The Alliance for Gender Equality in Europe has approved a new Opportunity and Emergency Grant, awarded between in April 2026. These targeted, short-term grants provide timely support to organisations responding to urgent challenges or taking advantage of emerging opportunities to advance gender equality.
Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights – Osijek
Croatia – €30 000 – core support – April 2026 to April 2027
Established during the armed conflict in 1990s, the Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights promotes human rights, the rule of law, democratic development, and nonviolent civic approaches.
The project was created in response to the case of a doctor employed at KBC Osijek who was convicted of rape and lewd acts against a female patient during a medical examination. Despite criminal proceedings for a serious crime against sexual freedom, the doctor continued to work for almost three years, which raised serious questions about patient safety, institutional transparency, and the effectiveness of the reporting and monitoring system in healthcare.
The case provoked a strong public reaction and pointed to possible systemic failures in the protection of patients, especially women who are in a particularly vulnerable position due to their health condition and the imbalance of power in the doctor-patient relationship.
The project will work through legal, research and advocacy activities to:
- strengthening institutional accountability,
- improving the reporting and patient protection system,
- providing support to victims of discrimination and gender-based violence,
- increasing the transparency of the work of healthcare institutions,
- creating legal precedents for the collective protection of patients’ rights.
Project activities include analysis of the system for filing complaints against healthcare professionals, strategic litigation before the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia, preparation of a collective lawsuit under the Anti-Discrimination Act, and informing and educating the public through workshops, legal guides, public events, and counseling.
The project places special emphasis on an intersectional and gender transformative approach, which seeks to change existing patterns of institutional silence and impunity and improve the safety and dignity of female patients in the healthcare system in the long term. The project aims not only to provide support to victims, but also to contribute to lasting systemic changes that will ensure safer, more transparent and accountable healthcare for all.
Opportunity and Emergency Grants
You can read more about our Opportunity and Emergency grants by clicking on this link. These grants operate outside of our usual grantmaking cycles, with a limited portion of our budget allocated to them, so only a few organisations or initiatives can be funded each year.
As part of our commitment to transparency, we strive to be open about our decisions and investments. All grantee partners are listed on our website.