Accountability Initiative
Human Rights and Governance Grants Program
Open Society Institute

The Human Rights and Governance Grants Program (HRGGP) of the Open Society Institute seeks proposals from national and international organizations to advance governmental accountability in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Mongolia. We will support efforts to promote public participation in and oversight of governmental activity, at both the national and local levels, including in the delivery of services. HRGGP will provide funding in the following three areas to national and international NGOs to monitor public administration and to curb corrupt behavior by state authorities. When litigation would be an appropriate advocacy tool, we will give priority to projects that provide the public with recourse to hold governmental authorities accountable through legal remedies.

We will accept project proposals that address the following issues:

1. Access to information – In order to hold the government accountable effectively, the public must be able to access information held by public bodies. Though obviously an important first step, the adoption of FOI laws alone will not create adequate access to information. Rather, there is a need to ensure that these laws meet international standards and that the law is implemented. As such, we will consider projects that assess the quality of freedom of information laws and ensure implementation. In addition to projects that test and monitor implementation, we will also welcome litigation programs that will challenge narrow interpretations of and failures to implement the law. In this regard, we are interested in receiving projects that explore the nexus between access to information and provisions on state secrets and data protection.
2. Fiscal transparency and abuse of state resources – Understanding how public monies are allocated and spent is an important element in any public debate regarding governmental policies and programs. We will provide support to NGOs to monitor the budget and expenditure process at the national and local government levels. Priority will be given to projects that focus on making state budgets and expenditure reports public and challenge abuse of public resources by state authorities and political parties. Efforts in this area should inform public debates regarding the use of public resources and fiscal decisions as well as advocate for appropriate changes to domestic law in line with international standards.
3. Transparency in governmental decision-making – Accountable decision-making requires a transparent and predictable process, which allows for public intervention and debate. In order to promote a culture of transparency, we will support projects that make governmental debate and decisions public, especially efforts to promote the adoption and implementation of whistle-blowing protections. We will also support efforts to eliminate criminal defamation and libel laws and to limit the use of civil libel suits as a means of preventing meaningful public scrutiny.

Proposals should be submitted by e-mail to the Human Rights and Governance Grants Program at the contact information below. There are no deadlines for the submission of proposals, but we recommend that interested organizations contact the program for more information prior to submitting a full proposal.

Human Rights and Governance Grants Program
Open Society Institute
Oktober 6. u. 12. Budapest 1051, Hungary
Telephone: (36-1) 327-3027;
Fax: (36-1) 235-6167;
E-mail: hrggp@osi.hu