East East

Program description

The East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program (EE:PBBP) supports international collaboration among civil society and non-governmental organizations to share experiences, expertise and knowledge to advance principles of open society internationally.

Created in 1991, the East East Program focused on Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, specifically in the context of post-socialist transition. At the time, George Soros described this idea to promote cooperation: “People should travel, meet each other, exchange opinions and experiences. There is so much that people in Central and Eastern Europe can offer to each other; so many ways in which they can help each other. They should engage in the processes of transition together. This region should be alive.”

The East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program is implemented by Soros foundations in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Ukraine, and with partners in Slovenia, Russia, Croatia, Lithuania and Hungary.

Initiatives which receive Program support originate in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia and are evaluated by peer review by the relevant foundations and/or partners. The Program awards financial support for expenses of international exchange, including in-country expenses of the exchange and travel to enable participation in initiatives which receive Program support.

Projects

From the year 2010 the EE:PBBP in Bosnia and Herzegovina has focus on total of five (5) priorities within it will provide Program support:

empowering diverse groups of civil society organizations to take part in consensus building around shared set of values in education;
exploiting legal remedies to hold government accountable and to combat corruption behavior of public authorities
building capacity of NGOs, different civic groups and individuals aimed at advancing government accountability and opening space for critical dialogue and citizen participation in public policy creation;
assisting the local self-government in improving their democratic performance and decision-making processes and practices.

(Full EE:PBBP strategy for B&H can be viewed here)

Project costs

Costs which can or cannot be approved within projects applied to the EE:PBBP are:

For in-country activities:

Accommodation
Meals
Translations

For participation in Program-supported initiatives:

Travel
Visa
Insurances

Financial Support / CONSIDERED, but not preferred:

Honoraria / Unsolicited Applications and Solicited Proposals
Salaries, Services, Fees / Solicited Proposals
Analysis/Research
Publications
Website
Monitoring
Venue Rental
Administration
Equipment
Handouts, Stationery, Copying
Accountant/Bank Fees

Financial Support / EXCLUDED:

Salaries, Services, Fees / Unsolicited Applications
Salaries, Services, Fees / Foundation Initiatives
Office Supplies
Pens, Pencils, Badges, T-Shirts
Recreation
Indirect, Undefined, Miscellaneous

The East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program does NOT support

Individual travel/conference participation
Annual conferences/world congresses
Artistic productions/arts events
Hard science
Consultancies
Higher education research
Translation/publishing projects
Business/commercial/for-profit activities

Basic guidelines for applying to the EE:PBBP are:

Organization - applicant for support from EEP must have at least one partner organization in the region, and that will present, organize or implement the same project in their country. Along with the application must submit the project proposal of the partner organization or signed confirmation of participation in project and copy of legal registration in the origin country (basic condition)
Project that is subject of application must be long-term, at least for period of one year period (basic condition)
Application must clearly provide the following information:

Project objective(s)
Target group(s)
A detailed future activities plan (follow-up)
Expected results
Project phases (if available)
An accurate budget by items (look for a list of items that EE:PBBP does not support)

Organization - applicant for support from EEP must have at least one other donator, especially if the project entails large sums through donation.

How to apply:

Applications must be in English only
Application must be filled directly in the form which is available online to either download or copy from this web site
Under every title/section either type the questions over or simply type answers to questions in respective section of the application
Applications must be submitted to EE:PBBP coordinator in electronic form only, meaning by electronic mail (e-mail).

Application deadlines

All applications for EE:PBBP must be submitted to the local OSF office, to the EE:PBBP coordinator, at least eight (8) weeks before planned starting of project. Then, applications are subject of evaluation at local level and in case that application is satisfying will be transferred to the EE:PBBP network for peer evaluation and to the office in London for the final approval, where application need to arrive at least six (6) weeks before planned starting of project.

Applications which do not completely satisfying the above criteria will not be considered for support!