EU Call for Proposals to strengthen Civil Society Organizations in Tunisia

Deadline: 14 February 2020

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organizations for its “Project to Strengthen Civil Society Organizations in Tunisia”.

Objectives of the Program and Priorities

The program aims to develop the capacities of Tunisian CSOs through innovative funding and support mechanisms, so as to improve their role as actors of economic and social development at local level and the impact of their actions.

The general objective of this call for proposals is to consolidate the role of civil society as an actor contributing to the construction of the rule of law and as an actor in the development of the country.

As defined in the funding decision for the support program for civil society and independent bodies, this specific call for proposals has the following specific objectives:

Strengthening the role of civil society associations through support activities, training and coaching on the themes to be defined according to local, regional and national priorities;
Allow civil society associations to fulfill their mandates through innovative and differentiated support and funding mechanisms.

Indeed, more concretely this action will have to contribute to support the implication and the participation of the Tunisian civil society in the construction of the public space and the establishment of spaces of dialogue and active concertation at the national and local scale. between public actors and associations, while supporting CSOs to improve their governance, organize their actions and federate their resources (networking) and control their fields of intervention (professionalization or specialization). The priorities of this call for proposals are:

Consolidate the role of CSOs in the country’s development process and support them to acquire visions and intervention strategies.
Set up CSO support mechanisms, in all regions of the country, in order to improve their internal governance by complying with the laws and regulations in force, mechanisms enabling networking at local, regional or national level and strengthening their knowledge and mastery of the priorities in which they are interested, by ensuring that the women and young people of both sexes also have opportunities to access decision-making and management positions.
Consolidate the construction of public space through a multi-actor approach to promote the involvement of local public actors in the dynamics local authorities, build relationships of trust between CSOs and public actors and develop spaces for dialogue and consultation, not that CSOs working for women’s rights, gender equity and diversity be included on an equal footing.
Consolidate citizen participation, especially young people of both sexes, and women, in the dissemination of human values and the development of democratic practices and the promotion of rights enabling the integration and implementation of mechanisms for the complementarity between representative democracy and participatory democracy as well as the promotion of equality and the fight against all forms of discrimination.
Set up innovative and differentiated funding tools for associations, including through financial support to third parties (which will represent at least 55% of the action’s budget), which will make it possible to go beyond project approach. In this context, research and testing of financial tools favoring the progress of the actor rather than the implementation of the action should be continued. A differentiated approach according to the different types of CSOs and according to the specificities linked to geographic variables, size, vocation and mission of associations will be adopted.

It is very important that the implementation of the project can provide for mechanisms of:

Permanent and targeted communication towards the beneficiaries, participants and primary participants of the program, namely CSOs in order to guarantee as much coverage as possible in terms of number of beneficiaries, towards the final beneficiaries, namely the citizens who should be part of a dynamic of citizen participation and construction and promotion of rights rather than complaints. Communication must respect the strategy that will be adopted for the entire program in the context of technical assistance.
Coordination and complementarity with the various supports offered by the EU and other donors for the benefit of Tunisian civil society.
Capitalization of the different experiences which will be implemented within the framework of this project by ensuring a permanent collaboration with the association Jamaity and the center of information, training, studies and documentation on associations (IFEDA).

Any action presented within the framework of this call for proposals must support and reinforce a rights-based approach, including gender equality, women’s rights, support for vulnerable groups and the defense and promotion of rights. Human rights and fundamental freedoms. Gender indicators should be presented for the entire project and the data should be disaggregated by sex.

Size of Grants

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

Minimum amount: 8,200,000 EUR
Maximum amount: 8,200,000 EUR

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant: To be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
- be a legal person and
- have no profit-making purpose and
- belong to one of the following categories of organizations: non-governmental organization as defined by the Rules for applying the financial regulations of the Union
- be established in Tunisia or in a Member State of the European Union or in the countries as defined in Regulation (EC) N ° 232/2014 of the European Parliament and the European Neighborhood Council (OJ L 77, 15.03 .2014 p.1);
  - For UK applicants: please note that the eligibility criteria must be met throughout the duration of the grant. Unless otherwise provided for by sectoral eligibility rules, in the event of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union during the grant period in the absence of an agreement with the EU guaranteeing in particular that applicants from the United Kingdom continue to be eligible, you will no longer receive EU funding (while continuing, if possible, to participate) or you will be required to leave the project on the basis of “Termination of the contract” (modification of the legal position of the beneficiary) .
- be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant (s) and the affiliated entity or entities, and not act as an intermediary.
Co-applicant (s)
- Co-applicants participate in the development and implementation of the action, and the costs they bear are eligible in the same way as those borne by the lead applicant.
- Co-applicants must meet the same eligibility criteria as those which apply to the lead applicant himself.
- Co-applicants must sign the mandate of the grant application form. If the grant is awarded to them, any co-applicants become beneficiaries under the action (with the coordinator).
Affiliated entity (ies)
- The lead applicant and its co-applicant (s) may act with one or more affiliated entities.
- Only the following entities can be considered to be affiliated with the lead applicant and/or the co-applicant (s):
  - Only entities which 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 includes two concepts:
      - Control, within the meaning of Directive 2013/34 / EU relating to annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain forms of business:
        
        Entities affiliated to a applicant can therefore be:
        
        Entities controlled directly or indirectly by the applicant (first-tier subsidiaries or subsidiaries) or controlled by an entity itself controlled by the applicant (sub-subsidiaries or second-level subsidiaries), and this is valid for other levels of control;
        
        Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Similarly, it can be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
        
        Entities controlled, directly or indirectly, at the same level as the applicant (sister companies).
      - Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as, for example, a network, federation or 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 an association,…) that the proposed affiliated entity.