EU announces Call for Proposals to Support Skills Development and Matching for Labour Market Needs in Georgia

Deadline: 21 October 2019

The European Union (EU) has announced a call for proposals to Support Skills Development and Matching for Labour Market Needs in Georgia.

The global objective of this Call for Proposals is to foster the employability and employment of women and men in the selected regions of Georgia (Tbilisi, Adjara, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo-Kartli, Samegrelo, Shida-Kartli, Guria and Racha-Lechkhumi).

The specific objectives of this Call for Proposals is to improve the accessibility and quality of services provision in (a) skills development, (b) skills anticipation and matching, and (c) youth and entrepreneurial learning, particularly for youth, women and disadvantaged groups in the selected regions of Georgia.

Types of Lot

International partnerships between Georgian and EU Member States’ organisations that provide services in skills development, skills matching, and entrepreneurial learning. The primary objectives of this partnership are to facilitate exchange of knowledge and experience, encourage peer learning and transfer of know-how, support staff and student exchange programmes, traineeships and apprenticeships, and institutional capacity development and networking between the organisations from Georgia and the EU Member States.
Local Human Capital Development (HCD) partnerships between different organisations with the objective of improving employability and employment at local level in the selected regions. In this case, several local actors should be included in the partnership; e.g. local authorities, training providers, employment services, business/ employers, their associations, youth centres, NGOs. The primary objectives of this partnership are to facilitate innovative local projects to develop human capital with public-private-civil society partnerships.
Sectoral partnerships between different organisations with the objective of improving employability and employment in economic sector level (e.g. business/ employers, training providers, youth centres, NGOs in one specific sector such as tourism, etc). The primary objectives of this partnership are to strengthen and institutionalise sector skills councils, provide capacity building of sectoral employers and their associations, identify skills needs and demand of sectors, develop joint demand-driven training programmes with providers as well as work-based learning schemes and apprenticeships.

Key stakeholders of this call for proposals include inter alia:

Public or private organisations and civil society organisations whose activities address key challenges of skills development and employment issues: employment services, professional organisations and trade unions, businesses, business/sectorial associations, social partners, entrepreneurship organisations, youth workers, youth centres, youth organisations, NGOs, charity organisations.
VET providers, universities and other training providers, both formal and non-formal training providers such as second chance courses, organised learning with out-of-school activities, on-the-job training and other work-based learning providers.
Regional and local authorities in the selected regions.

Target Groups

The grant scheme projects will focus on key target groups in the selected regions. The final beneficiaries include inter alia:

Young men and particularly young women;
Low achievers, early school leavers, young not in education, employment and training (NEETs);
Disadvantaged groups;
Teachers and trainers;
Employment and career guidance counsellors;
Business and / or entrepreneurship associations;
Youth organisations and youth workers.

Funding Information

Lot 1: Support to the development of international partnerships
- minimum amount: EUR 300,000
- maximum amount: EUR 1,000,000
Lot 2: Support to the development of local HCD partnerships
- minimum amount: EUR 300,000
- maximum amount: EUR 1,000,000
Lot 3: Support to the development of sectoral partnerships
- minimum amount: EUR 300,000
- maximum amount: EUR 1,000,000

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant
- In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  - be a legal person and
  - be non-profit-making and
  - be a specific type of organisation active in skills development and employment issues such as:
  - non-governmental organisations, public sector operators, local authority, international organisation as defined by Article 43 of the rules of application of the EU Financial Regulation ,professional associations, other non-profit institutions representing employers or private sector, public and private training providers (VET, higher education), and
  - be established in Georgia or in a Member State of the EU for Lot 1
  - be established in Georgia for Lot 2 &3
- For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. Unless sector-specific eligibility rules provide otherwise12, if the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible to participate) or will be required to leave the project on the basis of Article [insert reference to the Article allowing termination of the grant agreement (change of the legal situation of the beneficiary)] of the grant agreement
- This obligation does not apply to international organisations and
- 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.
Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations
Co-applicant(s)
- The number of co-applicants must be minimum one and maximum three
- If the lead applicant is established in a Member State of the European Union (Lot 1), at least two co-applicant must be established in Georgia. from selected regions: Tbilisi or Adjara or Imereti or Kakheti or Kvemo-Kartli or Samegrelo or Shida-Kartli or Guria or Racha-Lechkhumi.
- 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.
Affiliated entity(ies)
- 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.