Ljubljana - Slovenia got its national contact point for the EU project Citizens, Equality, Rights & Values (CERV), which will support organisations of the civil society to strengthen the rights and values that are shared by all EU countries promoting pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and gender equality.

CERV is a project worth almost EUR 1.5 billion aimed at building open, democratic and inclusive societies based on the rule of law, said the PiNA association that will lead the contact point, which will be co-funded by the Justice Ministry and the European Commission in the next seven years.

Jerneja Jug Jerše, the European Commission representative in Slovenia, said that during the Covid-19 pandemic people had become increasingly interested in the fundamental rights and values, which bode well for the programme.

Maja Veličin from the Justice Ministry also welcomed the opening of the CERV programme contact point. "In a time when our priorities have become slightly different it is important that programmes such as this one warn that human rights, values and the rule of law are things where there can be no concessions."

The contact point is to raise awareness about the CERV programme and provide support to all organisations that would like to participate in it, thus increasing the chances for Slovenian organisations to draw funds from the programme.

Informative events presenting all the options of the programme will be organised along with various workshops, said the head of the contact point, Nena Bibica. "We will offer advice and information in all phases of an application, offer technical support and help in the search of project partners while also answering all the questions about the CERV programme," she said.