Micro capital grants were awarded to six civil society organisations for the implementation of activities of the project „Reinforcement of Local Democracy IV – LOD IV“ in Bijeljina, Domaljevac-Šamac and Šamac, which were directly selected as partners in this project since their communities were severely affected by floods in May 2014.

Selected projects, worth around 184,000 KM, will focus on women empowerment, volunteerism, support to families with children with disabilities, support to cultural and art society, as well as waste management and dairy production.

In Bijeljina, the Women’s association “Impuls” will establish a training centre for handicrafts, and associations “Nada” and “Otaharin” will be holding workshops for children with disabilities throughout 2015. In Domaljevac-Šamac, the Citizens’ association “DON” aims to promote volunteerism and informal education, and organize volunteering teams to assist the elderly. Project activities of the Environmental association “Sunce” from Bijeljina will aim to raise awareness on waste management. In Šamac, the Cultural and art association “Posavina” will organize cultural events and workshops, and the dairy farmers’ association will among others train members in project management.

In its fourth phase, the project LOD continues to strengthen the local democracy through the improvement of the cooperation between the civil society and the local authorities. The project was, among others, designed to emphasise the importance of the role of civil society in local communities and create long-lasting partnerships between local governments and civil society. It creates the conditions for competitive project-based approaches to funding, motivating civil society organisations to become better service providers and act in accordance with local development strategies.

The project is implemented by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina in co-operation with local governments, and funded by the European Union from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) in the amount of 2 million EUR. EU also funded previous three phases of the LOD project in the total amount of 5 million euros.