EU Call for Proposals: Strengthen the Involvement of Civil Society in the Protection of Human Rights and the Improvement of Democratic Governance

Deadline: 8 April 2019

The European Union (EU) has launched a call for proposals for its program entitled “Strengthen the Involvement of Civil Society in the Protection of Human Rights and the Improvement of Democratic Governance”.

The general objective of this call for proposals is to strengthen the protection of human rights and the promoting good governance and democracy by Congolese CSOs, as well as supporting the creating an environment that promotes citizen participation.

The specific objectives are:

Promote and protect the rights of vulnerable people and groups In this area, the priority actions are:
- Aiming to promote equality between women and men, to defend the rights of women and to combat all forms of discrimination and violence against women;
- Contributing to the respect of children’s rights as set out in the UN Convention on the rights of the child and its optional protocols;
- Aimed at promoting and protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples;
- Aimed at promoting the equal treatment and integration of people with disabilities in social, economic and political life;
- Targeting the improvement of prison conditions and the social reintegration of prisoners;
- Aimed at promoting and protecting the rights of LGBTI people.
Contribute to respect for fundamental freedoms and human dignity In this area, the priority actions are:
- Aimed at combating torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, combating culture of impunity and / or providing assistance (legal, psychological, etc.) to victims;
- Contributing to respect for freedom of expression (offline and online), strengthening access freedom of information, and efforts to professionalize the media;
- Targeting the promotion and protection of freedom of thought and freedom of assembly and association.
Improve democratic governance, accountability and transparency In this area, the priority actions are:
- With a view to supporting participatory and representative democracy, civic and civic education and promotion of democratic values and peace;
- Targeting the analysis of public policies, citizen monitoring of their implementation and the fight against corruption;
- Contributing to strengthening the active participation of young people in the public debate.

Funding Information

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must be between following minimum and maximum amounts:

Minimum amount 300 000 EUR
Maximum amount 500 000 EUR

Eligibility Criteria

Lead Applicant
- To be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  - Being a legal person, or an entity without legal personality, or a person physical; and
  - have no profit purpose; and
  - belong to one of the following categories: civil society organization; and
  - be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the
  - co-applicants and the affiliated entity or entities, and not act as an intermediary;
  - Please note that no nationality restrictions apply to applicants or affiliated entities in accordance with the provisions on eligibility for the EIDHR in Article 11 of the Rules and Procedures measures for the implementation of Union instruments for the financing of external (RIC) 12
- The lead applicant established in the Republic of the Congo may act either individually or with a or several co-applicants. The lead applicant whose place of establishment is not the Republic of Congo must act with at least one co-applicant established in the Republic of Congo.
Co-Applicant (s)
- The co-applicants participate in the development and implementation of the action and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those borne by the lead applicant.
- Co-applicants must meet the same eligibility criteria as those applying to the applicant leader himself.
Affiliated entities
- The lead applicant and his co-applicant (s) may act with one or more affiliated entities.
- Only the following entities may be considered affiliated to the lead applicant and / or to the co-applicant (s):
  - Only those entities that have a structural link with the applicants (the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
  - This structural link mainly encompasses two notions:
    - control, within the meaning of Directive 2013/34 / EU on annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of enterprises:
      - Entities affiliated with an applicant may therefore be:
        
        entities controlled directly or indirectly by the applicant (subsidiaries or subsidiaries of first rank) or controlled by an entity itself controlled by the applicant (sub-subsidiaries or second-tier subsidiaries), and this is valid for other levels of control;
        
        entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Of the similarly, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
        
        controlled entities, directly or indirectly, at the same level as the applicant (sister companies).
    - accession, that is to say that the applicant is legally defined as, for example, a network, a federation or an association of which the proposed affiliated entity is a member, or the applicant is a member of the same entity (for example, a network, a federation or a association) than the proposed affiliated entity.