53 million zlotys to be spent on the cooperation with Poland and the Polish people abroad in 2015

It is already known which projects will receive the financial help as part of the “Cooperation with Poland and the Polish people abroad in 2015” competition. “The competition, beneficiary of which are our fellow countrymen and their descendants living abroad, is an integral part of the Polish politics of the country” – said the vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Konrad Pawlik during the results announcement.

As the vice-minister pointed out, “the competition aims at executing, together with the non-governmental sector and the Polish organizations, the priority goals to unify Poland and the Polish people all over the world around Poland”. During this year’s edition of the competition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is going to help financially 144 projects for 31,7 million zlotys. In 2015, the department is also going to finance the continuation of the 11 two years’ module projects, selected during the last year’s competition, for 21,3 million zlotys.

This year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given also 9,5 million zlotys to the Ministry of National Education for the improvement of the methodology of teachers and the organization of camps and colonies with an educational focus. This year’s grants will be spent, for instance, on the support of the Polish education in Germany, the United States, and in countries of labour migration.

The financial support will be granted to the Polish media in Latvia, Russia, countries of Transcaucasia and Central Asia, Western Europe and the United States. The department will help financially the renovations of schools and Polish Houses, the restoration works of the institutions of the Polish cultural heritage abroad, mainly in the East. The grants were also spent on the projects with the sports and cultural focuses: film and theatre festivals in the North America, the Polish cyclical events organized in Poland and the research and archivist’s works all over the world. Scholarships will be awarded from the competition’s funds; the Polish language courses and the courses about the knowledge of Poland, and even the departments of Polish will be financed from the same funds as well.

The vice-minister, Konrad Pawlik, said that the experience from previous years helped to improve the ways of financing, for instance the Polish media. “The range of financing the Polish media in the East has increased, both as part of module projects and this year’s competition – more than 80% of funds is given to the West” – pointed out the vice-chairman of the Polish diplomacy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is going to spend over 21 million zlotys on module projects. Among others, the projects support the development of the Polish education in Ukraine, Lithuania, Great Britain and Ireland. The aim of the module projects is to ensure the stable financial support in the areas which are strategically important for Poland.

The chairperson of the Competition Commission and the director, Joanna Kozińska-Frybes, underlined the importance of introducing the module projects. “They allow for the permanent and costly financing for 2 years. They also lead to the situation when the activity of one partner covers the whole country” – assessed the director Kozińska-Frybes.

The vice-minister, Konrad Pawlik, during the Thursday meeting also pointed out the involvement of the Polish institutions, which support the activity of Poland and the Polish people abroad. The foreign institutions of the Republic of Poland execute over 2000 projects annually. In 2014, they executed 2300 projects for almost 21 million zlotys, including the purchase of services and materials in cooperation with and for the Polish organizations and Polish schools operating abroad” – added the vice-chairman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The detailed ranking list of offers with the scores achieved by them is available on the website: http://www.msz.gov.pl/resource/b27a7ba6-4e5a-4cd8-935a-ec9830488f68:JCR

Based on: msz.gov.pl