On 27 October 2023, 23 Lao Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) signed commitments to strengthen their organisational capacity and dialogue skills through a “learning-by-doing” approach as part of Team Europe’s Citizen Engagement for Good Governance Accountability and Rule of Law Programme (CEGGA).

The CEGGA Small Grants Mechanism equips CSOs with the means to effectively implement grant-funded projects and to directly apply newly acquired skills in real-world environments, feeding the insights into policy dialogue. The results? Hands-on, tangible contributions to sustainable development in Lao PDR.

The CEGGA Small Grants Signing Ceremony was a joyful occasion, bringing the grantees together with funding partners, government representatives and cooperation partners. The signing commenced between grantees and CEGGA cooperation partners Cord and Helvetas, and was witnessed by Team Europe partners, the Ministry of Home Affairs and GIZ. Through CEGGA support, CSOs will receive funding and organisational capacity development by cooperation partner Cord, and funding and dialogue skills by cooperation partner Helvetas.

The ceremony marked the start of the third cycle of CEGGA Small Grants. Under the first two cycles, 37 CSOs already measurably improved their organisational capacity and successfully implemented projects in the five thematic areas of education, health and nutrition, natural resources and environment, agriculture and rural development, and legal awareness raising and supporting victims of all forms of violence and human trafficking. Within the previous phase of CEGGA, small grants projects reached 200 villages across 15 provinces and provided tangible benefits to more than 9,000 beneficiaries, comprising of more than 5,000 women and 2,000 ethnic people.

CEGGA is funded by Switzerland, Germany and the European Union, and is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in cooperation with the Ministries of Home Affairs and Justice, the National Assembly, and the Lao CSO Coordination Committee.