Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria: Supporting Long-Term Projects of Civil Society Organizations

Deadline: 28 January 2019

The first call for strategic projects is organized within the Active Citizens Fund – Bulgaria (hereinafter referred as to the “Fund”) under the European Economic Area (EEA) Financial Mechanism (FM) 2014 – 2021.

The call for proposals aims to support long-term projects of civil society organizations offering strategic solutions for the sustainability and capacity of the civil sector in Bulgaria, strengthening its role in promoting democratic participation, active citizenship and human rights.

Funding Information

The first call for strategic projects will support projects of civil organizations (non-profit legal entities) with duration of 12 to 36 months and a grant amount of 10,001 to 200,000 euros in six thematic priorities / outcomes.
The total available indicative budget for awarding grants for strategic projects under the call is € 6,700,000.

Thematic Priorities

Applicants can submit project proposals in six thematic priorities (hereinafter referred to as ‘thematic outcomes’):

Strengthened democratic culture and civic awareness
Increased support for human rights
Vulnerable groups are empowered
CSOs actively address gender equality and gender based violence (GBV)
Increased civic engagement in environmental protection/climate change
Enhanced capacity and sustainability of the civil society sector including CSOs

Type of Activities

Type of activities that are eligible under the call (the list is non-exhaustive):

Carrying out/participation in consultations (including public consultations and stakeholder consultations);
Advocacy campaigns and other advocacy initiatives;
Monitoring activities (with reference to public policies and institutions at national/central or local level, elections, public appointments, etc.);
Preparation of analyses, reports, studies, etc., aimed at holding an informed public debate and formulating evidence-based public policies;
Development of training materials – all kinds of online and offline applications and platforms, textbooks, manuals, manuals, guidelines for work, etc. ;
Promotion and distribution, incl. online distribution of research, analysis, reports, training materials, etc., including translation, prepress and printing;
Provision of legal aid;
Building of partnerships;
Organizing and conducting trainings, seminars, conferences, etc.;
Project management and reporting activities;
Activities in fulfilment of the requirements of the project contract – maintenance of a bank account for the project, activities to ensure visualization and publicity of the project, audit, etc.;
Other activities that the applicant has convincingly justified in the project proposal as necessary to achieve the project goal.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants in the first calls for strategic projects are civil organizations/non-governmental organizations registered in Bulgaria as non-profit legal entities established for the public benefit (including public community centres (‘chitalishta’) registered under the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act and the Bulgarian Red Cross).
The eligible applicants must meet also the following requirements:
- to not be unions of businesses or organizations, established on a professional principle, whose objectives and activities are oriented towards protection of the specific interests (business or professional) of their members, founders, or governing bodies;
- to be independent of bodies of the local, regional, or central authorities and of other state and public authorities and institutions;
- to be independent of political parties and commercial entities within the meaning of the Commerce Act;
- to adhere to the principles of democracy and respect for human rights Political parties, religious institutions, social partners and profit-distributing cooperatives are not considered eligible applicants.
Organizations that have not recovered amounts due, following a final court decision in connection with the NGO Programme 2009-2014 in Bulgaria, are not considered eligible applicants and/or partners.
The eligibility of applicants and partners will be established by the Operator on the basis of and after the presenting of required documents at the stage before the signing of a project contract with the Fund Operator. At the application stage, the applicant and the partners present signed declarations, in a standard form, with which they declare their eligibility.