On 18 August, the government decided to increase the intensity of co-financing support for non-governmental organizations from 90% to 100% of the program co-financed by EEA grants. Local development, poverty reduction and cultural cooperation in an open competition Support for the creation of professional art and cultural products for children and young people, informed the ministry.
The Covid-19 emergency in the country, as well as its containment measures in 2020, have had a significant impact on the cultural sector, where freelancers, NGOs, the private sector, state and municipal institutions and corporations have been completely shut down. The Financial Mechanism Office (FBI), the responsible EEA grant body acting on behalf of donor countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), provided information on mitigation measures for Covid-19, one of which was to increase the project co-financing rate to 100% for NGOs. sector.
As the number of NGOs as recipients of co-financing in the open tender could be high, the Ministry of Culture as a program partner and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development as program manager proposed 100% support intensity for NGOs, thus covering a wider range of cultural organizations achievement of the objectives.
The open competition is planned to be announced in two rounds, the first round is planned to be announced at the end of 2020, while the second round – at the end of 2021.
The aim of the competition is to provide support for the development of cultural and artistic events that improve the availability of professional contemporary art and culture for children and young people in the age group of six to 18 in all regions of Latvia and increase the target group’s involvement in art and culture.
The open competition will provide support for the creation of new cultural products and the implementation of audience development activities in cooperation with cultural organizations in donor countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein).
The total co-financing of the program available in the open tender is 3,192,354 euros, which consists of co-financing from the Latvian state budget in the amount of 15 percent – 478,853 euros and co-financing from the European Economic Area financial instrument in the amount of 85 percent – 2,713,501 euros.
The co-financing of the program available in the first selection round is EUR 1,915,413, the co-financing of the program available in the second selection round is EUR 1,276,941.
Up-to-date information on the program and the open competition, as well as other up-to-date information on EEA grants, can be found on the website www.eeagrants.lv.
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