A conference opening the Non-Governmental Organisations Fund (NGO Fund) within the Norwegian Financial Mechanism and European Economic Area Financial Mechanism in Poland took place on 24th April 2007 in Warsaw. It was organised by “Co-operation Fund” Foundation and ECORYS Polska Ltd. – the Operators responsible for implementation of the NGO Fund.

The conference was a chance to announce open calls for proposals for two out of three NGO Fund Lots

• Lot I – Democracy and civil society – deadline for application submission is on 8^th June 2007 and
• Lot III – Equal opportunities and social integration – deadline of application submission is on 29^th July 2007.

300 representatives of Polish non-governmental organisations gathered in Fabryka Trzciny. A large part of them were thirty representatives of Norwegian NGOs.

The first part of the conference was addressed to all participants. It focused on presenting aims and conditions connected with creation of the NGO Fund. The conference was opened by Małgorzata Rejnik - The Task Force for Training and Human Resources Director within the “Co-operation Fund” Foundation. Introduction speeches were made by the Norwegian Ambassador in Poland His Excellency Kunt Hauge and Janusz Mikuła, the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry for Regional Development. During the conference Jakub Wygnański from the Association for the Non-Governmental Initiatives Forum presented the environment of Polish non-governmental organisations. Norwegian non-governmental organisations have been presented by Anne Lise Ryel from the Norwegian Non-Governmental Organisations Association and Vanja Bentsen Kleven from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. The speakers underlined the role of non-governmental organisations in development of a strong and diverse civil society and the role of socially engaged citizens.

The second part of the conference was divided into two separate presentations of the NGO Fund Operators about the rules of granting financial means within the NGO Fund.

The conference was a chance to make contacts between representatives of Polish and Norwegian non-governmental organisations. During the meeting the Norwegian party (embassy representatives and non-governmental organisations’ representatives) expressed a great intrest in co-operating with Polish non-governmental organisations.

Media coverage of the conference was made by Channel 3 of Polish Public Television.