Civil Society Advocacy Intiative in Serbia

The summary for the Civil Society Advocacy Intiative in Serbia grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Hungary USAID Budapest, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Civil Society Advocacy Intiative in Serbia: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications to implement a program in Serbia to support the development and strengthening of Serbian Civil Society Advocacy entitled "Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI)". The Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI) is a $12 million, five-year program that seeks to support the development and strengthening of Serbian civil society and particularly its ability to influence public policy, serve as government watchdogs, and conduct sustained advocacy campaigns on a wide variety of reform issues. CSAI will be USAID/Serbias primary mechanism for awarding grants to local organizations working on legislative oversight, constitutional reform and other key areas of democratic and economic reform, particularly reforms necessary for accession to the European Union. As part of its emphasis on long-range planning, CSAI will focus more on one-to three-year grants that will enable organizations to concentrate on the implementing sustained programs, building coalitions, and developing organizational capacity rather than on isolated activities with a short-term horizon. In order to strengthen the capacity of civil society to engage in such efforts, the program will also address remaining challenges to the sustainability of the sector, including the legal environment, management skills, and communication strategies. Though major reform advocacy efforts may be envisioned primarily by organizations with a national scope, the program will also pay special attention to supporting and developing organizations outside the capital, particularly those focused on advocacy or cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth, cross-border contacts, or transparency in government programs. Overall, the program seeks to increase: . the quality, quantity, and strategic focus of advocacy initiatives; . the range of skills, strategies, and tactics used in advocacy efforts, including educating the public and monitoring implementation of laws or policies; . the quality and quantity of public discussions about the need for republic-level constitutional reform, and the implications of proposed constitutional provisions . the number of organizations and coalitions conducting sustained campaigns; . the ability of citizens and the Parliament to oversee the implementation of enacted legislation and appreciate the need for new or amended legislation, and . NGO and citizen input into legislation, by-laws and government policy, particularly those related to Euro-Atlantic integration.