Call for Expression of Interest
Call for Expression of Interest
for Victim’s Associations to participate in the project “Strengthening Inclusive Victim Voices, Transforming Narratives”
The purpose of this call is to solicit expression of interest from victim’s groups, organizations, and associations (associations of families of missing persons, families of registered victims, victims of torture, sexual violence, and gender-related violation, former prisoners, internally displaced persons, and other categories of victims) for participation and cooperation in the project “Strengthening Inclusive Victim Voices, Transforming Narratives” (SIVV). This project is a joint initiative implemented in Kosovo, Serbia, and North Macedonia, by Peace Movement PAX, International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), Integra, New Social Initiative (NSI), Civic Initiatives (CI), and Peace Action (PA) and supported by the European Union.
About the project
The SIVV project was designed as an action to support victim-led initiatives and that can counter widespread denial about war crimes, falsification of history, and ethno-nationalist politics prevalent in most Western Balkan countries by addressing organizational and capacity needs of victim groups organizations. In the polarized context of the Western Balkans, most victim groups have not been able to document or share their experiences, find the truth, or redress; they were left in the margins often unable to raise their voice. They also face institutional and societal obstacles such as a very weak position in criminal trials; poor state support, including financial and material reparations; poor donor support; and lack of empathy in the society which chooses not to see the victims and their problems.
That is why by strengthening the capacities of victims’ associations’; both at the analytical and organizational level, the project aims to reshape the transitional justice/oriented civil society sector where victims’ associations have a leading role in dealing with the past and peacebuilding.
Main objective
The project aims to support meaningful and victim-led transitional justice initiatives, with the overall objective to generate national and regional policy initiatives regarding dealing with the past which meaningfully integrate the needs and demands of victims and other groups affected by the conflict and to counter hate and nationalistic discourses.
Implementation period
September 2021 – August 2023
The phases of involvement (project)
The victim’s groups organizations that wish to participate in the project will be expected to participate in:
– Tailored training program for victim groups – Through the tailored training program, the capacities of victim groups and other affected groups will be increased so their needs can be addressed and they will be strengthened to make their voices heard. The training will include capacity development on thematic and institutional levels. The thematic level includes training on transitional justice principles to understand the broader perspective of TJ and the guiding principles (with regards to dignity, rights, inclusivity, etc.). This activity will have 5 modules:
- Dealing with the past and transitional justice
- Advocacy
- Memorialization and documentation
- Project proposal development, fundraising, and implementation
- Organizational capacities; management and finance
– National and regional meetings with victim groups on TJ principles – National meetings will be organized per country around TJ concepts, mechanisms, and principles. From this, locally meaningful TJ principles will be co-designed with the target groups which will guide their further activities, especially local dialogues and advocacy activities. Regional meetings will be organized in Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia to foster exchange and building bridges between the diverse victim and youth groups from the three countries. Regional meetings too will be used to produce the set of principles that will be published and referred to in outreach activities and policy initiatives towards local, national authorities, and the EU.
– Granting scheme for victim groups – Organizations whose staff participated in the training will have the opportunity to apply for grants through our granting scheme. This direct financial support has the objective to allow grantees to design and implement their own activities in relation to advancing transitional justice with the support of Integra and NSI. Overall, the eligible activities for obtaining grants include:
- Documentation in the form of informal truth-seeking initiatives and oral history to create a historical record about a specific region/ period/ event/ group
- Projects to preserve memory
- Community outreach & dialogue activities
- Small-scale research projects
- Participatory action research (in which the victim groups or youth perform their own research, supported by project partners)
- Documentation, including through PAR, on how female relatives of the missing have been impacted economically and socially by the loss of their husband/father, and any specific challenges they face in searching for the truth (sexual harassment by authorities for example);
- Advocacy towards local and national authorities for policies advancing truth-finding, redress, and justice
- Education projects
- Projects involving youth/ new generation (eg. on oral histories, preserving memory)
- Study visits
- Street actions/ commemorations
- Media and art productions, including innovative digital productions
- Institutional set-up/registration, including basic training
– Local dialogue activities – Integra and NSI will organize activities for victim groups and youth groups from different communities, including local authorities and religious leaders, with the aim to have an inclusive dialogue on transitional justice and dealing with the past. The hope is to create a safe space for stories to be shared and a broader understanding of victims’ needs at the local level achieved.
Criteria for applying
– Be officially registered as a domestic non-governmental /non-for-profit organization
– Be an active organization or association
– Represent one or more victim groups and other affected groups.
Required documents:
– The Expression of Interest must include a cover letter with the description of the organization – mission, goals, year of establishment, description of the group the organization represents, motivation to participate in the project, and contact details. The cover letter should not exceed three pages and it should be sent to info@ngo-integra.org for EoIs in the Albanian language and office@newsocialinitiative.org for EoIs in the Serbian language.
– The deadline to send the Expression of Interest is 12 September 2021.
