Emergency Fund

Emergency Fund

In 2009, George Soros, the founder of the Open Society Foundations network, established a special Emergency Fund with the aim of helping people in “crisis situations” – in particular those caused by economic downturns, but also situations resulting from serious social problems. Open Society Fund Prague draws from this fund in order to help residents of the Czech Republic who have found themselves in an unfavorable social situation, to provide funding in areas most at risk of budget cuts, and to respond to the latest social problems (such as a growth in extremism). OSF focuses on funding projects that offer innovative solutions to problems and that strive to increase social solidarity. OSF’s support from the Emergency Fund is aimed in particular at the following areas:

• Equal access to education 

OSF supports organizations that help to improve access to education for children from socially excluded environments, from economically poor families, and from other disadvantaged groups.

• Access to social services and services for disadvantaged and discriminated groups 

Seniors, youth, immigrants, and ethnic minorities often face difficulties in accessing social services and are at risk of social exclusion. For these reasons, OSF supports institutions and organizations that work to prevent social exclusion among at-risk groups.

• Support for NGO employment/entrepreneurship projects 

OSF supports social entrepreneurship by non-profit organizations, as well as projects that help to improve access to the labor market for immigrants, handicapped individuals, seniors, and ethnic minorities, but also recent graduates and other groups at risk of increased levels of unemployment.

• Culture / arts / society 

Although culture is the engine of creativity, regional development, and social cohesion, it is often the first area to face budget cuts during economic difficulties. For this reason, OSF supports cultural projects and works to strengthen their economic potential.

• Humanitarian assistance / Infrastructure within the Czech Republic 

OSF also supports humanitarian assistance project in the Czech Republic.

Examples of supported projects 

The economic crisis in the Czech Republic has significantly worsened the situation on the labor market for traditional at-risk groups such as immigrants, handicapped individuals, seniors, and ethnic minorities, but also young people and women on maternity leave. For theses reasons, OSF has begun cooperating with Labor Offices in order to support non-profit organizations that have succeeded in making efficient use of charitable work in order to promote local employment. This program has helped more than 70 people registered with labor offices find employment. For these people, the opportunity to work represented not only significant economic help, but above all provided a moral boost during a difficult life situation.

OSF also provided support to the Human Rights League and STŘEP, two organizations working to reduce the impact of the economic crisis on socially at-risk families and their children. These organizations also lobby for related legislative changes.

The downturn of the Czech economy has also thrown foreign migrant workers into a difficult social situation. Because of the lack of knowledge of the local language, laws, and their rights – and also because of a lack of concern on the part of the government and public officials – many of them have found themselves dependent on employment agencies and have become victims of exploitation. For these reasons, OSF supports organizations engaged in helping migrants (such as La Strada, the Consortium of Migrant-Assisting Organisations in the Czech Republic, the Association for Integration and Migration, Klub Hanoi), so that they can help individuals and ask the government to fix migrants’ unjust working and living conditions.

Another serious problem that has appeared in Czech society in recent years is the strong increase in expressions of right-wing extremism. Because the media has played an important role in shaping the image of this problem, OSF has used resources from the Emergency Fund in order to fund the preparation of an analysis titled “The image of right-wing extremism in the Czech media.” This study looked at Czech media coverage of right-wing extremism from 2008 to 2010. The study’s findings were incorporated in the analytical section (“The issue of extremism in the Czech Republic in 2010”) of the Ministry of the Interior’s “Strategy for fighting extremism.” This document was presented to the government in April 2011.

Support from the Emergency Fund is still possible