The European Commission (EC) has announced a call for proposals to strengthen local civil society organisations’ ability to engage as independent actors of good governance and development.
Objectives
The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
- To promote an enabling environment for civil society organisations and to prevent shrinking civic space: CSOs promote a conducive legal, regulatory, institutional and operational environment and defend the space for civil society and citizens.
- The thematic priorities for this specific objective are good governance, democratisation, and promotion of freedom of expression and of association.
- To strengthen the participation of civil society in policy- and decision-making processes: CSOs’ capacities are strengthened to effectively influence dialogue on key policy issues relevant for citizens and civil society at large.
- The thematic priorities for this specific objective are women’s rights and empowerment, youth empowerment and the inclusion of vulnerable and marginalised groups.
- The following will be considered as added value elements:
- Reaching out to marginalised communities and grass-roots organisations;
- The promotion and formation of partnerships amongst CSOs, building on existing networks, supporting emerging networks, and encouraging the building of coalitions and the creation of platforms;
- The use of innovation and best practices.
Funding Information
The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 5,000,000, of which EUR 2,000,000 is to be financed under the 2023 budget and therefore subject to the approval of the 2023 financing decision.
Indicative allocation of funds by lot:
LOT 1: To promote an enabling environment for civil society organisations and to prevent shrinking civic space: EUR 3,000,000.
LOT 2: To strengthen the participation of civil society in policy- and decision-making processes: EUR 2,000,000.
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
- minimum amount: EUR 500,000
- maximum amount: EUR 1,250,000
Eligibility Criteria
- Lead applicant
In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
- be a legal person
- be non-profit-making
- be a specific type of organisation such as civil society organisations , among them non-governmental organisations, community-based organizations, charitable society organisations; or private sector non-profit agencies; non-profit-making universities and research organisations; or non-profit networks
- be established in Palestine, at least 4 years before the launching date of this Call and officially registered with the competent Palestinian authorities
- be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
- Co-applicant(s)
- Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
- Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
- In addition to the categories referred to in Section 2.1.1, the following are however also eligible:
- Co-applicants who at the launching date of this Call are officially registered with the competent Palestinian authorities.
- Co-applicants must sign the mandate.
- If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).
- Affiliated entities
The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):
Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
- Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
- Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
- Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
- Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,…) as the proposed affiliated entities.
You can find more information in the links below.
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome
- Deadline for submission of Concept note is Tuesday 13 March 2023 at 16h (Brussels date and time).
- Information session on this call for proposals is scheduled to take place on 08 February 2023, from 10h-13h (Jerusalem time) in Ramallah at Carmel Hotel.