Countries of Eastern Partnership to get 9 million euro for culture development

The tender for participation in the contest within Eastern Partnership Culture Programme will be launched in late 2010. It will be financed under the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) to the amount of 9 million euro, the Annual Work Programme ENPI East published on the EuropeAid website said.

The overall objective of the Programme is to support the role of culture in the region's sustainable development and to promote regional cooperation between public institutions, civil society cultural organizations, and foundations and academic organizations in the Eastern Partnership region and the EU.

Azerbaijan, along with Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, has been participating in the EU program "Eastern Partnership" since 2009.

This tender will provide grants to civil society cultural organizations, as well as national and local institutions for regional cooperation projects encompassing the entire cultural sector, including cinema and the audiovisual sector, contemporary arts, tangible and intangible heritage, as well as support to heritage conservation projects.

The programme will target the following specific objectives:

Support policy reform at the government level and capacity building of cultural organizations and professionalization of the culture sector in the Eastern Neighborhood region;

Contribute to exchange of information, experience, and best practices within the cultural sector at a regional level and with the EU;

Support regional initiatives/partnerships which demonstrate the positive contributions of culture to economic development, social inclusion, conflict resolution, and intercultural dialogue.


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