Ruse Horse

The World Bank Sofia Office awarded Wednesday the Small Grants Program (SmGP) winners for 2005. The seven grantee organizations presented themselves and made a public presentation of their projects. The event was also attended by last year's winning organizations, some of which presented results from the implementation of projects supported under the 2004 edition of the SmGP. A total of USD 35,000 available for this year's SmGP will be used to finance 7 projects selected out of more than 80 grant applications submitted The final selection of the projects to be financed has been based on a careful examination of all submissions along the pre-announced criteria, under the supervision of an independent panel of international experts with World Bank representation. This year the SmGP covered all Bulgaria's regions, with emphasis on projects that foster civic engagement for empowerment of marginalized and vulnerable groups. The Program's primary focus was to strengthen delivery capacity of selected domestic CSOs to support the reintegration into society of marginalized vulnerable groups, including but not limited to orphans leaving institutions, unemployed disabled people, people living with HIV, refugees or victims to human trafficking, drug or substance abusers, marginalized ethnic groups etc. This is the sixth consecutive year of the SmGP in Bulgaria. Over that period the World Bank has financed more than 50 such small grants with a total of USD 175,000. Approved projects vary across sector and activity but are mostly concentrated on social inclusion and integration opportunities for disadvantaged society groups, and the improvement of CSOs' delivery capacity to local communities.

Ruse WB Supports 7 Projects of Bulgarian NGO's