Eastern Europe

ForumCiv has been active in Belarus since 1998 with support to the work of Swedish member organizations as well as with its own programmes. Since 2012, ForumCiv operates an office for Eastern Europe, based in Lithuania. The office is responsible for projects in Belarus.

ForumCiv is supporting a variety of different civic groups and initiatives in Belarus, working in the fields of democracy, human rights, environmental protection and gender equality. Special focus has been to support organizations trying to influence policy changes in the country. Specifically, the approach of ForumCiv was to use international policies and conventions as an instrument to effect change. During the first five years, ForumCiv has supported more than 70 civic initiatives and organizations, working towards full compliance of Belarus in connection to the Aarhus convention, UN Convention for the Rights of People with Disability, Paris Agreement on climate change, Bologna Process, among other frameworks.

Currently, ForumCiv is managing a granting mechanism designed to support Belarusian and Swedish civil society organizations and initiatives. The mechanism is focused towards fostering experience transfer between Swedish and Belarusian organizations, as well as organizational development of Belarusian initiatives in terms of internal democracy, capacity development and other issues, based on the needs expressed by partner organizations. In this process, cross-sectoral and regional cooperation is playing an increasing role in the development of civil society in Belarus. Further information can be found under the sub-granting section.

Connecting organizations working for the Eastern Partnership

From our Stockholm office is ForumCiv coordinating a network that consists of Swedish civil society organizations working with strengthening human rights, sustainable development, anti-discrimination and democracy within the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region and Russia.