Supporting local civil society and independent media is crucial to containing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and contributing to the long-term, socio-economic resilience of vulnerable groups in the Eastern Partnership countries. People in Need (PIN) is launching a new EU-funded project to tackle this challenge head-on.
Armenian women from the remote Shirak region who have lost their jobs, internally displaced people and ethnic minorities in Georgia who need improved access to legal and other services, and children with cancer and their families in Moldova who lack personal protective equipment: these are some of the beneficiaries of the EU COVID-19 Solidarity Programme for the Eastern Partnership. This project is being implemented by PIN, in partnership with the Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC), and AFEW International. Supported by the European Union, the three organisations have joined forces to propose a set of interventions in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and other countries to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We recognise the critical role that local civil society organisations (CSOs), watchdog initiatives, and local independent journalists play in service delivery, community mobilisation, awareness raising, policy engagement, and advocacy for the protection of human rights and civic freedoms during and after the pandemic,” says Dorota Šuráňová, regional programme manager at PIN.
PIN aims to boost the capacity of CSOs providing services to a range of vulnerable groups. Additionally, NHC will provide sub-grants to CSOs for the delivery of activities that aim to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in closed institutions, namely prisons and mental health facilities. AFEW International, meanwhile, will address the COVID-19-related needs of organisations working with drug users and sex workers, as well as LGBTI organisations, in the six countries where the project is operating.
“Working with such a diverse group of actors will provide us with insight into the needs of different sectors,” says Šuráňová. “Information collected from grantees will offer a unique mapping of gaps in services and vulnerable populations, and this data can later be used to better target aid.”
In July, PIN launched the first round of calls for grants focused on economic recovery, education, social services, and protection, and nine CSOs in Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova were selected; the second round is now beginning in these countries. The call is also being opened in Ukraine. The activities PIN is supporting include, for example, capacity building for social and legal service providers, the distribution of supplies, digitalisation of education, psychosocial support provision, and trainings to promote economic recovery.
AFEW International has launched the regional “COVID-19 Solidarity Program in the Eastern Partnership countries”on the 3 September and in October selected 8 proposals from 5 countries of the Eastern Partnership countries to support community-based organizations in the framework of the EU COVID-19 Solidarity Programme, financed by the European Union. All selected proposals are related to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on key populations. A call for Moldove was relaunched due to insufficient number of applications from this country.
