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Archive -Seychelles

Civil Society Small Grants Programme - Nine associations receive funding |10 November 2017

 

 

 

 

Nine civil society associations can now implement their project proposals to improve the basic economic and social condition of local communities, thanks to a total of R1.2 million grants funded under the Civil Society Small Grants Programme.

It was in a brief ceremony held at the Eden Bleu hotel yesterday that representatives of each of these associations and the chairperson of the Civil Society Small Grants Programme (CSSGP) administrative committee, Kenny Roberts, signed the grant agreements.

On the CSSGP committee are representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Economic Planning, the Civil Engagement Platform Seychelles (Ceps) and the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce (SCCI).

For this year the committee decided on these following beneficiaries to the civil society small grants:  Association of People with Hearing Impairment (APHI), HIV and AIDS Support Organisation (Haso), Christ Victory Temple Ministries, Bling Bling Poetry Association, Alliance of Solidarity for the Family (ASFF), Survival Ark Foundation, Citizens Empowerment Centre, Light Amidst My Path (Lamp), and Seventh Day Adventist Mission.

The establishment of the CSSGP was announced by President Danny Faure and a sum of R1.4 million was dedicated to this programme in the 2017 budget.

The aim of the programme is to help finance projects and services civil society associations want to implement which encourages empowerment, social entrepreneurship, sustainable development and capacity building.

These are projects that the associations want to undertake but find difficult to do, mostly because of the lack of capital.

“NGOs (non-governmental organisations) are made up of volunteers and they do not necessarily work with a budget or financial structure, so they often have to rely on funding from donators and other parties,” said Michel Pierre, the secretary of the CSSGP committee, as he explained the predicaments of these associations.

Although the committee was formed a mere two months ago, it went straight to work to set up mechanisms to manage the money and select which NGO met the necessary criteria for approval.

Interested NGOs, whether members of Ceps or not, were given the opportunity to submit their project proposals for review by the committee, and consequently 20 applications were brought forth and shortlisted to these nine final candidates.

The criteria for selection were that the NGO much have been in existence for at least one year; must be registered and in good standing with the Registrar of Associations; must have the ability to implement the project proposals and must have sound auditing accounts and financial systems in place.

 “One of the biggest criteria was the immediate impact the project will have on the society and how many people will benefit from these projects. There were a lot of projects that were interesting but were not going to benefit a large portion of the society,” Mr Roberts elaborated.

In order to assure accountability and transparency, a project officer will be attached to the selected NGOs to make sure they are managing their grants appropriately and that they are following their proposals’ objectives.

Mr Roberts has stated that, as the newly appointed committee chair, he is extremely excited about the projects and their outcomes, and added that he is sure more NGOs will apply for the 2018 CSSGP.

 

Details on the civil society organisations and projects chosen:

 

Association of People with Hearing Impairment (APHI)

PROJECT TITLE: Sign language training

OBJECTIVES: Empower citizens with sign language education.

TARGET GROUP (S): Teachers for deaf students, professionals, parents, deaf people and interested persons.

 

HIV and Aids Support Organisation (Haso)

PROJECT TITLE: Search and rescue 2017/2018: Identifying, finding and reaching to PLHIV drop-outs

OBJECTIVES: To find 402 PLHIVs lost to treatment and follow-up, to reintroduce them to ART, social support and medical follow-up.

TARGET GROUP(S): 402 PLHIVs lost to treatment.

 

Christ Victory Temple Ministries

PROJECT TITLE: A cry for mums

OBJECTIVES: To train 50 single women with children who live in Perseverance to help them cope with the financial, economic, emotional and social problems they face in their households.

TARGET GROUP(S): Single women with children, young women with children, divorced women with children, vulnerable married women with children.

 

Bling Bling Poetry Association

PROJECT TITLE: Mon kaye poenm (Capacity development/education)

OBJECTIVES: To provide a transformation in the way of thinking and in the way of life and living habits of targeted groups by using spoken and written words and literature to express themselves.

TARGET GROUP(S): Youth in the community, prison inmates and students.

 

Alliance of Solidarity For the Family (ASFF)

PROJECT TITLE: Puberty education

OBJECTIVES: The project will entail empowering young adolescents of primary six in the 22 state schools, on changes in puberty in boys and girls.

TARGET GROUP (S): The primary beneficiary will be the young adolescents of primary six; approximately 1,800 children and parents.

 

Survival Ark Foundation

PROJECT TITLE: Facilitators empowerment programme

OBJECTIVES: Building the capacity of participants with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide quality services to the end users.

TARGET GROUP(S): 35 facilitators: 15 adults and 20 assistant facilitators. Clients will be 100 children aged 4 to 12 years.

 

Citizens Empowerment Centre

PROJECT TITLE: Youth friendly centre

OBJECTIVES: To provide pastoral care and counseling for young people through empowerment, so that they can implement preventive care program in the community.

TARGET GROUP(S): Youths in Roche Caïman, Les Mamelles, Plaisance and Mont Fleuri.

 

Light Amidst My Path (Lamp)

PROJECT TITLE: Making our schools a bully free zone: Together we can stop bullying

OBJECTIVES: To restore the current social situation through the promotion of respect for the rights of children and youth, who constitute a vulnerable segment of our society.

TARGET GROUP(S): 100 STUDENTS OF BOTHE SEXES AGED 14 TO 16 YEARS IN Plaisance secondary school.

 

Seventh Day Adventist Mission

PROJECT TITLE: Engaging and empowering youths and adults in preventing social ills and addictions in the community

OBJECTIVES: Empower youth with life skills to help implement preventive programmes

TARGET GROUP(S): 100 from Praslin and La Digue and 400 from Mahe.

 

 

 

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