In a statement, the office of the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality said that the amount of 50 thousand euros comes through a line of technical and financial support launched today, through the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG).

"This line of funding adds to the funds already available for this area, under PT2020, of more than 1.5 million euros for financial and technical support to civil society organisations, training for strategic audiences and for emergency care and vacancy structures," says Rosa Monteiro's office.

The funding is intended for "projects, measures or actions of civil society organisations that act in the area of defence and promotion of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people", reads the statement.

According to the information released, funding can go both to projects of direct support to LGBTI victims of discrimination and violence, for example, as for the development of materials for professionals, training actions, studies or others.

Applications for funding open on 26 February and will run until 26 March.

The Secretary of State's office stresses that in the previous call, in 2018, it was possible to fund nine projects that trained more than a thousand people, in addition to producing manuals, pedagogical kits and conducting surveys for the "promotion of better knowledge about experiences in the different contexts of public and/or private life and prevention of discrimination against LGBTI people".

"The renewal of this line of support shows the Government's commitment to recognising the impact of the work of civil society with extensive experience in the field and its active role in achieving the objectives inscribed in the National Strategy Portugal + Equal," it said.

Quoted in the statement, the Secretary of State Rosa Monteiro stresses that this line of support is the "recognition of the fundamental role of these organisations in preventing and combating all forms of discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people and a clear statement that full equality is only possible with the active participation of civil society".