EU-Lao PDR Call for Proposals: European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) – Country-Based Support Schemes (CBSS)

Deadline: 26 April 2019

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organisations for a program entitled “European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) – Country-Based Support Schemes (CBSS) Lao PDR”.

The global objective of this call for proposals is to contribute to the respect for fundamental rights and the consolidation of the rule of law in the Lao PDR.

The specific objective of this call for proposals is to support and strengthen civil society organisations working on fundamental freedoms and critical human rights, including political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights.

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

Develop capacities of local civil society organisations, including through building advocacy, resilience and strengthening viability and sustainability in order to support the promotion of human rights, prevent, monitor and report human rights violations, and to increase social accountability;
Enhance and promote the participation and inclusion of civil society organisations in Lao PDR in policy dialogue and consultations, to ensure that the formulation and the implementation of national strategies and sector policies are representative of the development priorities of all sectors of the society, including children, women and vulnerable groups.
Promote and protect the social, economic and cultural rights1 of Lao citizens, especially for groups particularly vulnerable to discrimination, such as the poor, women, children, indigenous peoples, migrants and persons belonging to minorities, in particular in relation with the key areas of EU cooperation in Laos (i.e. education and nutrition).

Funding Information

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

Lot 1 “CBSS –EIDHR”
- Minimum amount: EUR 400,000
- Maximum amount: EUR 550,000
Lot 2 “CBSS – EIDHR for Lao CSOs”
- Minimum amount: EUR 100,000
- Maximum amount: EUR 200,000

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant
- In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  - be a legal person and
  - be a civil society organisations, including non-governmental non-profit organisations and independent political foundations, community based organisations, private sector non-profit agencies, institutions and organisations, and networks thereof at local, national, regional and international level or
  - be a public sector non-profit agencies, institutions and organisations and networks at local, national, regional, and international level and
  - if the application is submitted under Lot 1″CBSS – EIDHR”: be established in any countries with no geographical requirements and
  - if the application is submitted under Lot 2″CBSS – EIDHR for Lao CSOs”: be established in the Lao PDR 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.
- The lead applicant may act individually or with co-applicant(s) as specified hereafter:
  - Lead applicants established in Lao PDR may act individually or with co-applicant (s)
  - Lead applicant that is not established in Lao PDR must act together with at least one co-applicant established in Lao PDR.
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
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 applicant may hence be:
        
        Entities directly or indirectly controlled by an applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by an 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.