Deadline: 19 April 2019

The Roma Education Fund (REF) has announced a call for proposals to select the partner organizations for the implementation of projects that would be in line with REF’s strategic framework and contribute to closing the gap, follow REF’s model of interventions and include innovative approach.

The Roma Education Fund’s (REF) mission and goal is to contribute to closing the gap in educational outcomes between Roma and non-Roma. In order to achieve this goal, the organization supports policies and programs which ensure quality education for Roma through scholarships, grant making and advocacy activities.

Models of Intervention

The Roma Education Fund (REF) through its extensive experience and knowledge developed five models of interventions and approaches that have proved successful and have brought results in all 16 countries of REF’s intervention. REF’s models include project development objectives, result frameworks, output and outcome indicators, risk assessment combined with risk mitigation measures, project management and implementation requirements, and monitoring and evaluation tools. The value of these models is that they can be adopted and implemented on an achievable scale in various country contexts and its good practices contribute towards positive policy change at local, regional and national level.

• Early Childhood Education and Care
• Primary Education
• Secondary Education
• Tertiary Education (RomaVersitas)
• Adult Education: Second Chance Programs for Adults

Funding Information

This Call for Proposal is for unsolicited project proposals only and interested applicants can apply for:

• Small grant proposals – Grant proposals aligned with REF’s Strategic Framework (2020-2030) and within the frame of REF’s models, with a maximum REF’s funding request of 20,000 EUR.
• Standard grant proposals – Grant proposals aligned with REF’s Strategic Framework (2020-2030) and within the frame of REF’s models, with a maximum REF’s funding request of 80,000 EUR.

Cross-Cutting Priorities

All project proposals must include measurable and lasting improvements aligned with REF’s Strategic Framework and should:

• Contribute to advocacy and policy development in project area and regional knowledge exchange and communication;
• Advocate for changes in policy development through their project-related activities, or how they plan to contribute to existing advocacy efforts in their area;
• Contribute to building an inclusive education system and its desegregation;
• Integrate gender mainstreaming perspective into the preparation and design of all components of the project;
• Work on adding sustainability of the proposed actions and interventions in the proposal;
• Adapt components and activities to be in line with REF’s models (apart from model 5, Adult Education);
• Facilitate and foster dialogue between Roma, non-Roma communities, and school stakeholders and strengthen Roma communities to become active advocates for improved educational opportunities.

Geographical Coverage

This Call for Proposals calls upon non-governmental organizations and institutions registered and located in the Western Balkans countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to apply for the grants, the following eligibility criteria apply:

• Legally registered non-governmental organization or institution in the above-given country;
• Operational capacity: systems and processes for ensuring sound management of funds. At a minimum, an organization needs to have basic accounting and reporting systems and to have been registered and working for at least 2 years;
• Proven relevant experience and indicating ability to fulfill the objectives of the action; and
• Core values in line with REF’s values – tenacity, integrity, justice, accountability and inquisitiveness –including REF’s commitment to integration and gender mainstreaming;
• Project proposal should not duplicate activities in an ongoing project funded by REF in the country in question ;
• Project proposals with school-related activities should be supported with partnership agreement(s) between the school(s) and the implementing organization.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted electronically at the address given on the website.

For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2CglAtU