Civil Society Grant Facility

Posted On: November 29th, 2021

The European Union-funded Project ‘Nyamdrel | Support to Parliament of Bhutan and CSOs has approved five grant projects for five Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) in the first grant cycle. A total of 27 proposals from CSOs and CBOS were received of which 11 were from CSOs and 16 from CBOs.

The CSO and CBO projects revolve around the four core themes of policy advocacy in: 1) Increasing Civil Society and Media Engagement 2) Promoting Youth and Women’s Engagement and Leadership 3) Enhancing Public Accountability and Transparency and 4) Reducing Inequalities and Vulnerabilities, including those affected by COVID-19.

Memorandum of Agreements were signed on 9th November 2021 between International IDEA, Helvetas and the grant recipients: Bhutan Network Empowering Women (BNEW), Bhutan Centre for media and Democracy (BCMD), Bhutan Transparency Initiative (BTI), Bhutan Media Foundation (BMF) and Humans of Thimphu (HoT).

Project ‘Nyamdrel (2021-2023) is being implemented by International IDEA in partnership with Helvetas Bhutan to enhance democratization and sustainable development in Bhutan through effective CSO engagement with Parliament and promoting an enabling environment for public participation in parliamentary processes.