PHILIPSBURG:--- The Resources 4 Community Resilience (R4CR) program held a series of “call for proposals information sessions “ which mark the launch of the third funding round. More than fifty different civil society organizations (CSOs) attended the three in-person sessions which were held at the R4CR headquarters (A.T. Illidge Road 60; the former W.I.B. office) on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening and the online (Zoom) session on Thursday evening.
The R4CR program includes a grant scheme as the funding mechanism for community and social rehabilitation initiatives on Sint Maarten and focuses on improving the capacity of local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in reconstruction and resilience activities post-hurricane Irma.
The R4CR program is financed by the Government of the Netherlands via the Sint Maarten Trust Fund. The latter is administered by the World Bank and implemented by the NRPB (National Recovery Program Bureau). The R4CR program is locally managed by the VNGI (International Cooperation Agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities) in close cooperation with Foresee Foundation and other local partners.
The official call for proposals opens on Friday, October 8, and closes on Tuesday, November 5
The grant scheme will be active for four years and will provide grants to local CSOs to execute projects focused on reconstruction, resilience, and improved service provision. Project activities by registered CSOs can cover subject categories such as neighborhood initiatives, sports, nature/environment, culture, poverty relief, daycare centers/after-school programs, youth employment, skills development, psycho-social support, or preventing gender-based violence.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, R4CR limited the in-person sessions to a maximum of 12 persons. Consequently, all sessions were fully booked and many CSOs opted to join the online Zoom session on Thursday evening instead.
“We saw a great need from CSOs for personal interaction and many had specific questions about their project proposals so we decided to organize a final in-person session on Tuesday, October 12th at our office from 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm” stated Rolf Hunink, the local R4CR Team Leader.
“This extra session is specifically geared towards CSOs who are submitting a grant request for the first time to R4CR and need some extra guidance” Hunink concluded.
Registration for the final in-person session can be done by sending an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For more information about the R4CR program or an overview of all current projects please visit www.r4cr.org or the Facebook page (R4CRSXM).