1st candidate of professional training programme awarded traineeship!

In the framework of the EU-funded project “Improving the provision of Social Service Delivery in South Eastern Europe through the empowerment of national and regional CSOs”, implemented by the consortium of SOLIDAR, LIR CD BiH, OGI Croatia, EDC Serbia, SOS TELEPHONE Montenegro, CLARD Kosovo, ARSIS Albania, ASYD FYROM – led by ASB Germany, SOLIDAR is organizing a Professional Staff Training Programme open to staff members of CSOs providing social services in the Western Balkans, that are part of the IRIS Network. Upon publication of the call for professional training, SOLIDAR received significant number of quality applications that has been thoroughly evaluated and decided on single participant of the programme.

Jasmina Hasanagic, graduated Journalist, currently pursuing PhD in Gender Issues and Human Rights in University of Sarajevo is our first distinguished candidate who will have opportunity to participate in 4 week traineeship in Spain. Ms. Hasanagic is pursuing career in civil sector, in past eight years she has been active as direct service providing. Currently, she is project manager in NGO Women from Una based in Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As of 26th January 2016 selected candidate will spend 4 weeks in the premises of Movimiento por la Paz (MPDL) in Madrid (Spain).  Traineeship will be learning experience on the provision of social services and civic movement in Spain, as well as insight into how the provision of services and the policy advocacy is shaped.

MPDL is an independent, secular and progressive NGO working since 1983 to promote human rights, democracy and solidarity. In particular, the NGO works in the following sectors:  migration, socio-economic integration, awareness-raising activities for students, teachers and family groups to promote a Culture of Peace, volunteering and training to promote various activities that symbolize and encourage citizen participation.

As part of the capacity building efforts SOLIDAR and IRIS Network will organize 4 additional individual traineeships for the Network members at EU-based social service providers in 2016.

Small grants for 13 local advocacy initiatives in SEE

Out of 34 received project proposals, IRIS Network awarded 13 grants under 2nd CFP Support to projects of civil society organizations (CSO) – social service providers in SEE in scope of the projects “Improving the provision of Social Service Delivery in South Eastern Europe through the empowerment of national and regional CSO networks”. IRIS network Project Evaluation Committee decided to support total of 13 projects in 6 project countries: three in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, two in Serbia, Kosovo, and FYROM and one in  Montenegro. 

Implementation of all supported project starts on 4th January 2016 with the duration of four to six months. Each project deals with important social issues and strives to strengthen civil society organizations role in  the creation of social policies and social protection programmes. Overall objective of the SGF is to achieve a more dynamic civil society actively participating in public debate on democracy, human rights, social inclusion and the rule of law and with capacity to influence policy and decision making processes.

 

The projects assessment criteria included: organisational performance; comprehensiveness of information including relevance of the proposal to objectives of the fund, objectives of the project and addressing identified need; capacity of identified activities to achieve defined objectives; the relationship between the proposed actions and the financial plan; the intended impact of the project and future sustainability.

Main output of this Call is implementation of 13 small advocacy initiatives.

Iris network would like to congratulate all of its member organizations who received grants, but also to thank all applicants who sent us their project proposals. Final list of all organizations who received grants can be found in the following table.

CORRIGENDUM Notice on Grant Scheme

IRIS Network is announcing that GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS published on 29.09.2015. is modified in accordance to the changes published in CORRIGENDUM NO1. 

For additional information please find attached CORRIGENDUM. 

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR MEMBERS OF THE IRIS NETWORK

In the framework of the project “Improving the provision of Social Service Delivery in South Eastern Europe through the empowerment of national and regional CSOs”, implemented by the consortium of SOLIDAR, LIR CD BiH, OGI Croatia, EDC Serbia, SOS TELEPHONE Montenegro, CLARD Kosovo, ARSIS Albania, ASYD FYROM – led by ASB Germany, SOLIDAR is organising a Professional Staff Training Programme open to staff members of CSOs providing social services in the Western Balkans, that are part of the IRIS Network.

The programme offers to one selected candidate the opportunity to spend 4 weeks in the premises of Movimiento por la Paz (MPDL)  in Madrid (Spain) and provides a learning experience on the provision of social services and civic movement in Spain, as well as insight into how the provision of services and the policy advocacy is shaped. Travel, accommodation and living costs of the selected candidate will be covered.

For more information please see the on the description of the Programme.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS WITHIN SMALL GRANTS FACILITY PUBLISHED

IRIS Network has a great pleasure to announce the continuation of its small grants program, which will provide financial support to the member organisations in: Albania, FYROM, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

This call will support implementation of advocacy initiatives.

Proposed advocacy initiatives should focus on:

  • Improving policies and their practices in the area of social inclusion and provision of social services on local level;
  • Improving policy framework for CSOs providing social services at local level;
  • Introducing of innovative models in provision of social services;
  • Improving policy framework and practices of involvement in decision making process  vulnerable groups and/or beneficiaries of social services.

Total budget of the call is 60 000 EUR.  Funding will be provided for minimum 12 projects lasting up to 6 months maximum. It is anticipated that  maximum of € 5,000 per project will be available.

Project proposals should be written in English language. Applicant must submit filled application package and additional documentation consisted of:

  1. Application form;
  2. Budget proposal;
  3. Scanned copy of Registration of organization;
  4. Scanned copy of Statute of organization;
  5. Scanned copy of Balance Sheet and Income Statement for the previous year (2014.)

In case of partnership, corresponding additional documentation should be enclosed, as well as “Partnership agreement” from the Application form, signed and stamped by the legally authorized representative.

If you have a project which may fulfill the requirements of  above described program, please send your proposals to:  masa.mitrovic@asb-see.org no later than 31.10.2015 midnight, with the email subject  “Call for proposal for the CSO support”.

Supporting documents: Application form; Budget proposal; Guidelines.

Second Call for Proposals – Small Grants Facility soon to be launched

The IRIS Network informs its membership that the Second Call for Proposals will be launched in October 2015.

The Small Grants Facility will be organised according to the lessons learned from the First Call SGF, focusing on: greater involvement of the stakeholders in discussion on provision of social services, partnerships promoting innovative services, analyses, advocacy and monitoring of social sector reforms.

The SGF will be open only to Network member organizations, especially those who show initiative in active approach in implementing quality standards in their work. Priority will also be given to joint initiatives between two or more Network member organisations.

Application documentation will be distributed through National Networks and available on the web site of the IRIS Network.

National Congress of IRIS Network BIH

On 2nd and 3rd June 2015, the first National Congress was conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at Vlasic Mountain.

The participants were members of the IRIS BiH network and representatives of Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy,  Ministry of Health and Social Welfare from RS, Academic institutions, ASB and LIR CD, in total 27 participants.

The Strategic planning mission was structured as an interactive workshop in order to outline main strategic areas for the future work of IRIS BiH Network, highlighting the most important points as a key factors to the IRIS Strategy Plan and discuss the basic organizational structure of the future network.  The strategic planning helped founders and members of the IRIS network reaching consensus and creating more dynamic network with capacity to influence policy and decision making processes in BiH. At the end,  along with the definition of the vision, mission, principals, values and main strategic goals, 3 Advocacy plans are developed and discussed with representatives from public sector, consequently receiving the concrete suggestions and recommendations  how to approach respective Ministries to achieve the results.

The detailed agenda of Strategic planning 

IRIS Network Academy Program

Dear participants of the first IRIS ACADEMY,

It is our great pleasure that 45 young, enthusiastic people from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine and Georgia will participate in this years academy.

You can download detailed agenda HERE.

See you soon in Rijeka, Croatia!  

IRIS ACADEMY – Selection process

Final evaluation of received application for the IRIS ACADEMY is concluded. Evaluation Committee selected 44 candidates as participants for the Academy which will be held in Rijeka, Croatia from 15th to 18th of June. Based on the previous experience, education and motivation letter, future participants have been chosen from 7 countries from South East Europe:  Eight from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, six from Albania, Montenegro and Serbia, and five from FYR of Macedonia and Kosovo.

About IRIS Network Academy

IRIS Network Academy is a four-day program of informal education dedicated to improvement of the delivery of social services in South East Europe. Students of the Academy will have a chance to, through a series of lectures and practical workshops, from prominent experts in this field, find out:

  • How to address the needs of most vulnerable groups in the best possible manner;
  • How to improve social protection and services on the local level;
  • What is social entrepreneurship;
  • How to diversify funding of the Civil society organization, provider different type of social services;

Participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia will have a chance to, in addition to these topics, talk about the process of licensing of social services, experiences from the region, partnership and connecting the public sector and civil society in order to improve the system of social protection. After the successfully concluded Academy, the most prominent 7 participants will have the opportunity to receive the scholarship for internship in the CSOs that provide different types of social services in one of the following European Union countries: Sweden, United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, Spain and Belgium.

 

IRIS Network Academy

Network of the civil society organizations, providers of social services from the South East Europe region, IRIS and German organization Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland e.V. are announcing the Call for participants of the first IRIS Network Academy, which will be held in Rijeka, Croatia from 15th to 19th of June 2015.

About IRIS Network Academy

IRIS Network Academy is a four-day program of informal education dedicated to improvement of the delivery of social services in South East Europe. Students of the Academy will have a chance to, through a series of lectures and practical workshops, from prominent experts in this field, find out:

  • How to address the needs of most vulnerable groups in the best possible manner;
  • How to improve social protection and services on the local level;
  • What is social entrepreneurship;
  • How to diversify funding of the Civil society organization, provider different type of social services;

Participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia will have a chance to, in addition to these topics, talk about the process of licensing of social services, experiences from the region, partnership and connecting the public sector and civil society in order to improve the system of social protection. After the successfully concluded Academy, the most prominent 7 participants will have the opportunity to receive the scholarship for internship in the CSOs that provide different types of social services in one of the following European Union countries: Sweden, United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, Spain and Belgium.

Application 

Academy is intended for:

  • Young activists (up to 30 years old), which are active in the civil sector.
  • Volunteer or work experience in civil society organizations will be considered as an advantage in the selection process.
  • Participants need to be from one of the countries covered by the project: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Croatia and Serbia.
  • Fluent knowledge of English language – B2 level (the working language of the Academy is English)

Applicants should submit a CV and a motivation letter of no more than 300 characters explaining what social inclusion means to you, by email to: iris@iris-see.eu

All costs related to the Academy, as well as the transportation and accommodation, are fully covered by the organizer.

The Call is open until 5 June 2015. For any additional questions, please feel free to contact Tijana Laban on tijana.laban@asb-see.org

Logistical information 

All logistical information concerning the accommodation, transportation and other logistical issues will be subsequently delivered to the selected participants.

Please read the detailed invitation letter HERE

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