National Grant Scheme |02 February 2024
Craig Joseph of UN Youth Seychelles and Mrs Moses signing the documents (Photo: Joena Meme)
R3.3 million shared among eight NGOs
Eight non-governmental organisations in the country have benefitted from the national grant scheme programme for this year.
The contract signing for the disbursement of the funds was held yesterday morning between the chairperson of the National Grant Committee, Eline Moses and representatives of the different non-profitable organisations.
This was during a ceremony held at the National Museum in Victoria. Also present were other members of the committee.
The total grant value for the eight projects made under the first call for proposals for the 2024 National Grants Funding Scheme (NGFS) amounts to R3.3 million.
Total appropriated budget for the year 2024 under the Social Programme of Government is R9 million.
The recipients are:
Seychelles Bible Society (R161,195.50) for its ‘Life skill training for transformation leadership’ project aimed at empowering adolescents, school leaders with knowledge, values and skills to develop their leadership potential and positively influence other young people;
UN Youth Seychelles (R237,400) for its ‘Silver lining’ project aimed at empowering the youth by building their resilience towards the ‘8 Dimensions of Life’ through the Youth Coaching Programme and provision of group therapy;
Seychelles Alzheimer’s Foundation (R277,292) for its ‘Training of professional staff, health care assistants, specialised nurses, families and home care givers of Alzheimer patients and awareness to the community’ project. This is aimed at improving the quality of care administered to persons living with Alzheimer’s through community awareness, capacity building and provision of psycho-social care;
Everlasting Love Ministries (R449,700) for its ‘Community intervention, prevention and empowerment programme’ aimed at curbing the effect of social-related issues in central zone 1 (Roche Caïman, Les Mamelles and Plaisance) through early intervention, educational awareness school-based intervention and provision of psycho-support services;
HIV Aids Support Organisation (Haso) (R516,115) for the continuation of a nation-wide project to create a conducive environment for key population and people living with HIV/Aids to access sexual and reproductive health services through community outreach, capacity building and provision of psycho-social care.
Campaign for Awareness Resilience and Education (Care) (R543,905.50) for its ‘Resilience building against substance use among school children’ project aimed at empowering children and youth with skills, knowledge and competence to stay resilient, make positive life choices and engage in self-protective behaviours;
Nurses Association of the Republic of Seychelles (Nars) (R511,115) for its project to strengthen the resilience of the nursing workforce leadership development training, stress management skills and school-based interventions;
Survival Ark Foundation ( Saf) (R591,902), for the continuation of the foundation’s ‘Life skills development’ project aimed at reducing the number of children engaging in anti-social activities after school and during the holidays through the provision of a safe, enabling environment for them to learn, build strong positive relationships and make informed choices.
In an interview with the media, Mrs Moses stated that the National Grant Committee received a total of 22 proposals out of which 16 passed the administrative compliance check.
The second batch of recipients from the remaining 16 will be awarded their funding in the coming weeks and thereafter, depending on funds available, a second call for applicants will be made.
“Given that we conducted working sessions with the NGOs with regard to application for the grant, there has been a major improvement in the quality of projects proposed for this year and we are very satisfied,” said Mrs Moses.
“We will be launching a second call for proposals in March and those that did not succeed in the first call and have adjusted their projects can also submit their applications,” explained Mrs Moses.
Secretary of the Bible Society, Celine Payet Valmont, said their project will equip head boys and head girls in state secondary schools across the country with leadership and life skills, to assist other students.
“Given that most students will tend to turn to their head girls and head boys with their problems instead of going to the school administration, our NGO decided to step in to train them on how to be good and effective leaders, so that in return they can have an impact on other youths seeking their assistance,” explained Mrs Payet Valmont.
The grant award is for a minimum duration of six months and maximum of 12 months. It becomes effective upon signing by the authorised official documents and will remain valid until December 31, 2024, unless terminated earlier.
This means that all projects must be completed by December 31, 2024. Disbursement of funds for projects below R200,000 is done in two instalments while for those above R200,000, is payable quarterly.
Since its inception in 2019, a total of 105 projects worth R32,514,904.90 have been funded under the national grant scheme.
To note in 2019, R6.6 million were granted for 22 projects; in 2020, R5.8 million were granted for 20 projects; in 2021 R3.2 million were granted for 16 projects; in 2022 R5.2 million were granted for 22 projects and in 2023 R3.7 million were granted for 11 projects.
The funds made available by government is to provide support to eligible registered associations/organisations to help in achieving prioritised projects at community level geared towards the country’s National Development Strategies linked to the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Before the signing of the grant, the recipients took part in an awareness session where they were given an overview of the funding agreement, project monitoring and accountability of grants by committee members – Mrs Moses, Roseline Hoareau and Marlene Valentin, respectively.
Haso representative was not present for the ceremony but received the document later.
Patrick Joubert
