71 projects will be financed with over 9.2 million euro following the second round of calls for proposals Active Citizens Fund Romania

The projects selected for funding aim to enhance participation and civic involvement through civic and human rights education. Using innovative methods, many projects are oriented towards cultivating, stimulating and developing the civic spirit among children and young people in areas where they have limited access to educational and extracurricular activities.

The issue of disinformation is increasingly present in today's society, therefore projects tackling fake news and disinformation, while focusing on increasing the level of media literacy among citizens, are highly needed. For example, within the project "Change the World with a MEME! Media Literacy Education for Active Citizenship!", Mediawise Society in partnership with Activewatch will develop an online course for “Media Education for Active Citizenship” to which young people across Romania will attend. Moreover, the two organizations will develop an online toolkit on Media Education for Active Citizenship, based on the good practices developed in the project, which could be used by education professionals to organize media education workshops at their turn with other young people.

The projects selected for funding, through watchdog and advocacy activities, will safeguard the rule of law and democracy and strengthen civil society. These projects aim at enhancing civic activism, empowering citizens to become more active and responsible in influencing policies at local and national level, as well as developing the NGO’s advocacy capacity in various fields.

For example, the problem addressed by the project "Civic School Inspectorate",which will be implemented by the World Vision Romania Foundation,starts from the low level of consultation, involvement and participation of teachers and students in pre-university education in the decision-making processes and formulation of public policies that directly affect them, taken at county/national level. By developing a web platform, 3,000 teachers and 500 students will be consulted continuously, periodically, thematically, while providing rapid reaction responses on decisions related to education topics discussed at county/national level. Periodically, the results of the teachers and students consultations will be published and disseminated to decision-makers. Through 150 webinars, 1,000 teachers and 200 students will be capacitated in watchdog and monitoring activities. The 100 most active teachers and 20 students, along with 10 local NGOs, will be involved in 20 advocacy meetings with 10 County School Inspectorates, leading to 5 county procedural changes. Following the meetings, 10 Civic School Inspectorates will be created at informally.

A large number of projects funded under this call also address the protection of the environment and the issue of the climate change.

The projects address the issues of stereotypes, discriminatory practices and abuses, while aiming at increasing the awareness on human rights, equal opportunities and equal treatment. One of the projects, "Human rights situation, up to date",which will be implemented by the Center for Legal Resources Foundation (CLR),will contribute to development of watchdog, monitoring and advocacy actions in the area of civil society (CSOs, media) and professionals (from various institutions - courts, prosecutor's offices, police, social assistance etc). It will also raise awareness of human rights and equal treatment through monitoring, information and training activities, raised awareness and through proposing changes where necessary, either in the legislative area or in the area of institutional practices or policies on human rights. The project will develop an online platform with constant public reactions, following the watchdog activities and monitoring of human rights topics from the public agenda, insufficiently addressed and in line with the CLR sphere of expertise. It also envisages strategic litigation in situations of access to justice for vulnerable groups, of which will benefit the members of groups affected by discrimination and violation of human rights.

These projects will support advocacy actions at local/ national level for social justice and inclusion of vulnerable groups and activities aimed at increasing the capacity of vulnerable groups. The vulnerable groups included in the projects are people with disabilities, young mothers and Roma people at high risk of social exclusion, children suffering from incurable diseases, tuberculosis patients, population affected by poverty in marginalized rural areas, minors and young refugees, young people with young people with autism etc.

The project "The Voice of People with Deafblindness in Romania" is addressed to an extremely vulnerable group in Romania – people with deafblindness (PwDB), who have visual and hearing impairments. They are often marginalised, isolated, affected by inequalities and social exclusion. Within the project, Sense International Foundation (Romania) ,in collaboration with the World Federation of the Deafblind (Norway), will increase the capacity of 40 PwDB to become a voice capable of advocating for their rights, through meetings meant to empower them and provide them with the tools of self-representation, aiming at establishing a representative association of PwDB. To ensure their access to the services they need, the project will train a group of 20 sign language interpreters to specialise in deafblindness. In parallel, the project will increase the level of awareness, though national campaigns dedicated to improved knowledge and understanding of deafblindness.

The projects aim to enhance the participation of vulnerable communities in the local decision-making process. Development and implementation of measures aimed at increasing the capacity to assume Roma identity and peaceful coexistence of Roma and non-Roma members from four mixed communities in Dambovita County, training and empowerment in advocacy actions on community development, setting up The Voice of the Young Women Initiave Group (GIFT) in Braesti commune, jud. Buzau, increasing the capacity of intervention in their own community of young Roma in Turulung (Satu Mare), ensuring access to education and preventing school dropout in 2 interethnic rural localities of Prahova County are some examples of activities that will take place in the projects supported under this call.

Implemented by the Center for Advocacy and Human Rights and the Buzau Community Development Agency,the project "GIFT & The Voice – The Voice of the Young Women Initiative Group from Braesti commune, Buzau County" will empower young women to become agents of change for Roma and non-Roma women, but also for the entire community through advocacy actions and influence of the political and decision-making environment to consider the voice of the community and women in establishing and implementing development measures regarding the Braesti community. The project will provide women with a platform to react by establishing the GIFT- a Young Women Initiative Group which will benefit from capacity building programme in advocacy actions on community development. Through GIFT, all the initiatives will play an essential role and contribution to unify the community of Braesti and combating the isolation of the Roma population, as well as in reducing the differences between this vulnerable group and the majority.