"Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Enhanced Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups” (General Information)

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The EEA Grants represent the financial contribution of the Republic of Iceland, Principality of Liechtenstein and Kingdom of Norway aimed at reducing economic and social disparities and strengthening bilateral relations between donor countries and beneficiary states. During the 2014-2021 programmе period, Bulgaria will receive over € 210 million in order to support projects in the area of social and local development and cohesion.

„Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Enhanced Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups” Programme is one of the programmes to be funded during this programming period, totalling € 41 764 706.

The Programme Operator is the Ministry of Education and Science. The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) is Donor Programme Partner and the Council of Europe (CoE) is International Partner Organization.

The main objective of the „Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Enhanced Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups” Programme is to strengthen social and economic cohesion, provide a systematic approach to local development and reduce poverty through integrated measures in the fields of education, employment and health.

To achieve this objective, the Programme will provide financial support to projects in the following areas:

Outcome 1: "Increased Social and Economic Development in Disadvantaged Municipalities"

  • Pre-defined project 1 "Grow through Activating Local Potential (GALOP)" with Project Promoter - National Association of the Municipalities in Republic of Bulgaria in partnership with the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS). Total budget of the project is € 1 200 000.
  • Pre-defined Project 2 "Innovative Community Care Models in Favour of People with Chronic Diseases and Permanent Disabilities" with Project Promoter - Bulgarian Red Cross in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS). Total budget of the project is € 3 333 333.
  • Pre-defined project 3 "Recovery Centre for Children with Оncohematological Diseases" with Project Promoter - Kostinbrod Municipality. Total budget of the project is € 625 822.
  • Pre-defined project 4 “Health for all” with Project Promoter - Ministry of Health in partnership with the National Network of Health Mediators. The total budget of the project is €1 109 718.
  • Small Grant Scheme "Jobs creations" with a total funding of € 4 000 000. The implementation of this scheme will provide help for local development by supporting innovative approaches to strengthen economic activities and create jobs in the targeted areas.
  • Restricted Call for Proposals "Local Development and widening the scope of youth centres" with total funding of € 4 000 000. The call will be addressed to the four Youth Centres (in Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Dobrich and Vratsa) established under the "Children and Youth at Risk" Programme, financed by the EEA Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 in Bulgaria.

Outcome 2: "Enhanced Social Inclusion of Children and Youth"

  • Pre-defined project 5 "Building capacity for educational and social inclusion" with Project Promoter - Center for Educational Integration of Children and Students from Ethnic Minorities in partnership with Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". The project budget is € 487 628.
  • Call for proposals "Early Childhood Education and Care". The total project budget is € 6 029 412.
  • Call for proposals "Establishing Youth Centres". The total project budget is € 8 000 000.

Outcome 3: "Enhanced Inclusion and empowerment of Roma"

  • Pre-defined project 6 "Novel Approaches to Generating Data on Hard-to-reach Populations at Risk of Violation of their Rights" with Project Promoter - National Statistical Institute with Project Partner - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). The budget of the project is € 1 000 000.
  • Call for proposals “Integrated measures for Roma inclusion and empowerment” with a budget of € 8 000 000. The call will support integrated projects for improving access to education, employment, social and health services.