Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Annual Plan of Wikimedia Serbia 2024
Latest comment: 5 months ago by IvanaMadzarevic in topic General Support Fund proposal approved in the amount of 149,820 EUR
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General Support Fund proposal approved in the amount of 149,820 EUR edit
Congratulations! Your proposal is approved for partial funding in the amount of 149,820 EUR with a grant term starting 1 January 2024 and ending 31 December 2024.
The committee supports Wikimedia Serbia to continue its movement work through next year with the following remarks, comments, and questions:
- The committee appreciates Wikimedia Serbia’s efforts toward obtaining in-kind donations for space as well as receiving public grants from Serbian Ministry of Culture. These efforts support an important aspect of sustainability for related programs and for your organization overall.
- Thank you for your comment and recognition of the effort we have made towards the increase of sustainability and financial stability of the chapter. Wikimedia Serbia is constantly looking for open calls for projects and will continue to do so, and in the next year we’ll try to apply jointly with some of the other, interested WM communities, if we come across an opportunity for it. With this segment, it is important to keep in mind the uncertainty of these calls regarding their announcement and final decision on the approved projects.
- Inflationary changes in Serbia have been significant relative to other parts of the region, which has been noted by the Regional Committee. However, while inflation is an eligible rationale for requesting an increase, the overall budget for funding in the region has grown only about 8.5% overall since last year. Based on this limited growth, we are not able to fully cover the recent effects of inflation in the region in general, and can only provide support to partially address these economic conditions. This may mean that you need to consider changes to your programs, outcomes, or arrangements around staffing for next year.
- Thank you for the explanation. Unfortunately, bearing in mind the level of inflation in Serbia, which is predicted to be the highest within Europe in 2024, we would have to adjust our activities and proportionally reduce the planned targets. We hope that during the next year, we’ll be able to increase the activities through external funds.
- Importantly, we also anticipate budgetary growth for funding to be smaller for next year compared to this year, which will mean that larger budget increases are unlikely to be possible for us to consider.
- This is very important to have in mind, so that we can plan our budget sufficiently in advance and take the necessary measures in order to secure greater financial stability.
- The committee also requested clarity around the environment around acquiring health insurance in Serbia. Normally, budgets with dedicated staff usually include line itemes related to health insurance. The proposed budget contains a line item for health check-ups– is it possible to secure more standard health insurance for full-time staff at the chapter? Are there any challenges or obstacles (e.g. financial / legal / logistical) to doing so?
- Health insurance in Serbia is mandatory by law and Wikimedia Serbia provides it to all employees as part of compensation for work. However, the situation in health institutions is very bad and it is often necessary to use private health institutions, which the organization does not cover, of course, but we believe that it’s fair to provide annual health check-ups for employees. We believe that this is a benefit for employees and an investment in them, bearing in mind the contribution they make to the local chapter and the movement in general. We also want to clarify that in most cases this is the standard for organizations and companies in Serbia and that it is not an unusual situation and an isolated case. Wikimedia Serbia also had a risk assessment for all workplaces, and it is recommended that such check-ups should be carried out due to the sedentary work that is being performed. Bearing in mind the funds that have been granted to us, unfortunately we will exclude these examinations from the budget. --IvanaMadzarevic (talk) 17:35, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
We look forward to your work in 2024, and appreciate your chapter’s contributions to the Wikimedia movement. On behalf of the Regional Committee, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 07:47, 28 November 2023 (UTC)