András Nun

The Autonómia Foundation, in cooperation with the Ökotárs Foundation, the Foundation for the Development of Democratic Rights and the Carpathian Foundation-Hungary, managed the EEA/Norwegian Financial Mechanism Civil Society Support Fund, which supported Hungarian civil society organisations in four thematic areas: environmental protection; capacity building for civil society organisations; social cohesion, child and health protection; and cultural heritage.

The overarching objective of the EEA and Norwegian Civil Society Fund (NCTA) was to “support the development of civil society in Hungary and strengthen its participation in shaping social justice, democracy and sustainable development.” To this end, the Fund provided support for projects developed across seven thematic areas, of which Autonómia was responsible for the themes of empowering socially vulnerable groups and the welfare services provided to them.

Launched with the support of the European Commission and the Open Society Foundations, the programme sought to strengthen initiatives that utilise community resources in an inclusive manner at local level. Through a network of cooperation, the programme brought together municipalities and mayors who had established good practices in the field of Roma integration and wished to further develop their local activities.

Autonómia, the Nevelők Háza Association in Pécs and their corporate partners implemented a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project in which, rather than corporate donations, the focus was on the company’s own micro-environment and its problems, and the direction of their CSR activities was chosen from a broader perspective and in collaboration with the company’s employees.

The programme was launched with the aim of ensuring that European Union funds earmarked for Roma integration reach the regions where Roma people live. We developed grant applications locally with Roma minority local authorities, civil society organisations and local communities that responded to our call for proposals. We supported our winning partners through mentoring and additional support.

A hundred proposals were submitted, of which forty were successful, totalling five million euros.

The BRIDGE project was implemented with the support of the EQUAL Community Initiative in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, in the Cserehát region. Its aim was to help long-term unemployed local residents, primarily of Roma origin, gain access to vocational training and employment opportunities, whilst also improving the housing conditions of needy families living in the region. As part of the project, 50 people obtained National Qualifications Register (OKJ) qualifications and the homes of 90 disadvantaged families were renovated.