Deadline: 17 January 2020

The United States Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, acting through the Office of Public Affairs, has announced the Interethnic Reconciliation and Youth (IERY) Program for youth small grant projects.

This program supports initiatives with the primary goal of promoting interethnic and intercommunity exchange, collaboration, and joint projects. They are seeking projects and initiatives that clearly develop increased tolerance and cooperation between the ethnically and geographically diverse communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Proposals should engage youth, belonging to at least one of two specific age ranges: a. ages 10-17 or b. ages 18-25. The Embassy welcomes all innovative proposals aimed at promoting interethnic engagement, reconciliation, and cooperation among youth belonging to different ethnic groups.

They seek applications for direct engagement with youth, designed explicitly to promote interaction, the development of tolerance and reconciliation between the religiously and geographically diverse communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Priority Themes

• Science, Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment Initiatives Connecting Divided Communities: Bringing together neighboring or nearby communities that have had little contact since the war to improve youth employability by skill development.
• Fractured Education/Two Schools Under One Roof: Working with parents and students in schools across entity/ethnic lines to address issues that divide students along ethnic lines. These projects should help remove obstacles to integration in education.
• Projects combating disinformation: Bringing young people together across ethnic lines to develop critical thinking, media literacy skills to combat disinformation.
• Marginalized Groups: Projects that promote cooperation among marginalized minority groups from different ethnic communities, including (but not limited to) displaced persons, persons with disabilities, socio-economically disadvantaged persons, LGBT persons, Roma, and others.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Program Funding: $250,000
• Award Ceiling: $25,000
• Award Floor: $5,000

Eligibility Criteria

Non-profit organizations (including think tanks, civil society organizations and NGOs), cultural and educational institutions and independent media that are based and legally registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina are eligible to apply. American or other donor country organizations and individuals are not eligible for grants under this program. Grants are generally awarded only to organizations.

For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=322958