75 projects receive funding from Ethnic Communities Development Fund

The Ethnic Communities Development Fund (the Fund) will provide funding to 75 community projects starting in 2019, Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa announced today.

The Fund supports initiatives that aim to develop established, growing, and newly resettled ethnic communities.

“With over 200 ethnic communities now calling New Zealand home, the Fund, and the benefits it provides, is vital for enhancing New Zealand’s social cohesion,” says Jenny Salesa.

“The Fund supports our ethnic communities in strengthening New Zealand’s inclusiveness, and enriching our diversity.”

The 75 selected projects, chosen from a pool of over 130 applications, will receive a total of NZ$520,000, with the value of grants ranging between NZ$2,000 and NZ$42,000.

“I am delighted by the high quality and variety of the selected projects and it is great to see the willingness and commitment of our ethnic communities in sharing their expertise, talents, and skills with our wider communities,” says Jenny Salesa.

“The projects were selected from all around New Zealand and connect to the Fund’s priorities of leadership development, social cohesion, and cultural events.”

The selected projects range from building leadership capabilities in ethnic women, to culture training and mentoring for sports groups, and a Multicultural Festival, all of which continue the inspiration and creativity of the initiatives in previous funding rounds.

The next funding round will open in August 2019 for projects to be delivered in 2020. Information about the Fund and a list of all grant recipients is available on www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz

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