Call for Proposals: Strengthening the communication capacity of grassroots CSOs

Срок за кандидатстване: до 15.09.2025 г.

Monitoring, Advocacy and Coalition Building for Women’s Rights, Environmental Justice & Anti-corruption Grass Roots CSOs

The Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC) is pleased to announce a call for proposals funded by the European Union, aimed at strengthening civil society in five EU Member States: Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia and Portugal. This initiative seeks to empower Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on women’s rights, environmental justice, and anti-corruption by enhancing their effectiveness, resilience, and visibility. By creating an enabling environment for these grassroots CSOs, the project aims to bolster the protection and promotion of EU values in these countries, ultimately contributing to the strengthening of EU values at the European level.

Objective of the call

The objective of the Third Call for Proposals is to strengthen the communication capacity of grassroots civil society organisations (CSOs) working in the fields of women’s rights, environmental justice, and anti-corruption across five EU Member States: Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, and Portugal. This call aims to empower CSOs to effectively raise awareness, engage citizens, and promote EU fundamental values through targeted communication strategies and campaigns.

By supporting initiatives such as awareness-raising campaigns, enhanced social media presence, media outreach, and the development of communication materials, the call seeks to increase public understanding and support for democratic principles, human rights, and the rule of law.

The expected results include:

Improved visibility and outreach of grassroots CSOs.
Increased public awareness on key issues related to women’s rights, environmental justice, and anti-corruption.
Strengthened capacity of CSOs to engage with media and citizens.
Enhanced collaboration among CSOs through joint communication efforts.
Greater resilience of civil society in addressing shrinking civic space.

Ultimately, the call contributes to fostering a more informed and engaged public, reinforcing EU values at both national and EU levels.

Read the full call here in English or in your respective language below.

Grant amount and duration

The NHC aims to provide approximately 10 grants per country, each grant between €7,500 – €10,000. The project will have a maximum duration of 12 months.

The anticipated starting date for the selected projects is 1^stOctober 2025.

Applications

Interested organizations are asked to APPLY ONLINE and submit their application through the online form (in English or in their respective languages) no later than 15 September 2025.

The following documents need to be attached:

Complete application form (download the template);
Filled out budget form (download the template);
Registration certificate of the organisation or a proof of registration;
Statute of the organisation.

Download the call and required documents in different languages here:

For questions regarding the call for proposals or the application procedure, please send us an email to nheidema@nhc.nl or hrd@nhc.nl.

This call is funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Netherlands Helsinki Committee and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.