Philipsburg- The Resources 4 Community Resilience (R4CR) program will start information sessions for “Quick Win” round 2 call for proposals on Wednesday February 10 at the R4CR headquarters on the A.T. Illidge Road 60(former W.I.B. office)

The R4CR program includes a grant scheme as funding mechanism for community and social rehabilitation initiatives on Sint Maarten and focuses on improving the capacity of local Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s) 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 R4CRprogram 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 grant scheme will be active for four years and will provide grants to local CSO’s (formerly known as NGO’s) to execute projects focused on reconstruction, resilience and improved service provision. Project activities by registered CSO’s can cover subject categories such as neighborhood initiatives, sports, nature/environment, culture, poverty relief, day care centers/after school programs, youth employment, skills development, psycho-social support or preventing gender-based violence. 

“Quick Win round 1 started in September 2020. We selected 12 out of the 33 projects submitted and gave them each a maximum of $50,000 to execute their project within 6 months. Those projects are now being implemented so the time is ripe to start up “Quick Win” round 2” stated Rolf Hunink, R4CR Team Leader.

Projects currently in the implementation phase include (among others) the new satellite location of the library located at Hillside Christian School in Cay Hill, the spay/neuter campaign by Animal Defenders, the Aids testing & medication support by the Sint Maarten Aids Foundation, the monkey management program by the Nature Foundation and the lunch program for daycare centers by SECDA

The first four call for proposals information sessions will be organized on Wednesday February 10 and Thursday February 11 from 18:00 to 19:15and from 19:30 to 20:45 on both days.

The second series of four information sessions will be held on Wednesday February 17 and Thursday February 18 from 18:00- 19:15 and from 19:30to 20:45 on both days.

The information sessions have been staggered to give interested persons the choice between an early session (starting at 18:00) or later session (starting at 19:30) but also because each session is limited to ten(10) attendees due to COVID-19 restrictions.

An extra information session has been planned via Zoom on Saturday February 27 (from 11:00am to 10:45 am) for those who cannot attend in person.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions and space limitations interested persons or organizations are requested to register for the information sessions by sending an email to info@r4cr.org 

For more information about the R4CR program or an overview of all current projects please visit www.r4cr.org or the Facebook page (R4CRSXM).

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