There are several financing instruments available in Serbia. Financial instruments related to nature conservation or protected area management projects can come from domestic government budgets, international assistance, multilateral funds, bilateral donors, and private funds. The mechanisms and requirements to apply to these funds can be varied, and the value of the maximum budget per project.
Some of the most accessible financial instruments are described below.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection performs the tasks of state administration, prescribed by Article 6 of the Law on Ministries, such as basics of environmental protection, a system of protection and improvement of the environment, national parks, nature protection, air protection, ozone layer protection, climate change, transboundary air and water pollution, and more. Every year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announces competitions and tenders for grants intended for civil societies to implement the projects for nature protection and climate change.
Regionalna razvojna agencija Braničevo – Podunavlje
The Regional Development Agency “Braničevo-Podunavlje” (RDA BP) was established in 2009 as a non-profit limited liability company, with the support of the Programme of Support to Municipalities of North-Eastern Serbia, funded by the European Union. The Regional Development Agency “Braničevo-Podunavlje” is a central place for promoting sustainable and balanced socio-economic development of urban and rural areas in the development region of Braničevo-Podunavlje.
Regionalna agencija za razvoj Istočne Srbije (RARIS)
RARIS is a Regional Development Agency Eastern Serbia established in 2007 as a bottom-up initiative by the Eastern Serbia stakeholders. The objective of RARIS is to support development initiatives based on institutional networking and partnerships aiming at the sustainable development of Eastern Serbia.
Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)
Sida is Sweden’s government agency for development cooperation. Through cooperation with civil society, multilateral organisations, public agencies and the private sector, we work for sustainable development and help create conditions for people living in poverty and oppression to improve their living conditions.
UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. It is operational in in some 170 countries and territories, working with them on their solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of the UNDP and their wide range of partners.
Programme’s objectives are outlined in the Country Programme Document (CPD 2016-2020), rooted in the overarching goals of the United Nations Development Partnership Framework, which centres the work of the entire UN Country Team in Serbia on supporting Serbia to achieve goals in the areas of Governance and Rule of Law, Social and Human Resources Development, Economic Development, Growth, and Employment, Environment, Climate Change and Resilient Communities and Culture and Development.
There is also the possibility of consulting the Guide through potential domestic and foreign funding sources in Serbia. It was created 10 years ago, as a joint project of the then Team of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia for Poverty Reduction (now the Team for social inclusion and poverty reduction) and Civic Initiatives. The Guide is designed with the idea of collecting in one place all the data on available competitions and funds of international and domestic donors, as well as state institutions. In the meantime, the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia joined the team, as well as the Office for European Integration of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Sector for Planning, Programming, Monitoring and Reporting on the EU Funds and Development Assistance. The Guide is intended for civil society organisations, local governments, institutions, small and medium enterprises, individuals and other stakeholders, who have so far made extensive use of previous editions of the Guide.
There is also a web portal where visitors have the opportunity to systematically, by category, view the database of funds/competitions published for Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia. The portal EU Fondovi Konkursi was created from the need of public institutions, small and medium enterprises, organizations dealing with culture, sports, youth, tourism, agriculture, environmental protection, people with disabilities, minorities, education, media, IT sector and the like, to be informed on possible sources of funding and apply for funding within their projects.