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Watchdog Initiatives Program

Polski | English

contact: Grzegorz Wiaderek straznicy@batory.org.pl
phone: (48 22) 536 02 40

Grants 2007

Grants 2006

Grants 2005

Grants 2004

Program co-financed in 2007-2009 from funds of Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.

The aim of the program carried out by the Foundation since 2004 is to promote mechanisms of public scrutiny over public institutions and institutions of public trust to help increase the standards and transparency of their operations. In established democracies, public scrutiny of the various forms of public life is ensured, by watchdog organizations. In Poland, the range and scale of watchdog activities are still insufficient and the citizens do not use mechanisms of public oversight of the authorities and enforcement of the principles of good governance as often as they could.

With a grant competition for watchdog initiatives we want to help organizations that engage in watchdog activities and encourage new ones to undertake such initiatives. Two first editions of the competition carried out in years 2004-2005 had a broad formula which allowed for funding watchdog projects related to different issues and various spheres of public life. In the third edition, in 2006, we concentrated on supporting all kinds of budget watch initiatives that involved monitoring and public scrutiny of the ways public funds are programmed, spent and accounted. Altogether we made 63 grants for over 500 000 EUR.

In 2007-2009, in three new editions of grant competition we want to concentrate on supporting projects that concern civic scrutiny over selected aspects of functioning of public institutions, with particular emphasis on:

• access to public information
• use of public funds
• transparency and ethics of public officers
• abuse of power with respect to citizens / procedures of public institutions in contacts with citizens.

By watchdog activities in this program we mean:

• monitoring: obtaining information regarding the functioning of local or central public institutions, e.g. through research, observations, interviews and surveys, document review, expert analysis, civic provocations
• alerting: disclosing information regarding improper functioning of local or central public institutions that fail to follow rules of good governance, e.g. through publishing and disseminating reports, press articles and press conferences, meetings with persons potentially interested in the issue
• advocating: activities to root out improper practices, effect change in institutional policy or amend the law, e.g. through legal activities including litigation, legislative initiatives, proposed changes of government directives, complaints and social campaigns, sending petitions, publishing blacklists, awarding dishonorable titles to public persons.

Apart from that we support Local Civic Groups Leaders Association which develops specialist portal documenting Polish and foreign watchdog initiatives and organizes seminars for watchdog organizations.

Grants are made in a two-stage competition:

• January 15 – letters of intent
• January 29 – information meeting for organizations invited to submit full proposal
• February 29 – submission of full proposals
• April 1 – decision on grants

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