Partners Albania Newsletter "Towards a Sustainable Society"

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

EDITION NO. 64

SEPTEMBER 2017

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY In this issue: -Call for Proposals in framework of the project C.A.U.S.E. – Confiscated Assets used for Social Experimentation page 1-2 - Financially viable civil society =Active civil society page 3 - Starts the NPO Academy 2017-2018 - News from LevizAlbania project page 4 - Regional meeting on better regulations for public participation in Western Balkans - The Albanian Crowd page 5 - Philanthropy Awards 2017 competition now open page 6 - Monitoring philanthropic activity in Albania - Closing event of #CelebratingSolidarity project! page 7 - Regional competition Philanthropy for Green Ideas 2017 -Youth Bank Hub for the Western Balkans and Turkey page 8

Partners Albania announces the Philanthropy Awards 2017 competition!

Philanthropy Awards has become an annual activity of Partner Albania, an important event to express our gratitude to individuals and business companies who contribute to improving the quality of life in our society.

We invite all social actors in and outside Albania to submit their nominations for individuals or companies who have and continue to give their contribution in benefit of the community and its development in Albania.

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Categories for nominations for the Philanthropy Award are: Award for Business Entities Contributing at the National Level Award for Business Entities Contributing at the Local Level Award for the Individual Contribution

Visit our website www.partnersalbania.org for more information on the criteria, nomination process and to download the Nomination Form.

Deadline for submitting nominations is

November 2nd, 2017

Call for Proposals C.A.U.S.E. – Confiscated Assets used for Social Experimentation Project Applications must be submitted by hand-delivery or by mail, within November 3rd 2017, 17:00 hrs, at the below address: Partnerët Shqipëri për Ndryshim dhe Zhvillim, Rruga: Sulejman Delvina, NR 18, H.8, Ap.12, Njësia Bashkiake 5, Kodi Postar 1022, Tiranë, Shqipëri Applications must be submitted in a sealed envelope by registered mail, private courier service or by hand-delivery (a signed and dated certificate of receipt will be given to the deliverer).

Partners Albania announces the Call for Proposals, within the project grant scheme “C.A.U.S.E. – Confiscated Assets Used for Social Experimentations”. This project is implemented by Partners Albania, in partnership with two Italian organizations: Project Ahead and Comitato Don Peppe Diana, and funded by the European Union through the Delegation of the European Union in Albania.

The Project “C.A.U.S.E. – Confiscated Assets Used for Social Experimentations” aims to create a good model of sustainable re-use of the confiscated assets to the organized crime through creation of a new cohort of CSOs, capable to manage confiscated assets to organized crime.

The specific objective of this Call for Proposals is Sustainable reuse of the confiscated assets from the organized crime, through establishment of social enterprises by CSOs. Who can apply?

All Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that fulfill all the eligibility criteria defined in the Application Guideline and whose object of activity is the social, cultural, and health rehabilitation of persons in need, especially those victims of organized crime, affected or endangered by crime and needed of protection and rehabilitation, including therapeutic centers and organizations, centers of re-training and curing users of narcotic substances, as well as centers of assistance and rehabilitation of the victims of trafficking in human beings.

Number of Financed Grants: Through this Call a maximum number of three grants will be awarded: one grant per each confiscated asset by organized crime, subject of this Call for Proposals.

Duration of Grants Implementation: The duration for the implementation of the grant projects through this Call for Proposals is: minimum 12 months and maximum 15 months.

Size of Grant: The total project budget (including own contributions or financial contributions from third parties) for any grant requested under this Call for Proposals must be: minimum EUR 100,000 and maximum EUR 150,000.

Co-funding: Project proposals to be funded through this Call for Proposals must have co-financing by the Applicant at least 5% of the total project budget.

Read the full announcement on page 6

PARTNERS ALBANIA IS A MEMBER OF PARTNERS GLOBAL NETWORK

Continues on page 2

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Project proposal language: Project proposals must be prepared and submitted in English language, in accordance with the published application forms.

Number of project proposals submitted: An organization may submit one project proposal as the Applicant and one as Co-applicant.

An organization may not submit more than two applications as Co-applicant.

The implementation of each project proposal must be related with only one specific confiscated asset, subject to this Call for Proposals.

Application procedures: Organizations interested to submit a Project Proposal for this Call must complete and submit the following documents which are available in the Application Package: - - - -

Grant Application Form (Annex A in Guidelines for Applicants) Budget proposal Form (Annex B in Guidelines for Applicants) Logical Framework Form (Annex C in Guidelines for Applicants) Legal Entity Form signed and stamped (Annex D in Guidelines for Applicants) - Financial Identification Form signed and stamped by the applicant and the Bank where the transactions are performed.

(Annex E in Guidelines for Applicants), also supporting documents in accordance with the Guidelines for Applicants.

Two two-day training sessions on managing the confiscated assets to organized crime will be provided by Italian experts, in Fieri on October 10-11, and in Tirana on October 12-13.

Interested organizations are invited to visit Partners Albania website: www.partnersalbania.org for the latest news and regular updates on the Call for Proposals.

Following the announcement of the Call for Proposals, Partners Albania, in cooperation with the Agency for the Administration of Sequestrated and Confiscated Assets, organized in Fieri, Saranda, Lushnja and Tirana, four regional information sessions for interested NPOs. The sessions were followed by visits to the confiscated assets.

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TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

Information and support: For further information read/download Guidelines for Applicants.

Questions may be sent by mail within October 14, 2017 to grants@partnersalbania.org. The answers will be published within October 24 in Partners Albania website: www.partnersalbania.org.

Financially viable civil society = Active civil society NPO - BUSINESS SPEED DATING, 28 September 2017

In addition to a series of training programs, consultancy and long-term mentoring on adopting appropriate business models to increase and diversify revenues, Partners Albania gives special importance to building bridges of cooperation with the private sector to increase knowledge and understanding of civil society work and their services, as well as identifying concrete partnership opportunities in providing these services.

In this context, Partners Albania organized on September 21st, “NPO - Business Speed-Dating�, a one-day event of meetings among 15 non-profit sector representatives selected through an application process, and 10 private companies, establishing contacts through direct exposure; presenting and promoting services and products and finding possible forms of cooperation in the future.

Following the NPO-Business Speed dating event, on September 29th PA presented to the group of NPOs, the 3rd training module focusing on Preparing a Business Plan.

This initiative is implemented by Partners Albania in framework of Civil Society Watchdog and Advocacy Program supported by the Public Affairs Office of the United States Embassy in Tirana.

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

Since more than a year, Partners Albania is implementing one of the most innovative initiatives in terms of capacity building of NPOs (operating in the field of democracy, rule of law and good governance, respect for human rights, etc.), to identify new business models to generate revenues, contributing to their financial sustainability and independence from usual donor funding sources. This will help these organizations have a greater impact on the communities where they operate.

During NPO-Business Speed Dating event, September 28th

During training on Business Plan for NPOS, September 29th

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Starts the journey of NPO Academy 2017-2018

NPO Academy is implemented by Partners Albania in cooperation with Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia (PDCS) in framework of the project “Pillars of civil society: More effective cooperation between civil and state sector in Albania�, financially supported by Slovak Aid - Official Development Assistance of the Slovak Republic.

www.levizalbania.al

LevizAlbania is a project that aims to strengthen the local democracy in Albania through the engagement of civil society actors and individuals as the champions of democracy. It is implemented by a consortium of three organizations: Open Society Foundation for Albania, Partners Albania and Co-Plan, and financially supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Albania.

Strengthening civil society organizations for effective inclusiveness and participation in policy and decision making In cooperation with LevizAlbania project, Partners Albania continues to build capacities of civil society organizations for effective inclusiveness and participation in policy and decision making. Partners Albania is providing tailor made capacity building programs online and onsite, aiming to address the needs of project beneficiaries and interested applicants, about the concepts, principles and techniques of participation in local democracy in Albania, for an efficient implementation of local initiatives funded by the project.

On September 26-28, Partners Albania organized a series of thematic networking sessions on advocacy and local government monitoring, civic participation and community mobilization. Participants shared good practices, but also challenges encountered during implementation of their initiatives. These sessions serve also to identify cooperation opportunities and joint activities among LevizAlbania project beneficiaries.

In September, LevizAlbania announced the 4th Call addressed to NPOs and individuals, to present concrete ideas that bring about change in the local democracy, improve local governance and generate more transparency, accountability and citizen participation in local decisionmaking.

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TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

In September, Partners Albania started for the fourth consecutive year the NPO Academy program!

The new group of 20 participants selected on this journey, joined 60 beneficiaries of this program since 2015. Since three years, this program is successfully contributing to increasing the skills and professionalism of the NPO’ representatives, towards a more sustainable and strong civil society sector.

The first lessons of the program focused on the civil society sector development trends, and organizational development and internal procedures.

Regional meeting on better regulations for public participation in Western Balkans 21-22 September, Sarajevo Klotilda Kosta (Director of Programs at Partners Albania), as a Board member, represented Balkan Civil Society Development Network at the Regional Meeting on Better Regulations in Western Balkans, hosted by Regional Cooperation Council on 21-22 September 2017 in Sarajevo.

The two-day meeting, gathered experts and public servants dealing with efforts to improve the enabling legal framework on public participation in decision-making processes in Western Balkan countries, discussing public-private dialogue and involvement of the private sector in policy making, as well as monitoring by civil society of public participation processes.

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

As one of the speakers in the conference, Klotilda presented BCSDN regional findings and recommendations on CSO participation in the WB countries. BCSDN regional findings for 2016 are available here: http://bit.ly/2xgFAY5

Would you like to join

The Albanian Crowd ? www.thealbaniancrowd.org The Albanian Crowd is an interactive online platform of

Albanian NPOs and social enterprises. The platform provides comprehensive information on the location, scope of work, areas of activity, beneficiaries, services the organizations and social enterprises offer and projects they are working on.

It supports already 146 member organizations from across the country, operating in different fields. Since it was launched, the platform counts over 20,500 visitors, more than 2 million hits from nearly 150 countries from all continents.

Join the Albanian Crowd by completing the online registration form available at: http://www.thealbaniancrowd.org/aplikimi-en/

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Partners Albania announces the Philanthropy Awards 2017 competition!

The Philanthropy Awards is an annual event Partners Albania organizes since 2011, to express our gratitude to individuals and business companies who contribute to improving the quality of life in our society. The appreciation and stimulation of this activity is important considering the human and economic dimension it represents.

We invite all social actors in and outside Albania to submit their nominations for individuals or companies who have and continue to give their contribution in benefit of the community and its development in Albania.

Partners Albania encourages to be part of this nomination those individuals and companies who:

• • • • •

Show sensibility and contribute to the development of local communities, environmental protection, social and economic development.

Continuously support non-profit organizations, institutions, communities, and individuals, in support to a common good.

Exercise their activities lawfully and in accordance with ethical standards toward the community, the environment or personnel of their company.

Demonstrate clear and measurable results of their contribution given until the time of nomination.

Have a local or national geographic coverage in their philanthropic activity.

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TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

Categories for nominations for the Philanthropy Award are: Award for Business Entities Contributing at the National Level Award for Business Entities Contributing at the Local Level Award for the Individual Contribution

Companies and individuals can nominate themselves or be nominated by others. Nominations will be reviewed by a representative panel of civil society sector, media, and institutions supporting the economic and social development in Albania.

Awards will be announced at a public event Partners Albania will organize in December 2017.

To submit your nomination please fill in the Philanthropy Award Nomination Form and send it by email to partners@ partnersalbania.org or mail: Partners Albania for Change and Development, Rruga Sulejman Delvina, N.18, H.8, Ap. 12, Njësia Bashkiake 5, Kodi Postar 1022, Tirana, Albania, Kutia Postare (PO Box) 2418/1.

Deadline for submitting nominations is November 2nd, 2017

Regional conference on philanthropy in the Western Balkans and Turkey Erila Haska, Project Manager, represented Partners Albania at the TACSO Regional conference on “Philanthropy in Western Balkans and Turkey”, 3-6 July 2017, Belgrade. The conference aimed at exchanging experiences and learning about the current situation and the necessary improvements in this area, thus contributing to the advancement of regional discourse on philanthropy.

One of the main speakers at this event, Erila presented the current situation and main trends of philanthropic activity in Albania, based on the latest PA study on the philanthropic activity of enterprises and the day-to-day monitoring of this activity in the country. She also shared with the audience the recommendations from PA’s research in this area, particularly with regard to a more comprehensive and clear legal framework, and the incentives needed for enterprises to carry out philanthropic activity.

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Monitoring of philanthropic activity in Albania Findings for July - September 2017 Partners Albania continues the daily monitoring of philanthropic activity in Albania. Throughout the 3rd quarter of 2017, were registered 29 cases of donations in the amount of 9,303,820 ALL. The main field of donations ​​ for this period as well was Support to Marginalized Groups where Children & Youth without Parental Care constitute the largest group of beneficiaries.

The following graphics show summarized data for this period, while more detailed monthly reports since 2015, are available at the following link in PA’s website: http://partnersalbania.org/programs/monitoring-of-philanthropic-activity-inalbania-en/

Fields of donation

Geographical distribution of beneficiaries and donors

On September 26th, the closing conference of the project “Celebrating Solidarity” was organized in Belgrade, where partner organizations presented the Solidarity Festivals organized in Poland, Albania, Serbia and Macedonia. Erila Haska, Partners Albania Project Manager presented the regional findings from the research work in six countries, with regard to young people’s perception on solidarity.

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....Often, we (media people) are prejudiced about the exposure of individual charity initiatives, but I do not hang back because of them, when I see that making these cases public helps raise people awareness and solidarity .. said Orinda Huta, TV host and author, Vizion Plus Albania.

Part of the activities of the project #CelebratingSolidarity is also the Museum of Solidarity (www.museumofsolidarity.eu) an online collection of stories about solidarity and social causes supported in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland and Serbia.

Participants in this event were representatives of media, civil society, youth and other actors. In the special panel of prominent media representatives from Albania, Macedonia and Serbia, Ms. Orinda Huta, TV host and author of several programs on Albanian TV Vizion Plus, spoke about the role of media in promoting and supporting social causes in Albania, and focused on several individual initiatives in this regard.

www.museumofsolidarity.eu

Partners Albania has identified and prepared a series of audio-visual stories from Albania.

The museum is continuously being enriched with other stories and information.

The project “Celebrating Solidarity” was implemented by six organizations from Europe and Western Balkans, and was supported by the Europe for Citizens Programme of the European Union.

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#CelebratingSolidarity

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Beneficiaries

Regional competition Philanthropy for Green Ideas 2017” On July 26-28, the annual regional competition Philanthropy for Green Ideas was held in Montenegro. Each year, this competition organized

by Balkan Green Foundation, welcomes the winning ideas of national competitions that take place in Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and recently in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Eighteen competitors, including the winners of the Green Idea Competition 2017 organized by the PA in May this year, presented their ideas before a jury of international experts.

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

At the end of the competition, the jury selected four best ideas that Competitors, representatives of six partner foundations, members of the jury and organizers of the regional will benefit additional funding to competition “Philanthropy for Green Ideas 2017” implement their innovative projects.

Winners of the regional competition 2017, from left to right: Milan Mijajlovic - “Camp under Ostrog” (Montenegro), Jane Zaevski - “Food for everyone” (Macedonia), Besart Kunushevci - “Academic Platform (Kosovo), and Kristian Shopov - “Eco Illusions” (Macedonia).

“Youth Bank Hub” for Western Balkans and Turkey

Members of Partners Albania Team members, as one of the member organizations of the Youth Bank Hub for Western Balkans and Turkey network, participated in the training conducted in Serbia in September 2017, on the process and advocacy on youth issues. The training focused on priority advocacy issues that should be addressed by each country, resulting from the annual monitoring that the network carries on the political, social and economic inclusion of young people.

The “Youth Bank Hub for the Western Balkans and Turkey” project is being implemented since 2016 by five partner organizations in Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey. It aims to improve youth participation in decision-making processes in the Western Balkans and Turkey through capacity building of youth organizations, advocacy initiatives and awareness raising activities.

The project is funded by the European Union.

Partners Albania is an independent Albanian NPO established in 2001, working to support civil society and facilitate inter-sector cooperation in order to strengthen democratic institutions and advance economic development.

Partners Albania is a member of Partners Network, a partnership of 22 independent, local organizations in Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East working for peaceful and democratic change.

Rruga Sulejman Delvina, N.18, H.8, Ap. 12, 1022, Tirana, Albania, PO Box 2418/1 Tel. Fax: 04 2254881 Email: partners@partnersalbania.org http://www.partnersalbania.org Follow Partners Albania in: Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube Visit The Albanian Crowd, the online platform of NPOs and social enterprises in Albania

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