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• Peace III

The Peace III Programme lasting from 2007 - 2013 is now fully operational. This is an update on the current state of play.

In total €332.89 million will be available from 2007 - 2013 to assist Northern Ireland and the Border Region to focus on the two strategic priorities of reconciling communities and contributing towards a shared society. These strategic priorities are further split into two themes and delivered in a variety of ways, all of which are updated below.

PRIORITY 1: Reconciling Communities

Theme 1.1 Building positive relations at the local level: €140 million

The theme focuses on sectarianism and racism as well as supporting conflict resolution, reconciliation, cultural diversity and equality as well as cross community and cross- border initiatives. This Theme is delivered at both a local and regional level.

Local

Under this Priority, local councils have clustered together to form partnerships to develop and deliver Peace Action Plans which focus on tackling sectarianism and racism in their area. Thus far Local Peace Action Plans from Belfast City Council and the seven clusters in Northern Ireland have been approved and Letters of Offer issued.

Regional

At a regional level, again the focus remains the same. The budget is between €40 - €50 million and these projects will be on a larger scale encompassing the Programme region. Thus far, there has been 28 full applications received with 17 having been considered by the Steering Committee and 9 so far approved to the value of €29 million. This is the equivalent to 58% of the budget. This call is currently closed but for more information please contact the Special EU Programmes Body www.seupb.eu 

Theme 1.2 - Acknowledging and dealing with the past: €50 million

he Community Relations Council and Border Action jointly administer this measure. The Measure funds work which enables victims and survivors to deal with the past on their own terms. It is designed to improve accessibility to counselling, befriending and other community based services. It also will explore legacy, memory and experiences of the conflict. For more information please contact: www.nicrc.org.uk www.borderaction.ie or www.seupb.eu

There are three strands to this theme namely: 

• Strand 1 - Addressing the past in Public Memory: €5 - €10 million
  Actions that explore the legacy and memory of the conflict through truth recovery, documentation, archiving, story telling and the recording of complex history and experience. This strand is not presently open but an information day is planned shortly. 
• Strand 2 - Support for Participation: €20 - €25 million
  This strand provides advice, counselling and support services for victims, relatives and those who care for them to build the capacity of individuals to deal with the transition to peace and reconciliation. This strand closes on Friday 30 January and to date there has been 10 applications approved so far.
• Strand 3 - Securing the Future: €15 - €20 million
  This strand will fund innovative actions that will help prevent an outbreak of violence into the future, by taking action to repair relationships and by engaging the wider community in peace-building and reconciliation work. This strand has closed and approved 28 applications so far. It will re-open shortly.

PRIORITY 2 : Contributing to a shared society - €122 million

Theme 2.1 - Creating Shared Public Spaces

With a budget of €82M, this priority focuses on the development of large infrastructural projects to regenerate, urban, rural and border areas through the creation of genuine shared space. It is implemented by the Joint Technical Secretariat in SEUPB - www.seupb.eu To date there have been 30 applications received with 23 considered by the Steering Committee and 7 approved to the value of almost €47 million and 6 Letter of Offers issued. The remaining 7 applications are still to be considered. This Theme is currently closed.

Theme 2.2 - Key institutional capacities are developed for a shared society
This Priority aims to help the public sector to deal, in a more targeted manner, with the issues that contribute to a shared society. It also aims to support people who have been excluded or marginalised from economic, social and civil networks as well as organisations that promote European and international networking and facilitate the exchange of best practice in peace and reconciliation trans-nationally. It is important to note therefore that this Priority is not solely aimed at the public sector. Progress to date indicates that:

• Budget: €40m
• 26 full applications received
• Area 1: Pilot innovative service delivery models with the potential for mainstreaming (8 applications received)
• Area 2: European and international networking and exchange of good practice (18 applications received) 

This Theme is delivered once again by SEUPB contactable at www.seupb.eu

So to sum up the Peace III Programme to date, the Council clusters are all opening in early 2009 with a series of roadshows, one from each cluster which has been advertised on this site already. In conclusion:

• Peace III Programme fully operational
• 68 Letters of Offer issued to date
• €146.5m or 44% committed
• Local Peace Action Plans ready to commence 

For further information please contact SEUPB : www.seupb.eu or 028 9026 6660