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| PRESS RELEASE Funding opportunities to lower nutrient pollution in the Danube Basin |
| (July 04, 2005, Szentendre, Hungary) Non-governmental organisations will receive funding to lower nutrient pollution in the Danube Basin through a new round of grants offered by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, as part of the United Nations Development Programme/Global Environmental Facility’s Danube Regional Project. The REC and the UNDP/GEF Danube Regional Project are pleased to continue their support for the protection of unique environments and natural resources in the Danube River Basin. USD 675,000 shall be available for NGO projects and activities throughout the Danube River Basin. The first round of Danube Regional Project (DRP) grants for NGOs started in 2004 and is still under way. Over 60 projects ranging from practical local initiatives, such as the construction of a small reed bed wastewater treatment plant in Slovakia, to networking projects, such as the fostering of cooperation in the Prut Basin between Romania and Moldova, are operating with over USD 650,000 in funding. The second round, officially launched today, will build on the experiences and successes from the first round. This granting programme supports NGO initiatives to reduce nutrient and toxic pollution in 11 Danube Basin countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Grants will be distributed at two levels: national and regional. The call for applications for regional grants (USD 215,000) goes out today, and winners will be selected in December 2005. Selected projects will be implemented from January 2006 to January 2007. There will be USD 460,000 available for national grants. The second round call for national grants will be made in August 2005 in order to allow NGOs managing DRP national grants from the first round to apply. Winners will be selected by December 2005, and projects shall be implemented from January 2006 to January 2007. This granting programme will be managed by the REC through its head office in Hungary, in cooperation with its offices in the affected countries. The UNDP office in Kiev and the autonomous REC Moldova will coordinate and implement the grant programmes for Ukrainian and Moldovan NGOs respectively. The Danube Environmental Forum, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) and independent experts will be involved in the formulation and promotion of the grants call, as well as the selection of projects. More information, background materials and application forms are available online here.
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Introduction to the Danube Regional Project Grants Programme
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