Call for Applications: Gender Balanced Labour Market Participation (Malta)

Deadline: 06-May-24

The Ministry responsible for EU Funds launches the call for applications under the European Social Fund+ 2021-2027 for actions contributing to Priority 1 – Enhancing Employability and Labour Market Resilience.

The main aim of this call is to support activities aimed at achieving a more balanced labour market, with a primary focus on women, given the lower female participation rate in the labour market when compared to men.

The ESF+ Programme aims to strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions. Specifically, under the 2021-2027 it will focus on investments within several key priority areas, which are:

Employment – improving access to employment and activation measures of all jobseekers, including young people, long-term unemployed and disadvantaged groups on the labour market, and inactive people; and promoting a gender balanced labour market participation, equal working conditions and a better work-life balance.
Inclusion – fostering active inclusion for all and improving employability for disadvantaged groups; promoting socio-economic integration of TCNs; enhancing the equal and timely access to quality, sustainable and affordable services, modernizing social protection systems, improving accessibility, effectiveness and resilience of healthcare systems and long-term care services.
Education – quality and inclusive education and training and enhanced lifelong learning for growth from early childhood education and care through general and vocational education and training, to tertiary level; and promoting lifelong learning, upskilling and reskilling opportunities for all based on labour markets needs.
Material deprivation – ensuring the sustainable integration of persons suffering from material deprivation to break the cycle of poverty and contribute to the reduction of the number of people facing material deprivation.
Social innovation – fostering active inclusion with a view to creating equal opportunities, non-discrimination and active participation, and improving employability.

Call 4 under ESF+ Programme is an open call for projects addressing active inclusion and employability. The following are the relevant priority and policy objectives:

Priority 1: Enhancing Employability and Labour Market Resilience
- Specific objective: ESO4.3. Promoting a gender-balanced labour market participation, equal working conditions, and a better work-life balance including through access to affordable childcare, and care for dependent persons
Applicants should refer to the relevant section in the Programme, where the rationale for the below list of potential interventions is explained:
- Facilitating female participation in the labour market and promoting gender balance
- Complementarities/synergies with other priorities
Through the above interventions, the Applicant should subsequently explain how the project as submitted will be achieving the expected result/s as well as the relevant output and result indicators as set out in the Programme:
- Increasing female participation in the labour market

Eligible Beneficiaries

Government departments, public entities, social partners, Non-Governmental Organisations and voluntary organisations.

Eligibility Criteria

As explained above, a project must fulfill the following criteria to be eligible for further assessment:
- Submission of a complete project application as published in the call
  - The Applicant must present a complete application form, filled in with all relevant details and documentation using the system made available by the MA, unless otherwise stipulated by the MA. No outline applications or incomplete applications shall be considered. Submission of project proposals must be made within the timelimit set for receipt of applications.
- Applicant organisation is an eligible Applicant as outlined in the call
  - The Applicant organisation should be one of the eligible Applicants2 as outlined in the relevant call. Supporting documentation related to the legal status of the Applicant, as required in the call would need to be provided by the Applicant.
- Applicant is not in an exclusion situation in accordance with Art 136 (1) and Art 141 (1) of 2018/1046 Financial Regulation and CPR Art 73(2)(i)
  - The Applicant should sign a declaration confirming that they or any person involved in the project are not in an exclusion situation in accordance with the Financial Regulation and Common Provisions Regulation.
- Applicant organisation has remit to implement the project within its mandate
  - Applicants must be publicly mandated or authorised to implement the project by virtue of the applicable law establishing the organisation or by the respective Statute, in the case of NGOs. The parameters and the objectives of the project must fall within the remit and mandate of the Applicant. Supporting documentation as required in the call would need to be provided.
- Project to be implemented within the eligible territory or for its direct benefit
  - The eligible territory for the Programme is the whole territory of the Republic of Malta. All or part of an operation may be implemented outside of a Member State, including outside the Union, provided that the operation contributes to the objectives of the programme and provides direct benefits to the targeted territory of Malta.