Catalan Public Diplomacy Council promotes the projection of civil society organisations abroad

Barcelona (ACN).- The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) has launched its first call for applications for ‘Grants for the International Projection of Catalan Civil Organisations’, designed to cover the participation costs of such organisations in international meetings. The grants will be managed by the Federation of Internationally Recognized Catalan Organisations (FOCIR) and applications can be submitted until the 27^th of March. The Secretary General of Diplocat, Albert Royo, detailed the call on Wednesday evening. He stressed that activities aimed towards international public opinion could have a significant impact on presenting Catalonia to the world. The President of the FOCIR shared a similar opinion, insisting that the organisations were “carrying the voice of Catalonia abroad”.

According to the Secretary General of Diplocat, Albert Royo, Catalonia is “lucky” to have a wide network of civil society organisations which have “a non-negligible capacity when it comes to international influence”. Albert Royo therefore argued that “public diplomacy must complement the diplomatic efforts the [Catalan] Government is carrying out”.

Meanwhile, the President of the Federation of Internationally Recognized Catalan Organisations (FOCIR), Mònica Sabata, stated that “Catalonia has more than 250 organisations with international recognition, therefore carrying the voice of Catalonia abroad”.

Encouraging active participation in international meetings

With this call, Diplocat has acknowledged organisations that have successfully joined international networks and actively participated in the recent debates facing humankind. Thanks to the agreement with the FOCIR, organisations such as the Catalan Association for Human Rights, the Catalonia’s Science and Language Academy (Institut d'Estudis Catalans), or the ‘Fundació CATmón’ for the projection of Catalonia abroad will have, along with many others, their participation costs covered for meetings and conferences arranged by networks or global and continental federations.