European Union and Sweden support the efforts of civil society organizations to promote social entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova

On 28 June 2023, the East European Foundation, in partnership with the Contact Center and Keystone Moldova, organized an event for signing Grant contracts as part of the competition “supporting non-governmental organizations in their efforts to promote the concept of social entrepreneurship”. The grant programme, with a maximum implementation duration of 18 months, is implemented with the support of European Union and Sweden. It aims to support non-governmental organizations in their efforts to promote the concept of social entrepreneurship.

Five non-governmental organizations were selected to receive grants to promote the concept of social entrepreneurship at national and local level, in the South, Center and North regions of Moldova. These organisations will run awareness campaigns at a regional level, including addressing school pupils, and promote funding opportunities for social enterprises.

The organizations each received a grant worth 24,000 euros, the total amount of funding being 120,000 euros.

„European Union actively supports the creation and development of social enterprises, which generate jobs, especially for groups of people who find it difficult to get a job for various reasons. In order to contribute to the creation of as many social enterprises as possible, it is necessary to ensure effective communication about opportunities and benefits offered by this sector, both for social entrepreneurs and for the community. Therefore, I am convinced that the awareness campaigns carried out by the 5 NGOs will have a positive impact and raise awareness of the importance of social entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova.”, said Aurica Butnari, Program Manager at the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova.

Non-governmental organizations, beneficiaries of grants under the program are: AO „Heart of The North”, AO „Cahul 2030”, „ AO EcoVisio”, „ AO Association for the promotion of entrepreneurship (APA)”, „LEX XXI Association”.

Keystone organizations and the Contact Center, Partners of the East European Foundation under this program, play a crucial role in promoting and supporting social enterprises, providing mentoring, consulting, and access to resources and funding. Through their actions, they created networking platforms and facilitated collaborations between social entrepreneurs and the business environment, promoting the exchange of ideas and social innovation.

This action is carried out with the financial support of the European Union and Sweden. The content is the sole responsibility of the project ” we harness the potential of civil society to promote and develop social entrepreneurship in Moldova”, financed by the European Union and co-financed by Sweden, carried out by the East European Foundation in partnership with the CONTACT Center and Keystone Moldova.