Eurasia Partnership Foundation’s (EPF) mission is to empower people to effect change for social justice and economic prosperity through hands-on programs, helping them to improve their communities and their own lives. Through its foundations, registered locally in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, EPF raises and delivers seed capital to emerging civil society organizations.
EPF is the legacy institution of Eurasia Foundation, a privately managed non-profit organization established in 1992 to deliver seed capital to emerging civil society organizations in the former Soviet countries. From the time of its establishment until the registration of EPF as local foundations in late 2007, EF invested nearly $70 million in the South Caucasus through more than 1,700 grants and programs with support from the United States Agency for International Development and other public and private donors. EPF is supported by the Eurasia Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Sida, and other public and private donors.
EPF is both a grant maker and a program implementer and is guided by five program mandates and approaches:
> Creating Opportunities for Civic and Economic Participation
> Building Capacity for Evidence-Based Research to Improve Policy-Making
> Fostering a Culture of Corporate and Community Philanthropy
> Cross-Border Cooperation
> Open Door Grant Making
Each EPF office sets its program priorities annually based on consultations with local and international stakeholders and the Board. EPF is a member of the EF Network: five local foundations supporting civil society and based in Russia, Central Asia, the South Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Washington, DC.
Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC)
Since July 2013, EPF’s longest running program, Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), joined the EPF network as separate legal entities in Armenia and in Georgia. In Azerbaijan, CRRC is still part of EPF. CRRCs maintain a commitment to regional cooperation and continue to serve the common goal of promoting social science research and policy analysis in the South Caucasus.
Programs & Activities
Engage and Monitor for Change
EPF’s Engage and Monitor for Change program fosters the active and informed participation of Georgian community groups, CSOs and media outlets in the political and economic decision-making in their regions by building capacity among civic groups, encouraging monitoring and evaluation of policy reforms and facilitating public discussions, debates and network building.
European Integration
The program is aiming at contributing to the process of Georgia’s integration into the European Union (EU) and wider participation of civil society in the process of alignment with European institutions through monitoring of the integration process, advocacy for reforms, and public awareness campaign.
Youth Integration
The Youth Bank program helpს young people aged 16 and 21 to develop skills and resources to enhance their social and community functioning and increase opportunities for volunteerism and civic activism.
Social Enterprise
The Program promotes the development of social enterprises, as viable business model that operate primarily with social objectives as the ‘bottom line’ and which reinvests profits back into the social objectives of the business.
Open Door Grant Making
Open Door Grantmaking Program provides CSOs with one of the very few opportunities to be proactive in identifying and addressing local needs, developing fresh solutions and ideas to existing challenges.
Partnership for Budget Transparency
The project aims to contribute to improved budget transparency and accountability.
South Caucasus to Europe Dialogue Program
The program promotes international dialogue about the pressing needs of the South Caucasus countries and provides a forum for the international community to discuss cooperative solutions between the South Caucasus and Europe, in the wider European context, where civil society can bring more transparency and accountability to the critical processes required for successful development.
