Programming period: 2019 - 2024

For more information about the Active Citizens Fund in Malta access https://activecitizensfund.mt/

ACF in Malta is established under the specific Programme Area for Civil Society part of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, financial contribution from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltic.

ACF Malta has been awarded a budget of 700.000 Euros, for the period 2019 – 2024, with the aim to foster an enabling environment for the civil society sector, strengthen its capacity and strengthen the support for human rights and social inclusion and increase citizen participation in civic activities.

Objectives

‘Civil society and active citizenship strengthened, and vulnerable groups empowered‘ is the overall programme objective, which will be attained through projects and activities that cover four areas of support:

• Democracy, active citizenship, good governance and transparency;
• Human rights and equal treatment through combating any discrimination;
• Social justice and inclusion of vulnerable groups;
• Environment and climate change.

ACF Malta shall also contribute to the achievement of the objective of the EEA and Norway Grants, to reduce economic and social disparities, and to strengthen bilateral relations between Malta and the donor states. ACF Malta reflects the firm recognition of the sector’s role as a fundamental building block of democratic governance, human rights and social cohesion across Europe. ACF Malta will also aim to improve outreach to under-served target groups and ensuring that the programme supports hard-to-reach target groups. This will be ensured through the use of online tools designed to be inclusive for small organisations and informal groups; continuous support to project promoters throughout their project implementation, with a special focus on financial management; a focus on advocating for the rights of under-served groups rather than providing services.

Programme Structure

In order to achieve the objectives of the Active Citizens Fund (ACF) in Malta, the Fund Operator has established with the donor states a set of targets to be achieved, with guiding outcomes and outputs.

The programme includes five outcomes, to which the supported projects, a pre-defined project, bilateral and regional cooperation and a capacity building course should contribute:

Outcome 1 – Increased support for human rights and social inclusion

Outcome 2 – Increased citizen participation in civic activities

Outcome 3 – Enhanced capacity and sustainability of civil society

Outcome 4 – Enhanced collaboration between beneficiary and donor state entities involved in the programme

Outcome 5 – Strengthened regional (cross-border) cooperation in the civil society sector

Open call for proposals

The programme shall consist of one call open for the enrolled and compliant NGOs and one pre-defined project.

All projects that will be funded through ACF Malta are expected to contribute to the achievement of Output 1 and Output 2. The projects will be selected following a call for applications and a selection process.

Capacity building

Outcome 3 is specifically aiming for enhanced capacity of civil society in Malta. This will be achieved through the implementation of an Online Capacity Building Course and a pre-defined project, by the Fund Operator.

Pre-defined project – Active citizens lab

The programme includes also a pre-defined project, named Active Citizens Lab’, implemented by the fund operator, focusing largely on building the capacity of CSOs and citizens in the fields of democratic culture and active citizenship.

Active Citizens Lab project will also have an offline component offering educational/informational materials and training courses to develop citizen journalism and human rights awareness amongst other skills as well as developing a civic action forum. The Forum shall have a citizen alert web-based feature that will serve to strengthen the capacity of civic voices, empowering the general public to advocate for policy priorities, good governance, respect for human rights and democratic principles.

The Active Citizens Lab will provide professional support and practical assistance offered through an Advisory Board of Experts which will be delivered offline, through face-to-face meetings and online through informative materials and a chat/email based service.

Bilateral and regional cooperation

The scope of Outcome 4, Bilateral Cooperation is to strengthen relations between civil society organisations in Malta and in the Donor States, or international organisations. The activities will be facilitated by the Fun Operator and implemented either as part of the funded projects, or through separate events.

ACF Malta will also aim to collaborate with other ACF programmes and enhance the cross-border cooperation and exchange of experiences and knowledge sharing to strengthen the civil society sectors in beneficiary countries.