Belgrade, April 11, 2023 -- With the support of the European Union and in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), seven local governments in Serbia  announce public calls to finance projects of civil society organizations (CSOs) that can contribute to local development. Public invitations are opened by the City of Krusevac, the Administration for Youth and Sports of the City of Novi Sad, the City of Subotica, as well as the municipalities of Babušnica, Vladičin Han, Vrnjačka Banja and Topola.

The aim of these public calls is to improve the quality of public services local authorities provide to citizens in these cities and municipalities, by strengthening cooperation with civil society organizations.

Public calls will support CSO projects that contribute to improving the position and quality of life of young people and members of vulnerable groups, as well as other projects that are in line with the development priorities of these seven local governments, such as public health, environmental protection and tourism development, and creative industries.

All interested civil society organizations can submit their proposals through individual public calls, announced separately by each local self-government.

• First public calls were opened by Novi Sad and Vrnjačka Banja. The deadline for registration in Novi Sad is May 9, and in Vrnjačka Banja, May 15. More information and tender documentation can be found on the website of Vrnjačka Banja and Novi Sad.

• Subotica opened a public call on April 12, and the application deadline is May 17. You can find more information and tender documentation on the website of City of Subotica. 

• Babušnica 

• Kruševac and Topola opened a public call on April 20, and the application deadline is May 25 in Kruševac and May 24 in Topola. You can find more information and tender documentation on the website of the Municipality of Kruševac and Topola.

• Vladičin Han opened a public call on May 26, and the application deadline is June 16. You can find more information and tender documentation on the website of the Municipality of Vladičin Han.

All details on the conditions, deadlines and ways of applying, as well as all the necessary documentation, will be available on the official websites of local governments.

For the implementation of the most successful project proposals received in public calls in 2023, a total of up to 525,000 USD will be allocated, that is – up to 75,000 USD per local self-government, which, in addition to funds provided by the EU, includes co-financing from local self-governments.

During the public calls, trainings will be organized, and mentoring support will be provided for representatives of interested CSOs on project preparation and management. The exact date and place of these trainings will be published on the official websites of local governments. Interested CSOs can send all questions regarding public calls to the address: reload.rs@undp.org.

*** Public calls for funding projects of civil society organizations are published within the project "ReLOaD2 - Regional Program for Local Democracy in the Western Balkans 2", funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP.