Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Mauritania, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Monaco, in addition to all 28 EU Member States, making a total of 42 countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)

Timeframe: 2015-2017 (ALF “4th Phase”)

Budget: EU core contribution: €7 million

Background:

The Anna Lindh Foundation is an international institution co-governed by the 42 Foreign Ministries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) - with the EU and Arab League as observers - and works for regional dialogue from its headquarters in Alexandria (Egypt). The ALF was created in 2005 as the first common institution of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and was a founding body in 2008 of the Union for the Mediterranean, in charge of the Union’s human and social dimension.During its first ten years, the ALF involved many thousands of citizens in common projects, with youth and women as its main beneficiaries. It also established a regional network of more than 4,000 civil society organisations, and pioneered the flag-ship programmes “Anna Lindh Mediterranean Forum” and “Anna Lindh Report on Intercultural Trends”. Following the historic events of 2011, the ALF launched “Young Arab Voices” and “Dawrak”, focused on skills for participation.  Objectives:The main objectives of the ALF centre on:

• promoting intercultural awareness, knowledge and competences amongst the Euro-Mediterranean societies;
• tackling intolerance and stereotypes through the promotion of debates, public outreach and local initiatives;
• building the capacity of civil society organisations to partner in exchanges and trans-Mediterranean collaborations;
• working with decision-makers and media to reinforce cultural relations at the heart of the Mediterranean dialogue agenda.

 Areas of action:Building on its first ten years, the support given to ALF helps consolidating and expanding the following programmes:

• “Educators for Intercultural Citizenship”: regional training schemes for teachers and youth workers, and national education initiatives.
• “Social Entrepreneurship for Dialogue”: mentorship scheme for project leaders and grants in the new field of intercultural entrepreneurship.
• “Anna Lindh Report on Intercultural Trends”: comparative analyses of the evolution of perceptions, values and behaviours in the region.
•  “Arts and Media for Dialogue”: grants for civil society leaders working on ‘arts for social change’ and ‘media and perceptions’.
• “Intercultural dialogue on the field”: funding for common actions across the Networks focused on tackling cross-cultural challenges.
•  “Network coordination and empowerment”: investment in good governance, civil society networking and capacity-building.
• “Euro-Med Exchange”: opportunities for professional experience and civil society placements within partner Euro-Med countries. 
• “Anna Lindh Mediterranean Forum”: the region’s major civil society gathering for intercultural dialogue and advocacy.  

Actions in brief

• Conducts comparative analyses of the evolution of perceptions, values and behaviours in the region
• Produces a report on Intercultural Dialogue and disseminates among ALF members
• Organises seminars and education training in intercultural dialogue; organises the Euromed Journalist Award, and a translation programme: acts as observatory of translation in the region
• Launches a Call for project grants – long term, short term and thematic
• Organises the Anna Lindh Forum
• Coordinates 43 networks and gathers together over 3,000 member organisations
• Organises common actions for its networks, provides training and tools to improve their quality and impact, promotes network participation in Foundation activities, and offers services such as fundraising support, partnership matching, contact meetings, etc. to make national networks more effective

www.annalindhfoundation.org