2006 Press Releases

March 09, 2006
Press Release

The U.S.  Embassy Announces the Next Round
of the Small Grants Program

The Embassy of the United States announces the continuation of the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program and is pleased to request project proposals for the next round.  The objective of the Democracy Commission Small Grants program is to support the development of democracy and open society in Moldova.

For this round, the Embassy requests project proposals that will promote a climate of academic integrity at Moldovan schools and universities.  Academic integrity is a fundamental value of teaching, learning, and scholarship.  Creating an atmosphere of honesty in schools, ensuring that the best road to success is hard work, is an important element of creating a society that will not tolerate corruption.  Yet there is growing evidence that students are cheating and plagiarizing in record numbers.  Surveys done by Moldovan NGOs also show that corruption is a problem in schools and universities.  Such behavior has consequences beyond the classroom when students take this mentality into adulthood and into their workplaces.

Normally, only nongovernmental organizations and independent media are eligible to participate in the Democracy Commission program.  However, small projects submitted by initiative groups who are not registered as NGOs but who will work closely with their respective university or school administrations will also be considered for this round.

Proposed project activities should identify, affirm, and promote the values of academic integrity among students, faculty, teachers, and administrators and include the methodology and benchmarks that will be used to measure success.  Successful project proposals will be those that demonstrate creativity and innovation in addressing this topic and bring about concrete results.

Submission deadline: Friday, April 14, 2006, 16:00

For additional information and standard application form, go to Democracy Commission Small Grants webpage

Contact information:
Stelian Rusu
Grants Specialist
U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section
57/1, Banulescu-Bodoni Str., 2nd floor
Tel.: 22-99-50
Fax: 23-85-48
E-mail: RusuS@state.gov