Non Governmental Organisations will for the first time be eligible to get financial and technical support to implement their initiatives on judicial reform by submitting successful applications to the Justice Initiatives Facilitation Fund. There has been great interest from Vietnamese NGOs with no less than 73 applications.
The Justice Initiatives Facilitation Fund (JIFF), the third component of the Justice Partnership Programme (JPP) co-funded by the European Union, Sweden and Denmark to support justice sector reform in Vietnam, has successfully undertaken its first Call for Proposals. JIFF called for proposals that met its four key results (i) popularising the rights and opportunities provided by the law and justice system; (ii) improving access to independent legal aid; (iii) enhancing judicial reform through applied-research; (iv) enhancing dialogue and information sharing on matters relevant to judicial reform.
As a component of the JIFF Communication and Engagement Strategy, the Call for Proposals was advertised and published widely throughout Vietnam. The publication of the Call for Proposals was augmented by pilot outreach workshops hosted in the middle and the south of Vietnam. The workshops were designed to provide detailed information about JIFF and training on proposal writing and project budgeting topics.
An information pack and presentations covering JIFF’s objectives, work plan, and information regarding the application process and requirements for proposal submission was provided. Sessions were designed to provide opportunities for networking and sharing lessons among the non-governmental actors within the legal sector. As a result of the workshops and other communication activities, JIFF had an opportunity to meet with more than one-hundred eligible non-governmental organizations, some located in remote areas of Vietnam.
Interested organizations had two months to complete an application with a closing date of November 5, 2010. The response to the Call for Proposals was much higher than anticipated and JIFF has received seventy-three applications from all regions of Vietnam focusing on all of the aforementioned key results. An independent Grant Committee will select successful applicants on a competitive basis using a thorough review and scoring process.
The Grant Committee members are Vietnamese experts in legal dissemination, legal aid, research, communication and law and development. Final decisions by the Grant Committee will be made in the month of December 2010. Approved projects are expected to commence in January 2011.
