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Ready? Set... Grants!
In early 2023, we were thrilled to launch our new IGLYO Grants Programme 2023, as a continuation of our Mentoring Project 2021/2022. The aim? Increasing IGLYO’s impact by supporting our Members’ activities on the ground, as well as their work directly addressing the needs of local communities.
To this end, we are awarding three grants of €10,000 each to three of our Member Organisations based in EU Member States. But financial assistance is not all: We will also be providing technical support by working closely with the selected organisations in the implementation of their projects.
Upon a call for proposals, we are now excited to announce the three Member Organisations and their projects selected as part of our IGLYO Grants Programme 2023:
- Protecting LGBTI youth by Repealing the Discriminatory Provision of the Lithuanian Law on the Protection of Minors by LGL by the Lithuanian Gay League (Lithuania)
- Supporting Hungarian LGBT+ Youth and their Allies by Szimpozion Association (Hungary)
- Synchronised Voices: Cultivating Friendlier Communications by Zavod Transakcija (Slovenia)
Read on below to learn more about each of the selected projects — and subscribe to our newsletter or stay tuned on our channels to keep informed on their development!
Discover the three projects
Protecting LGBTI youth by Repealing the Discriminatory Provision of the Lithuanian Law on the Protection of Minors
— Lithuanian Gay League (LGL), Lithuania
Through this project, our Member the Lithuanian Gay League (LGL) aims to take advantage of their strong research and awareness-raising background to engage in national and international advocacy efforts to make the Lithuanian Government aware of the direct negative impacts of the Lithuanian “Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information” on the LGBTI students in Lithuania.
Active since 2009, this law has created a chilling effect when it comes to all efforts in LGBTI Inclusive Education. The most recent data of a survey conducted by the LGL indicates that the situation of LGBTI students in Lithuanian schools worsened since 2017. The existence of this law encourages the notion that discussing LGBTI issues at schools is a taboo. Therefore, there is no mandatory teacher training on LGBTI awareness, schools are not required to include LGBTI-specific information in their anti-bullying policies, and the national curriculum is not LGBTI-inclusive.
Yet, despite the criticism by human rights defenders and by International human rights bodies, the Law in question, and especially its article 4(2)(16), remains intact. This is why LGL believes that it is crucial to continue to build national and international pressure on the Lithuanian Government to remove the discriminatory clause of the so-called “anti-LGBTI propaganda Law”.
With the support of IGLYO, LGL will send letters to national and international institutions to make policy-makers aware of the negative effects of the article 4(2)(16). They will also build pressure by collecting petition signatures, as well as by organising a protest, an advocacy roundtable and a discussion involving policy-makers during an international conference in Vilnius.
Grant Amount & Budget: €10,000 | Duration: 15 May - 15 November 2023 | Target Groups: Policy-makers at national and international level, media, school stakeholders, general public.
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Supporting Hungarian LGBT+ Youth and their Allies
— Szimpozion Association (Hungary)
With this project, our Member Szimpozion Association aims to support LGBT+ youth in Hungary by contrasting the current anti-LGBT+ climate in the country. To this end, they will offer training and capacity-building opportunities to new volunteers, and spread information and awareness among the broader public.
Szimpozion will first organise a training programme for future facilitators of their awareness-raising and sensitisation workshops. With this, they aspire to reach out to a broad audience of young people over 18, especially at universities, youth associations/events, etc. The training will focus on how to support young LGBT+ participants, how to use non-formal education methods, facilitation and storytelling methods, as well as how to answer the most frequent questions about LGBT+ identities.
In a second step, Szimpozion will organise an internal training and team retreat for new volunteers and members of their organisation. In 2022 and 2023, a lot of new volunteers joined the association, stimulated by the will to counter the anti-LGBT+ propaganda measures of the Hungarian government. This internal training will thus introduce these new volunteers to the structure, opportunities and projects of the organisation, create a strategic vision for its main projects, build a stronger internal professional community, and improve internal organisation processes.
In a third step, Szimpozion will organise public workshops for young LGBT+ people in order to build a community for them, create a safe space and platform for them to meet and interact, find and support resilience in the hostile anti-LGBT climate of Hungary.
Finally, Szimpozion will conclude the project by running an online video campaign to support and promote their activities.
Grant Amount & Budget: €10,000 | Duration: 15 June - 15 November 2023 | Target Groups: Young LGBT+ volunteers and facilitators, young LGBT+ people, general public
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Synchronised Voices: Cultivating Friendlier Communications
— Zavod Transakcija (Slovenia)
Our Member Zavod Transakcija’s project focuses on creating a new communication strategy for the organisation. The rebranding project is part of a broader stabilisation process that they are currently undertaking, after identifying the need for a strategic approach, not only on the basis of the immediate needs of the organisation (such as the administrative changes), but also by looking at the current situation as an opportunity to evolve.
After almost a decade of existence as a transfeminist organisation, TransAkcija believes that the growth and strengthening of the community provides them with the potential to broaden their goals and areas of work, elevate their activities, and professionalise the organisation to improve their relevance within the local landscape of LGBT+ NGOs.
TransAkcija also believes that rebranding, by its very nature, is a key element in the stabilisation of their organisation, as the completed redesign of their identity and communication approaches will enable them not only to establish themselves as a fresh entity with fresh ambitions, but also to demonstrate the broader context of the changes they are currently pursuing regarding their communication activities.
TransAkcija is approaching their rebranding/new communication strategy process as a community project. They indeed want the new direction to reflect their identity, team and community in the broadest yet most personal sense. By involving their broader team of staff, volunteers and expert collaborators from the trans community in the process, they aspire to also internally strengthen and empower their organisation.
Grant Amount & Budget: €10,000 | Duration: 15 May - 15 November 2023 | Target Groups: Staff, volunteers, and expert collaborators from the trans community
What’s next?
The three Member Organisations will now start to implement their project, with the support of IGLYO staff members bearing expertise in the topics covered by each project. In the coming months, we will be coordinating our efforts with the three Members to communicate about the development of their projects.
If you are interested in learning more about how each project goes, feel free to subscribe to our newsletter, or to simply stay tuned on our channels!
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The IGLYO Grants Programme is funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) 2021-2027 programme of the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.