A number of youth nongovernmental organizations of Moldova will benefit from financing from the Ministry of Youth and Sport within the annual program of grants intended for supporting and developing the youth NGO sector. Contacted by IPN, the head of the Youth Programs Division Ion Donea said that 60 youth NGOs from all over the country took part in the grants program this year.

Ion Donea said that the program’s budget for the last two years was of about 3.5 million lei, while the projects that are selected for implementation benefit from financing of up to 300,000 lei. The applying organizations must cover about 20% of the project’s value from own sources.

The priorities based on which the projects are selected include the promotion of youth participation in decision-making and of non-formal education services among young people.

Ion Donea said that the grants program that started to be implemented in 2011 has only one financing round during a year as the Ministry does not have many available funds. The number of projects taking part in the contest is yet very high. Negotiations are held and contracts are signed with every organization separately. The winning projects are implemented during a year.

According to Ion Donea, the Ministry of Youth and Sport is the only central public authority that has such a financing program. The grants program enables to directly communicate with the young people. The number of organizations that apply for grants is on the rise owing to the reduction in the number of foreign donors.