as to see what can be improved.

Ion Donea, director of the National Agency for the Development of Youth Programs and Activities, said the grants program is an instrument of support for civil society organizations of Moldova to implement different creative ideas intended for young people, initiatives with an impact. The contest is open to local projects with a budget of at most 200,000 lei, regional projects to the value of at most 400,000 lei and national projects with a budget of at most 600,000 lei.

The program will support social innovation and community development projects, projects to increase and stimulate the culture of civil participation in decision-making among people and projects aimed at developing human and institutional capacities in the youth sector by implementing youth projects and programs based on the needs of young people.

The contest is intended for noncommercial youth organizations that implement youth projects and programs with an impact, have co-financing, partnership agreements with different local and national institutions and donors and can ensure an own contribution of at least 20% of the value of the project.