The World Bank Office in Tirana announced the winners of the Small Grants Programme for 2005. The scope for the grants this year was: making development more inclusive and equitable by empowering citizens to have greater ownership of development processes.

The External Advisory Board comprising representatives of Donors, international organizations focused on Civil Society, local government and the Internal Grants Selection Committee, composed of World Bank Tirana Office staff carefully reviewed 62 project proposals and selected eight for funding. The total amount of the SmGP for this year was $34.000 and the amount for each project varied from USD 3,500 to USD 5.700. Geographical distribution of the projects covers areas such as Shkodra, Durres, Tirana, Baldushk, Bathore, Pogradec, Erseka, Devoll, and Gjirokastra.

The following NGOs and their respective projects met the criteria for receiving grants under the SmGP’05:

1. Promote and organize public debates and hearing sessions on „Shkodra Lake: protected landscape or national park“, Albanian Association for Environmental Education, Shkoder
2. Setting up the national action plan on ageing in line with the International Plan of Action on Ageing”, Albanian Society for all ages, Tirana
3. Involving civic groups in the process of preparation and monitoring budget at local level in Pogradec, Erseke, Leskovik and Devoll, Centre for Research and Development
4. Supporting social integration of disabled people, Hope and Love Association, Tirana
5. Promoting National Strategy of Education and EFA in Gjirokaster, Tepelene and Permet, Education for an Open Society, Gjirokaster
6. Improving communication between local government and citizens through the establishment of five citizen commissions to the Durresi municipality, International Social Services-Albania
7. Increasing public awareness on the youth needs in Bathore, Association for Integration and Development, Tirana
8. Promoting sustainable civic engagement to develop local programs in Baldushk commune, Center for promotion of public reforms and business, Tirana

The World Bank Office in Tirana will be interacting with the Grant recipients during the projects implementation to ensure that the objectives and the goals of the agreed programs are met. Based on the success of the SmGP projects the World Bank looks forward to strengthening its cooperation with NGOs in Albania on socio-economic development issues.

The program provides grants to civil society organizations to promote dialogue and disseminate information about development. The Program was created in 1983 and is funded by the Development Grant Facility of the World Bank. The Small Grants program in Albania is managed by the World Bank Country Office.