Granted amount: 15 000 Eur

The project "Young Mediators" is aimed at strengthening the school community and promoting peer mediation, an alternative dispute resolution method, in educational institutions, in order to build psychological resilience in children and adolescents, by developing their skills of cooperation, critical thinking, active citizenship, empathy and respect for each other.

The project aims at developing students' competences in cooperation, leadership, critical thinking, empathy and respect, tolerance for one another and the creation of a non-violent culture of an educational institution oriented towards human rights and freedoms.

Target group age: seventh and eighth grade students - future young mediators and adult coordinators of young mediators (social pedagogue, teacher, school psychologist, etc.)

The project aims to strengthen students' competences in emotional literacy, critical thinking, cooperation and active citizenship skills, and to implement a peer mediation strategy in educational institutions, which could be replicated in other educational institutions after the project.

The methods used in the project are effective and innovative (individual case studies, communication between the different groups providing the services, piloting the methodology, group training). In order to achieve psychological resilience in children and adolescents by developing their skills of cooperation, leadership, critical thinking, active citizenship, empathy and respect for each other, the activities in the project are effective and focus on the root causes of the problems (emotional maturity, literacy, conflict management, human rights etc.).

Added value of the project: at the end of the project, a team of young mediators will be trained who will be able to apply peer mediation in their school and to continue to act independently.

Implementation period from 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2023

Granted amount: 71 942,16 Eur

Over the last 40 years, there has been a lot of research on the shadow economy, but very little has been done to prevent the shadow economy and tax evasion. The results of the 2018 Lithuanian Free Market Institute study show that Lithuania has chosen only minor policy measures to combat the shadow economy. The 2016 publication of the Chancellery of the Republic of Lithuania "Shadow Economy. Changes over a decade" states that proper use of collected tax revenues, transparency, public satisfaction with public services and motives of citizenship and sociability can lead to a shrinking shadow economy. On this basis, it can be argued that the development of civic competence contributes directly to reducing the shadow economy and increasing transparency.

However, the Order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania "On the Approval of the Inter-institutional Action Plan for Civic and National Education 2016-2020" states that although active civic education of pupils is being carried out, it is insufficient, and therefore this project proposes to reorientate the focus on the improvement of the quality of civic education at an early age.

With this project, we aim to invest in improving the quality of civic education and to teach children responsible financial management at an early age by strengthening civic and financial literacy competences - to develop a civic and responsible tax-paying citizen and thus to pre-empt the growth of the shadow economy in Lithuania.

The target group of this project is Lithuanian pupils in grades 2-3 (7-9 years old). The project aims to strengthen the education system by introducing and expanding a quality educational methodology - the 5-session programme "My Community", which includes civic rights, civic participation - while also integrating financial literacy education. Within the framework of this project, we aim to train 300 specialist teachers who will accompany as many as 5 400 pupils in Years 2 and 3 through this curriculum. The project aims to strengthen education on civil rights and civic participation in a sustainable way by integrating content that is fully in line with the general curriculum and can be used for several years in the education process. This ensures the continuity of the impact created and the expansion of the target audience, reaching more than 5,400 pupils.

Implementation period: from 1 June 2022 to 30 November 2023

Granted amount: 85 235,26 Eur

This project will contribute to the achievement of the objective of Impact Area 1 - to encourage more active participation of citizens in civic activities. Key challenges:

• Limited opportunities for VL volunteering for people living in Lithuanian regions.
• Insufficient number of people willing to volunteer for VL and decreasing motivation of existing volunteers.

The main objective of the project is to encourage citizens (especially those living in regions remote from Vilnius) to participate more actively in civic activities by choosing to volunteer in VL online and to train, motivate and up-skill existing volunteers.

The main target groups of the project are:

TG1 - civically active adults living in regions far from the capital, who could become VL volunteers and provide support to children and adolescents through online chat. TG-2 - existing VL volunteers.

Expected results of this project:

• Publicised the opportunity to volunteer for VL through chat;
• 40 new volunteers from the regions attracted and trained to provide online chat support to children and adolescents;
• Strengthened the motivation of existing VL volunteers to continue volunteering, thus ensuring a sufficient number of VL counsellors, raising their skills and competences.

The project will achieve its results through the following activities:

• Awareness-raising campaign and events in Panevėžys, Šiauliai and Alytus to attract new volunteers to support children and adolescents through online chat.
• Implementation of a VL volunteer motivation event, organisation of live meetings with volunteers providing online chat support to children and adolescents; creation of an online library.

Implementation period: from 1 June 2022 to 30 November 2023

Granted amount: 77 361,95 Eur

Although disability NGOs are facing a lack of resources and advocacy skills, the civic activism of the community is gradually increasing, especially thanks to successful individual advocacy cases. Observing the lack of progress in the implementation of human rights standards, disability NGOs have continuously initiated a dialogue with the responsible authorities to hold them accountable for the necessary changes in disability policy and implementation.

The target group consists of disability NGOs and 221,000 persons with disabilities, including 15.2 thousand children under the age of 18 with disabilities, representing 8.2% of the total population.

The applicant, LNF, brings together 16 national disability organisations which together represent the interests of people with disabilities and their immediate environment. They are also decision-makers whose field of activity is the formulation of social policy, and specifically disability policy, at both local and national level, and the media. 

Proposed solution: (I) strengthen the advocacy and communication capacities of disability NGOs by implementing (II) advocacy and (III) communication campaigns.

Monitoring of the authorities' performance will be carried out, an alternative (shadow) progress report on the implementation of the Convention (since 2016) will be prepared, and a strategic case will be made to highlight the most pressing systemic weaknesses. Targeted publicity is foreseen for the evidence gathered during the monitoring exercise, the progress of the case, and the implementation of an awareness-raising campaign to promote civic participation.

The project is intended to deliver results: 

A) Impact result - increased civil society (disability organisations) monitoring of public authorities' activities in the field of disability policy. Evidence-based advocacy. The impact result indicator is a shadow (alternative) progress report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter - the Convention) in Lithuania prepared by disability NGOs, as well as the recommendations on the implementation of the Convention formulated by the LNF disability experts. 

B) Results of activities:

1) Proposals for public disability policy submitted by the LNF (indicator: 1 strategic case initiated and 3 positions/proposals for amendments to legislation submitted);

2) Accountability of public institutions responsible for disability policy promoted (indicator: advocacy campaign implemented)

Implementation period: from 1 June 2022 to 1 December 2023

Granted amount: 88 508,60 Eur

The implementation of holistic, human rights-based, science-based, age-appropriate sexuality education in Lithuania is still facing a lot of resistance and does not find a specific place in the education system. Human rights issues are still marginalised due to a deeply divided society, fear of dealing with topics that are not always comfortable, misunderstanding and lack of insight into these issues. Although the Life Skills curriculum currently being developed integrates a number of sexuality education topics, the crucial topics of sexual orientation, gender identity, healthy and equal, safer sexual relationships are still little or not addressed. There is also still an identifiable lack of knowledge and tools to work on these topics and to integrate them in their own environment among a significant number of (non-)formal educators. Although students have the opportunity to gain short-term exposure, in the long term they are returning to an environment where attitudes and entrenched beliefs prevail.

Therefore, this project, working in parallel at local and national level, aims to ensure the quality implementation of sexuality education as a tool to prevent bullying, gender-based violence and discrimination against LGBTI+ people in the (non-)formal education institutions of two municipalities in Lithuania (Vilnius and Marijampolė). The target groups of this project are representatives of (non-)formal education institutions, representatives of Vilnius and Marijampolė municipalities, representatives of the Human Rights and/or Education Committees of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, and the indirect beneficiaries are pupils and young people as well as the general public in Lithuania.

It is expected that after the meetings the representatives of municipalities in the cities will find concrete ways to integrate quality sexuality education into the agenda of (non-)formal education, and the meetings with the representatives of the Seimas will allow for a more qualitative contribution to the development of the Life Skills Programme, the accreditation of the in-service training programme, and the strengthening of the skills of the staff of the (non-)formal education institutions with the help of this programme and the supervision provided. The tools developed, e.g. guidelines, videos, visuals, will be an easily accessible support for those who want to integrate sexuality education in a qualitative way to create a safer environment for young people.

Implementation period: from 26 May 2022 to 25 November 2023

Granted amount: 15 000 Eur

The aim of the project is to empower LGBT+ young people living in urban and regional areas by strengthening their psychosocial health through dance-movement therapy and psychodrama sessions. The project aims to create a safe space where LGBT+ young people can gain empowering experiences, strengthen their inner resources, build resilience, learn to notice how body, mind and emotions interact, and build self-help competences through peer support.

The project offers therapeutic services that are attractive to young people, action-oriented, expression-oriented and art-oriented, which will contribute to a successful relationship between the therapist/psychologist and young people. Dance-movement therapy and psychodrama will help LGBT+ young people to identify, accept and release the unexpressed emotions that affect them psychologically and physiologically, thus facilitating the process of coming out and moving on, for the sake of their health, well-being and growth.

The project will promote new emotional support services for the LGBT+ community across Lithuania by bringing 20 young LGBT+ people (14-29 years old) from Visaginas and another 30 young LGBT+ people (14-29 years old) from other parts of Lithuania to a dance-movement therapy and psychodrama series. Based on this experience, a methodology for therapeutic work with LGBT+ young people using creative methods will be developed and presented.

The project applicant and partners will build capacity in project development and implementation, and develop competences for working with people experiencing social and ethnic exclusion.

Implementation period: from 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2023

Granted amount: 16 617,05 Eur

The #JUST4ALL project tackles the issues of social and economic exclusion and discrimination of people with disabilities and aims to train leaders and activists with disabilities to represent and defend people with disabilities and their interests in the fields of education, the labour market, active leisure at local and national level. The project will focus on building and developing the competences of leaders and activists in disability communities and organisations in the areas of leadership, management, communication and building new partnerships. The project will organise a leadership and mentoring programme to prepare people with disabilities to represent their own interests and those of their communities, and a discussion forum to ensure stakeholder cooperation. The implementation of these measures will ensure the empowerment of civil society and people with disabilities in decision-making and representation in Klaipėda and Utena counties.

Implementation period: from 29 April 2022 to 28 October 2023

Granted amount: 55 571,89 Eur

For a number of years, Lithuania has been leading the European Union in terms of the highest number of convicts per 100,000 inhabitants - 254, which is about 2.5 times the EU average. According to the Ministry of Justice, 62% of those serving a sentence are re-serving it. Researchers studying the integration of prisoners and Caritas' work with prisoners have shown that the links between prisoners and their relatives are one of the most important factors in preparing for release and deterring criminal behaviour. It is important that relatives are strengthened in this process, as they experience the consequences of imprisonment (psychological and emotional strain, crises in family relations, financial difficulties, stigmatising attitudes in society, separation).

The aim of the project is to provide assistance, as a new service in Lithuania, to the relatives of convicted persons, by raising awareness of the issue and disseminating information and developing methodological guidelines for working with a vulnerable group as one of the most important factors for the successful resocialisation of convicted persons.

The target groups of the project are relatives of prisoners from Kaunas city, Kaunas district and regions - Kėdainiai, Jonava, Raseiniai, Jurbarkas, Ukmergė, Vilnius and Druskininkai, Trakai, Varėna and Ignalina. In order to help the relatives of prisoners, it is very important that they have access to the necessary help in their own environment, which is why we see the need to sensitise and inform the communities through the creation of a support network. We also need to train professionals to work with this vulnerable group. The project focuses on getting to know the relatives of convicts, an "undiscovered" vulnerable group in Lithuania, and thus meets the objective of the APF programme's impact area 4, as it promotes inclusion and empowerment of this vulnerable group and creates new services. Participatory advocacy methods and awareness raising will be used to get to know the vulnerable group better, to understand their needs, to promote their recognition and to provide new services that respond to those needs.

Outcomes:

● Creation of an information platform for relatives of prisoners.

● A new service was created: targeted assistance to the relatives of prisoners to meet their needs and achieve empowerment (180 persons consulted).

● 21 regional communities will be informed, mobilised, activated and involved.

● 3 escorted self-help groups for relatives of prisoners will be initiated (18 relatives involved).

● Preparation of methodological guidelines for working with the relatives of prisoners and training of professionals (about 80 professionals).

● Capacity building and networking of the project team (2 international trainings; NGO best practice and information sharing meeting).

Implementation period: from 1 June 2022 to 1 December 2023

Granted amount: 77 123,97 Eur

LGBT students facing bullying need to create a support system, raise awareness among parents, school staff and peers about the harmful effects of bullying on the emotional health of LGBT youth. As Lithuania takes the first steps to improve the situation of LGBT young people, it is particularly important to adopt the best practices of foreign countries, exchange good practices, promote intergenerational cooperation and intercultural dialogue, empowering different vulnerable groups to share their experiences and actively advocate for their rights.

The project "Nothing about us without us: empowering LGBT youth in the fight against bullying" aims to empower LGBT young people to actively defend their right to access education without discrimination, to strengthen their resilience to bullying through improved emotional support services, and to actively involve them in advocating for their rights. The project also aims to involve the whole school community in the support network for LGBT students and to ensure that the voice of LGBT young people is heard. The project's objectives are in line with the impact result of Impact Area 4.

The proposed project is expected to enable people from vulnerable target groups to participate in events, acquire the necessary knowledge and empower them to contribute to the advocacy of the needs of their community. The project will also provide an impetus to improve existing emotional support services, promote the inclusion of vulnerable groups, raise their awareness and foster intercultural dialogue and intergenerational cooperation.

Implementation period: from 1 of July 2022 to 31 of December 2023.

Granted amount: 88 593,75 Eur.

The project addresses the problem of Švenčionys district, Due to the lack of specialists and the high employment of existing specialists, young people experiencing social exclusion are not fully integrated into the social life of the municipalities, they lack social skills, general skills, entrepreneurial and social entrepreneurship skills, and informal relations and cooperation with local communities.

The target group of the project is socially excluded young people aged between 14 and 29: socially at-risk children up to the age of 18, members of large families, members of socially at-risk families, persons belonging to ethnic minorities, current and former children of children's social welfare homes, community-based children's care homes, special boarding schools, and families (up to the age of 29).

The project aims to carry out social integration of socially excluded young people in Švenčionys r., Anykščiai r. and Zarasai r. municipalities, to provide social integration services in order to reduce their social exclusion, to restore favourable conditions for their development, maturation, integration into local communities, to provide assistance on their rights and other relevant information, to develop young people's social entrepreneurship skills and encourage them to realise their ideas, to integrate young people into the active life of local communities.

The project directly responds to the general objectives of the APF programme (strengthening civil society and empowering vulnerable groups), as the project will empower a vulnerable group in the project municipalities (4 impact areas), socially excluded young people (including young people from ethnic minorities) aged between 14 and 29 to be active and civic members of society, to exercise their rights and to join and organise in their local communities and to develop and implement their social business ideas. The project is expected to reduce the number of socially excluded young people aged between 14 and 29 in the project municipalities, increase the overall rate of political-civic participation of young people, the level of civic-charity, the level of social-entrepreneurship, and the number of young people participating in local community activities.

Implementation period: from 01.06.2022 until 01.12.2023

Granted amount: 88 324,85 Eur

Hearing-impaired children are a vulnerable group in society, whose problems are often overlooked by society, but which have a major impact on the life of the whole family and the future of the deaf child. NGOs of parents of deaf and hard of hearing children advocate for the rights of these children to access quality medical and educational services and continuously improve their services. Hearing impairment is a specific, invisible disability that poses hidden problems in the educational process. One of the main problems facing families with hearing impaired children today is the lack of quality inclusive education and the gaps in the education system in preparation for this process. The project will aim to improve the inclusive education process. In Lithuania, laws have been adopted and an action plan has been approved according to which children with special needs should be educated in mainstream schools. However, in reality, the education of deaf and hard of hearing children faces many obstacles. Teachers in mainstream schools are unprepared to educate children with hearing impairment because they do not have sufficient knowledge, nor are they provided with teaching assistants. Hearing impairment is very different from other disability groups due to limited access to communication and information, and therefore specific knowledge and skills need to be provided to parents and professionals.

The aim of the project is to help children with hearing impairment, their families and the education system to prepare themselves for inclusive education in order to ensure quality and success in the education of children with hearing impairment. The project will aim to achieve this by bringing together professionals, parents and the children themselves in order to prepare for this.

Target groups: deaf and hard of hearing children, their families, general education teachers, representatives of the applicant, partner and regional organisations. By pooling human resources for joint activities, the project will organise educational activities for families, deaf and hard of hearing children and the education professionals working with them.

The project will contribute to improving services for deaf children and families in educational institutions. Family-oriented services will ensure a safer family climate and more inclusive education and integration of deaf children. Ensuring quality, consistent and needs-based education for deaf and hard of hearing children will help them to grow up as equal and active members of society, empower them to deal independently with disability-related problems, and reduce social exclusion.

Implementation period: from 1 June 2022 to 1 December 2023.

Granted amount: 87 362,82 Eur

This project aims to address the challenges of an ageing society and the integration of the participants of the Silver Economy aged 54+ to remain active and community-based for as long as possible. In the context of the "silver economy", it is not only important for business, science to prepare products, services, infrastructure to adapt to the "silver person", but it is also important to position the "silver person" himself to remain active and community-minded. These changes will directly respond to the overall objectives of the APF programme to empower vulnerable groups through project activities. It will also contribute to the achievement of Impact Area 4 by not only empowering the target group through non-formal employment activities, but also by providing new services to address the needs of vulnerable people.

The main objective of the project is to provide theoretical and practical social entrepreneurship training, advice and mentoring support to the "Silver Startups" in Panevėžys, by creating an e-sales platform for the marketing of the products produced.

The target group of the project is "Silver Startups" in Panevėžys, aged 54+, aiming to acquire social entrepreneurship knowledge and put it into practice in informal employment activities, by selling the products they have created on an e-sales platform.

The project will result in the following project outcomes: quantitative - 100 Silver Startups from Panevėžys will participate in the project activities, 1 social entrepreneurship skills training programme will be developed, social entrepreneurship trainings, consultations and mentoring will be organised, an e-sales platform will be created for selling the products produced by the Silver Startups, and videos will be created to promote social entrepreneurship and community activism among other Silver Startups in the city. Qualitative - improving the emotional and mental health of the Silver Startups, increasing their efforts to remain active and community-minded for as long as possible, enhancing their learning, communication and cooperation skills, acquiring new knowledge on social entrepreneurship, and fostering the creativity of the Silver Startups through experiential learning. Vulnerable groups will be provided with theoretical and practical social entrepreneurship training, advice and mentoring support in Panevėžys by creating an e-sales platform for the marketing of the products produced. New informal employment services for "silver people" promoting social entrepreneurship will be created in the city to meet the informal activity needs of vulnerable people. These forms will promote inclusion and awareness-raising among the vulnerable group.

Implementation period: from 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2023

Granted amount: 74 930,40€

One in two people believe that decision-making in Lithuania is closed, and 6 out of 10 believe that the government 6 out of 10 people in the EU are influenced by large interest groups. As many as 9 out of 10 people have not participated in local government public, one in nine municipalities do not consult publicly with residents. In 2020, the index of perception of civic influence on decision-making decreased from 61.2 to 55.7 out of 100. The problem to be addressed is the lack of citizen participation and involvement in local decision-making. The problem is the lack of involvement of local authorities in local decision-making. Solution: TILS will work with partners to increase citizen participation and involvement in decision-making through participatory budgets. To this end, TILS will engage and cooperate with: local citizens and their communities, representatives of municipalities working on participatory budgeting initiatives, representatives of national and local institutions and associations, and decision-makers.

Planned results: 

1. Increased citizen participation in local public policy decision-making (involving at least 150 citizens in at least 10 public consultations on participatory budgeting and at least 16,000 citizens from at least 6 municipalities in participatory budgeting; strengthening civic education for at least 36,200 citizens).

2. Encouraging citizens' participation in civic activities (at least 50% of the total number of citizens taking part in civic activities; more municipalities implementing participatory budget initiatives; at least 3 awareness-raising campaigns). 

3.  Partnerships between CSOs and public actors created and strengthened (involving at least 11 partners; involving at least 50 local government representatives in the exchange of participatory budget experiences; at least 280 representatives from national and local public administrations, communities, Lithuanian and foreign organisations working on participatory budget issues).

4. Promoting the inclusion of vulnerable groups (at least 20 municipal representatives involved in training on how to properly include representatives of different social groups); 

5. Promoting transparency and accountability of public institutions (at least 6 by increasing the publication of information on the use of public funds and the implementation of winning citizens' initiatives).

6.  CSOs' suggestions for public policy (by submitting requests to all municipalities (60) and at least 5 different proposals to representatives of public authorities to to strengthen citizens' involvement and participation in municipal decision-making).

Implementation period: from 9 May 2022 to 8 November 2023.

Granted amount: 79 911,68 €

Project "Silver Line": building the civic power of seniors through social participation and volunteering The project "Promoting civic empowerment through social activity and volunteering" addresses the problem of low civic engagement of the elderly population in Lithuania. The target group of the project: socially vulnerable senior citizens (60 years and older) who, due to age, health, economic hardship, belonging to national minorities and related language barrier, isolation, loneliness, at risk of social exclusion, partially (or fully) deprived or have lost the ability and capacity to communicate, maintain social relations, are socially and socially passive, lacking confidence in their civic power.

The aim of the project: to increase the civic power of elderly people and to promote their social participation, meaningful participation in public life and decision-making. The project aims to involve the elderly in social relations, in the Silver Line communication program and in volunteering. The project will contribute to the overall objectives of the APF program and to the objectives of Impact Area 1: strengthening civil society and empowerment of vulnerable groups, and promoting the participation of citizens in civic activities; motivating and encouraging seniors to engage in civic activities such as socializing and volunteering, strengthening their confidence in their civic capacities, aiming to change negative attitudes of society towards older people.Expected results:

1. 400 socially at-risk elderly people will be involved in the project's activities after the implementation of two awareness-raising campaigns, 200 seniors will become interested in volunteering.
2. After the implementation of the activities for the organization of senior volunteering, 2,200 socially disadvantaged seniors will volunteer at the Silver Line. Up to 200 seniors will be selected, trained and involved in the activities.
3. Two volunteer motivation and competency development workshops will have been implemented to improve communication and cooperation, teamwork competences and motivation for volunteering; up to 100-120 unique participants (volunteers).
4. An awareness-raising campaign aimed at changing negative public attitudes towards elderly people will be implemented. This includes creating and disseminating text and images on social networks content on social media. Sociological study analizing the  impact of senior volunteering and involvement in the Silver Line conversations stories, will be carried out and presented at the conference, aiming to reveal the physical, social and emotional well-being as subjectively assessed by Silver Line interviewees, the impact of communication and volunteering at the Silver Line on their well-being and social inclusion.

Implementation period: 2022-05-01 to 2023-10-31

Granted amount: 80 000 Eur

This project addresses the problem of illegal immigration of workers from third countries and the related negative consequences for the socio-economic security and well-being of work migrants.

Foreign citizens make one third of the illegal workforce in Lithuania. The shadow labour trends are exacerbated in Lithuania by severe shortage of workers. Undeclared employment often results in violations of migrants' working conditions, hours, safety and pay. They particularly affect people with lower qualifications, income and social status. Studies show that irregular employment of migrants is fuelled by regulatory restrictions on labour migration from third countries, unjustified and disproportionate work permit procedures, recruitment requirements and quotas. Lithuania is ranked 112 out of 141 countries in the World Competitiveness Index on the ease of recruiting foreigners.

The project aims to strengthen civil society advocacy in the field of labour migration policy. Our aim is to initiate and promote an evidence-based review of the labour immigration policy and regulatory environment in order to ensure a more favourable institutional environment for labour migrants from third countries and to safeguard their socio-economic freedoms and rights, equality, security, integration and well-being. We will analyse labour migration policies, regulations and their impact, monitor and evaluate legislative initiatives, formulate and present evidence-based proposals for removing unjustified regulatory barriers to legal labour migration, and stimulate national and regional public discourse through wide dissemination, roundtables and media communication. The main target groups are public authorities, public policy makers and opinion leaders from the political, business, academic and legal communities, local governments, civil society organizations, local communities.

We anticipate that the project will consolidate evidence-based public discourse, strengthen media communication, civil society awareness and engagement and their impact on public policy making, and stimulate policy decisions on improving the institutional conditions for labour migration from third countries.

The project reflects APF's values of respect for human dignity and rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, freedom, equality and the rule of law.

Implementation period: from 29 April 2022 to 28 April 2023. 

Granted amount: 14936,9 Eur

The project "Not to write off, but to support: education of convicts and society" aims to reduce recidivism through education by empowering convicts and reducing the social gap between convicts and the rest of society. Target group: people serving a custodial sentence.

In order to successfully re-integrate the society after serving a sentence, it is important that covicts are provided the necessary "tools" during their sentence. One of the most important "tools" is education (both formal and informal). This project will address three problems related to education: the lack of access to higher education for convicted persons; the lack of knowledge of their rights and the lack of space to express their needs; and thirdly, the lack of a positive representation of convicted persons in society. These problems hinder the prisoner's ability to change and develop and, once released, to integrate successfully into society.

Therefore, this project will empower convicts in three ways: by completing a course  tailored to their needs at Alytus College, by raising awareness of their rights and their ability to assert them in their community (through the creation of an information campaign for convicts), and by contributing to the positive public representation of their community (through the creation of a public publication).

Such empowerment and information of prisoners about their rights will help them to integrate more successfully into society later on, while public information and the involvement of volunteers in the activities will help to mitigate the negative attitude of the public towards prisoners. This is likely to reduce the risk of re-offending.

Implementation period: from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2023.

Granted amount: 14998,45 Eur

Socially excluded youth in Zarasai and Anykščiai municipalities lack social skills, entrepreneurial and social entrepreneurship skills and informal relations and cooperation with local communities. They are not fully integrated into the social life of the municipalities due to the lack of specialists and the high employment rate of the existing ones, 

The target group in this project are socially excluded young people aged between 14 and 29: children from social risk families up to the age of 18, members of large families, members of social risk families, persons from ethnic minorities, current and former children of children's social welfare homes, community-based children's care homes, special boarding schools, and families (up to the age of 29 years).

The project aims to meet the needs of vulnerable and socially excluded young people aged between 14 and 29, one of the most socially vulnerable groups of the population, to encourage them to be socially responsible citizens, to develop their social entrepreneurship skills, to encourage the creation and implementation of social innovations in cooperation with local communities, thus integrating the target group of the project into the everyday life of the local communities.

The project directly responds to the general objectives of the APF program (strengthening civil society and empowering vulnerable groups), as the project will empower a vulnerable group in the project municipalities (4 impact areas), socially excluded young people (including young people from ethnic minorities) aged between 14 and 29, to be active and socially responsible members of society and to create and implement social innovations in cooperation with local communities.

It is expected that the implementation of the project in the project municipalities will reduce the number of socially excluded young people aged between 14 and 29, increase the overall level of youth citizenship-charity, social entrepreneurship, and increase the number of socially excluded young people participating in local community activities.

Implementation period: from 1 of June 2022 to 31 of May 2023. 

Granted amount:13 100 Eur

The project "When a door closes, a window opens" is dedicated to the elderly people (65+). The analysis of social services provided to elderly people in Mažeikiai shows that formal and paid social services meet only their basic needs, but do not sufficiently meet their emotional needs. According to the data of our partner Mažeikiai District Social Service, about 30% of elderly persons who receive home help services feel lonely, 60% of them do not participate in any activities due to limited mobility and spend their free time at home, and only 10% of them use smart technologies to communicate with their relatives, friends, and to engage in activities at a distance. According to the social work organizers, care workers visit the service beneficiaries between 2 and 5 times a week for 2 hours each. They tend to do the most necessary tasks in 2 hours and there is not enough time for quality communication. Interactions with home care service users and written surveys highlighted the need for simple communication, employment activities, emotional support and listening.

In order to meet the need for communication and emotional support for elderly people, the project foresees the provision of day employment services for elderly people in a hybrid way. The social worker will organize the activities using: music therapy, art therapy, bibliotherapy, play therapy, fine motor activities, physical exercises. Service users will be able to participate in the activities directly and remotely. Elderly people who do not know how to use smartphones or tablets will have the opportunity to learn how to use them and develop new skills. Service users will be trained to search for information they need, to follow news, to contact relatives or friends, and to participate in activities organized remotely. It is hoped that the new skills and knowledge will encourage older people to purchase a smartphone or tablet, which will extend communication and employment opportunities at home and beyond the project. Daytime employment activities will be organized twice a week for up to 3 hours a day. During the project, the beneficiaries who will participate remotely will be able to use their own equipment or equipment purchased with project funds, and will periodically be provided with other tools necessary for the implementation of the planned activities.

Implementation period: 15 May 2022 to 14 May 2023.

Granted amount: 69032,06 Eur 

The project addresses 3 problems: the lack of ongoing weekend support sessions for working people with addictions, the harm caused by people with addictions to their relatives, and the negative attitudes of employers towards people with addictions. The main aim of the project is to help people with addictions living in Kaunas county to recover and to empower them and their relatives to live a fulfilling life. The project will involve 24 persons with addictions living in Kaunas County, 60 of their relatives, 24 employers and 5 employees of the project leading organization. The main way of solving the identified problems is to provide intensive assistance to the person with addictions, his/her relatives and employer. The major achievement of the project is that it will offer a weekend follow-up services to the participants. Individual counselling and therapies will also be provided. Group and individual counselling and therapies will be offered to relatives. Employer education will be provided. Training will be provided to the staff of the project promoter. All activities will be carried out by a professional team: a psychiatrist, a psychologist and 3 addiction counselors. The activities foreseen are directly in line with the overall objective of the APF program, as they aim to empower addicts to live a fulfilling life. The project aims to achieve the following program outcomes: empowerment of the vulnerable group; training of the vulnerable group; promotion of new services to address the needs of the vulnerable; inclusion and awareness raising of vulnerable groups by CSOs; stronger civil society capacity and sustainability; and organization of capacity building activities for CSOs.

Implementation period from 15 of August 2022 to 15 of August 2023.

Granted amount: 13500 Eur

The aim of the project is to empower young people aged 15-21 in the regions of Lithuania to have a critical sight of the information, thus preventing the spread of distrust in the state and promoting citizenship. The project is implemented in the municipalities of Visaginas, Vilnius District, Rokiškis District, Kretinga District, and Šiauliai District, with a special focus on passive and ethnic minority youth. 5 two-phase (at least one month apart) training sessions with a interactive game to consolidate the knowledge acquired, involving at least 150 young people, teachers, youth councils and NGOs representatives. The training will introduce participants to examples of misinformation, ways of checking information and the impact of information literacy in citizenship. The project will not only make participants more aware citizens, able to check the information they find on the internet and not spread falsehoods, but also regular participants in civic activities. Participants will be introduced to the NGOs operating in their municipalities and how they can apply their newly acquired knowledge to their social activities.

The project aims to involve young people who are hard to reach, have little or no interest in social action and European political processes, and to update the knowledge of the staff and volunteers who run the educational activities. A communication campaign on Facebook will be implemented to reach the target audience and disseminate the project's messages.

Implementation period: from 1 of September 2022 to 31 of March 2023.

Granted amount: 62 833,87 Eur

The project aims to encourage patient involvement and participation in health care services and social protection processes in order to ensure that public policies and practices reflect the real needs of patients, take into account their preferences and capacities, and strengthen cooperation between citizens and public authorities.

Research shows that active involvement of patients in the health and social care systems leads to significantly better treatment outcomes, as well as to reduced waiting lists and fewer patients with chronic diseases. In Lithuania, patient involvement in the treatment process is still weak, with insufficient focus on patient education and health literacy. Meanwhile, one of the strategic priorities of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania is "to increase the social well-being and inclusion of the population, to strengthen the health care", with the aim of increasing the proportion of the population who believe that they have been involved in the treatment process by 300% by 2030.

The project identifies target groups: 

1. patients who will be involved in volunteering activities;
2. patients who will be educated and encouraged to get involved in policy making in health and social care;
3. public authorities.

As part of the project, we will initiate and implement a volunteer mentoring program. We will implement systematic awareness-raising measures for the patient community, develop a patient-oriented training program, organize trainings, conduct patient surveys using digital tools, and thus give patients the opportunity to express their views on public management decisions, and make suggestions to public institutions and bodies on the basis of patients' views.

The project activities and results will empower patients to be partners in the organization of their own healthcare, encourage greater interest and civic participation, help public authorities to understand the challenges faced by patients in the healthcare and social protection systems, listen to their experiences, expectations and advice, and thereby improve the quality of decision-making and operational efficiency.

Implementation period: from 29 of April 2022 to 28 of August 2023.

Granted amount: 70450,74 Eur

The project will increase civic engagement of youth in Šiauliai county, participation in public policy making, by developing anticorruption awareness and involvement in public management decision making, promoting integration of national minorities and exploiting the potential of NGOs' cooperation at local and international level.

The target group is young people living in Šiauliai County (14-29 years old), 15 of national minorities. Problems to be addressed: lack of quality programs for informal anti-corruption education and preparation of public governance proposals, the lack of modern digital methodological tools for their implementation; passive participation of youth, especially national minority youth, in civic activities, insufficient involvement in public policy making.

The project will include:

• experience exchange internship in Norway, where the Applicant, 1 and 2 Partners will exchange positive experiences in the field of activities for a more active involvement in public policy making;
• improving the program for informal anti-corruption education and the development of public governance proposals, a digital "easy to read" methodological material has been developed, open to all external users;
• implementing the training "Youth Anti-Corruption Initiative Driver - Civic Engagement and Involvement in Public Governance Decision Making" for 160 youth representatives in 7 municipalities of Šiauliai County, including representatives of national minority youth;
• organizing 4 facilitated working groups on public governance proposals in each municipality of Šiauliai County, involving 48 youth representatives;
• improving capacities relevant for the development of the activities of the Applicant, 2 and 3 Partner NGOs.

The activities foreseen in the project will ensure the realization of all the general objectives of the APF program:

• strengthening civil society, empowerment of vulnerable groups such as youth and ethnic minority youth representatives;
• strengthening bilateral cooperation between Lithuanian civil society organizations and donor country actors;
• fostering regional networking exchanges and ensured accessibility of knowledge and good practices to civil society as a whole.

The project will contribute to the achievement of the APF program level outcome ("Strengthened civil society and active citizenship, empowered vulnerable groups"):

• Number of people (including staff, volunteers) involved in the activities of PVO - 200 (160 youth representatives; 16 staff; 24 volunteers);
• Number of directly funded CSOs - 4 (the Applicant, 1 NGO based in Norway and 2 NGOs based in Šiauliai. The Project also includes 1 educational institution in Šiauliai.

Implementation period: from 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2023

Granted amount: 77 628,60 Eur

Young people in Lithuania have great potential to create fundamental change in society, as research shows that they are well aware of the importance of their civic power, but they lack alternative forms of engagement. One in five young people aged 25-29 in Lithuania is not engaged - not in education, employment or starting their own business. Lack of employment or forms of participation creates social tensions for young people, which directly affects their subsequent limited participation in society. 

The project "Developing Active Citizens through the Scandinavian Hojskole Model in Lithuania" aims to strengthen young people's citizenship and active participation as a means of creating the first Folk High School in Lithuania to develop social leaders. On the one hand, the project would offer a new, alternative form of employment for the development of active citizens, and on the other hand, the project is directly focused on working with rural development. The young people will directly apply the competences acquired in the project to strengthen regional development and civic processes in rural areas. 

To achieve this, the project will bring together a team of local and international experts to pilot the Folk High School concept in Lithuania, to measure the impact on different target groups, to construct a long-term model that fits the national context, and to strengthen partnerships with relevant educational institutions. 

The main outcome of the project is a sustainable and further developed, continuously operating Folk High School model in Antalieptė, empowering young social leaders.

Impplementation period: 29 of April 2022 to 28 of October 2023.

Granted amount: 64080 Eur

The project "KAD: Creating the Future Now" will aim to promote active citizenship among young people by contributing to the development of gender equality public policies. It will address the following issues:

1. 1. The low awareness of the importance of gender equality among young people in Lithuania, especially in the regions, and the low participation of young people in the formulation and implementation of gender equality policies hinder the development of society and democracy.

2. Insufficient involvement of NGOs and lack of instruments to promote youth civic engagement on gender equality issues, such as public campaigns based on research, facts or international documents, underdeveloped mechanisms of civil control over political parties, especially at the local government level.

The project aims to promote active citizenship among young people and to increase the sustainability of NGOs by strengthening their capacity to engage young people in gender equality public policy-making.

Target groups: young people (14-29 years old); representatives of organisations working with young people; representatives of NGOs working in the field of gender equality (members of LMLO); general public.

The project contributes to the objectives and results of the APF. Activities implemented:

• Strengthen civic education and encourage greater participation of young people in civic activities;
• Strengthen the capacity of NGOs (APLO members) to promote youth citizenship in the field of gender equality, to activate young people to participate in the formulation and monitoring of gender equality policies;
• Lay the foundations for cooperation between NGOs (LMLO members) and youth organisations to promote youth citizenship in the field of gender equality;
• Raise awareness of civil rights, civic participation, gender inequality issues and solutions.

Implementation period: from 1 of July 2022 to 31 of December 2023.

Granted amount: 61 236 Eur

In 2019, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the State Audit Office have all criticised the state of Lithuania's health system and highlighted the need for reform. At the end of 2021, the Ministry of Health started working on a health system reform (Reforma). The Reform derives from the implementation of the National Progress Plan 2021-2030, approved by Government Resolution No 998 of 9 September 2020. One of the objectives of the Reform is to increase the social and civic activity of the society, participation in voluntary and community activities, mutual trust and social responsibility of the society.

Strengthening civil society organisations, improving the environment for non-governmental organisations to operate, enabling the public to get involved and actively participate in solving issues of public interest in the field of health care and access to social services. Regardless of the objectives of the Reform, health NGOs have not been involved in the discussions on the Reform.

GMEI, together with LMS and SKGS, initiated the drafting of a letter to the HSE* (signed by 18 representatives of health NGOs) on the involvement in the planning of the Reform and submitted it to the HSE (https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/sveikata/682/1560321/medikai-isplatino-kreipimasi-reformuojantsveikatos-health-care-care-network-medical-organisations-left-out-of-consultation-door). GMEI, together with LMS, SKGS and LHRHA, identifies the following issues: 

1. Lack of trust in HSSIs and lack of supervision of HSSIs by health system NGOs and patients.
2. The lack of effective, legally based guidelines and a common strategy for working with HSSE in addressing issues of concern to the Lithuanian health system and patients.

Target groups:

1. Health system NGOs;
2. Propose new legal instruments, thus increasing the effectiveness and transparency of the cooperation between HAIs, NGOs and patients;
3. Promote closer cooperation between NGOs and HAIs in the health system;
4. Empower target groups through the organisation and provision of legal assistance, education and training;
5. Introduce a legally based and effective cross-sectoral cooperation
6. A strategy for effective and efficient inter-agency cooperation;
7. Educate the medical community, patients and the general public using a variety of outreach methods.

Implementation period: from 1 of June 2022 to 31 of May 2023

Granted amount: 44 690,40 Eur

The project "Expertise-based Baltic African Policy Making" aims to address the lack of expertise on EU-Africa relations among Baltic African foreign policy actors - diplomats, civil servants, journalists, academics and civil society representatives - which hinders the Baltic countries from seizing the unique opportunity to start building a relationship with African countries based on equal partnership and the Sustainable Development Goals. While all the Baltic States have expressed their ambition to develop relations with African countries, there is a lack of in-depth expertise (especially in the priority themes identified - migration, security, digital and green transformation) and access to such knowledge. Without investing in strengthening their own (Baltic) expertise, the Baltic States risk following the example of traditional European actors in Africa, characterised by paternalistic donor-recipient relations, and/or formulating policies on the basis of superficial knowledge and stereotypes. 

The solution proposed by the project is an intensive thematic course (5 days) for Baltic African foreign policy actors (15-20), which will result in a collection of policy briefs prepared by participants. This course will aim at strengthening targeted empirical and methodological knowledge for Baltic engagement in EU-Africa foreign policy and fostering networking among Baltic actors. Based on a continuous learning model, the course will provide participants with thematic knowledge (migration, security, digital and green transformation) and deepen their understanding of the EU-Africa partnership based on equal partnership and the principles of the Sustainable Development Agenda. 

The proposed solution directly contributes to a more inclusive and informed foreign policy making, as the process is developed and participated in not only by CSOs, but also by other foreign policy actors, as well as strengthening networking between CSOs in the Baltic States and other foreign policy actors through joint activities.

Implementation period: from 25 of May 2022 to 25 of August 2023.

Granted amount: 49 039,67 Eur

The project "New Reality - Challenges and Opportunities for NGOs" aims to ensure a sustainable and coherent development of the NGO sector, adapting to the new normal and enabling the quality and full involvement and participation of NGO representatives in decision-making processes from the very beginning, at all stages. 

The target group of the project is NGO representatives (staff, volunteers, members of governing bodies), state politicians (elected/appointed) and public sector representatives (civil servants, employees of state institutions and bodies, managers and employees of state or municipally-owned enterprises). 

The project aims to 1. ensure equal and consistent cooperation between NGOs (inclusiveness) and public authorities and bodies 2. strengthen weak CSOs in order to increase public civic engagement and 3. seek opportunities to ensure sustainable and long-term funding for NGOs. 

The envisaged project activities contribute directly and coherently to the achievement of APF's overarching programme objectives and aim to sustainably strengthen civil society, empowering it to become more active and responsible, by strengthening CSOs to represent, advocate, and base their activities on shared values - freedom, respect for human dignity and rights, democracy, equality, rule of law, reflecting the "zero waste" culture, the Green Deal, etc. Particular attention will be paid to activating regional organisations, strengthening their capacities and skills. This will be pursued through the implementation of the activities and indicators identified in Impact Area 2 "Strengthened civil society oversight/advocacy of public authorities" and Impact Area 5 "Strengthened civil society capacity and increased sustainability". The activities will also directly address the APF programme support areas of democracy, active citizenship, good governance and transparency, and civil society sector capacity and sustainability.

Implementation period: from 6 of May 2022 to 5 of May 2023. 

Granted amount: 79 181,57 Eur

Lithuanian public space is dominated by several human rights (HR) issues, which are often used to scare and polarise the public. Less controversial, long-standing issues are hardly discussed in the public sphere, and human rights ideas are associated only with a few vulnerable groups. In addition, NGO experts on lesser heard HR topics are not well recognised by journalists and often lack effective communication skills, while the lack of quality information on HR topics gives room for misinformation narratives to spread. As a result, the concerns of some vulnerable groups remain invisible and unheard. The main objective of the project "My Rights: Strengthening Quality Human Rights Discourse in Lithuania" is to strengthen quality human rights discourse (raising public awareness of human rights, their diversity and issues) by empowering NGOs from different HR fields to communicate on topics relevant to the groups they represent and by strengthening the largest HR portal manoteises.lt. The target groups of the project are journalists, the moderate part of the society influenced by negative attitudes, the human rights-oriented, civic-minded part of the society that reads manoteises.lt, and politicians at national level. To address the identified problem, a network of experts from human rights NGOs will be created, representing different areas of human rights. The experts will consistently collaborate with each other, systematically improve their skills in media representation and influential communication, and use the knowledge they have acquired to produce commentaries and increase the representation of their issues on manoteises.lt and major news portals, as well as the visibility and recognition of their topics among journalists, national level politicians and the moderate segment of the public that reads news portals. The content produced by the project will also support the further involvement of human rights citizens, i.e. existing manoteises.lt audiences, in the shaping and advocacy of human rights discourse. The project plans to involve at least 8 experts from HR NGOs in networking and communication skills building activities, publish at least 35 articles on different HR topics and raise awareness about human rights and the principle of equal treatment by introducing human rights and the principle of equal treatment to at least 160 000 target audiences.

Implementation period: from 1 of July 2022 to 31 of December 2023.