As part of the Active Citizens Fund Romania, the Fund for Bilateral Relations aims to strenghten bilateral relations between Romania and the Donor States Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.The Fund for Bilateral Relations supports activities aiming at strengthening bilateral relations between civil society organizations and other entities from Romania and the Donor States, the search for partners for donor partnership projects prior to or during the preparation of a project application, the development of such partnerships and the preparation of an application for donor partnership project, networking, exchange, sharing and transfer of knowledge, technology, experience and best practice between civil society organizations and other entities from Romania and Donor States.

The Fund for Bilateral Relations focuses on achieving two strategic targets:
  • Support to Donor State entities to get involved in projects by taking a more active role in setting the basis for a more facile and meaningful collaboration during different stages of the Program;
  • Increase visibility and acknowledgment of results and impact generated by the Economic European Area (EEA) support among public and key stakeholders in donor states by playing a more active role in documenting the involvement of Donor State partners in financed projects so that results, benefits and sustainability perspectives are consistently promoted.
Steps to find a partner in Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway:
Over the whole period of implementation of the Active Citizens Fund Romania, the main actions envisaged to be developed under the Funds for Bilateral Relations include:
  • Two Calls for Proposals  aimed at developing sustainable partnerships and preparing and submitting an application for a donor partnership project under ACF Romania:
  • Matchmaking seminars and thematic workshops, involving Romanian organizations and potential partners from Donor States, announced at EVENTS:
    • Matchmaking seminars organized throughout 2021
    • Online matchmaking seminars organized in September - December 2020
    • Matchmaking seminar organized in Bucharest, Romania, in August - September 2020
    • Thematic workshop organized in Bucharest, Romania, February 11 – 14, 2020
    • Matchmaking seminar organized in Sandefjord, Norway, January 20 – 22, 2020
    • Matchmaking seminar organized in Bucharest, Romania, October 9 -11, 2019
  • Study visits organized by the Program Operator especially in Donor States. Tentative themes refer to: human rights, social inclusion issues and social services provision model; youth participation; environment protection etc.
  • Seminars and expert thematic workshops to facilitate debates, and exchange of models/ practices and further develop on how to take project results further, organized by the Program Operator.
To facilitate the identification of organisations in donor countries, the Civil Society Development Foundation is working with two important bilateral partners:

All organizations and activities funded and supported shall be based on the common values of respect of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and the respect for human rights for all. All activities supported by the Fund shall follow the principles of good governance - they shall be participatory and inclusive, transparent, effective and efficient. There shall be zero-tolerance towards corruption. All activities supported by the Fund shall be in line with the principles of sustainable development, long-term economic growth, social cohesion and environmental protection.