Deadline: 12 May 2019
The British Embassy in Baghdad and the British Consulate General in Erbil are pleased to open a call for bids to its devolved funds under the UK government’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) International Programme.
The FCO’s International Programme encourages promotion and protection of human rights, democracy and rule of law across the globe by supporting high-impact projects that help alleviate the underlying causes of human rights abuses. For the 2019/20 UK financial year, the British Embassy in Baghdad and the British Consulate General in Erbil are looking for innovative project ideas to be implemented from May 2019, until the end of March 2020 in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.
The British Embassy in Baghdad is asking potential project implementers to submit bids in the following areas:
- Increase capacity and skills of Iraqi media to promote independent and impartial media systems and environment so that it supports freedom of expression and underpins wider human rights.
- Support specific needs of Iraq’s religious and ethnic minorities, addressing impacts of Daesh as well as sectarian discrimination. Enable greater respect and integration of views of minority Iraqi communities into mainstream policy including through reconciliation, legislation and education.
- Support specific needs of women and girls affected by sexual and gender based violence and wider conflict impacts ensuring meaningful participation, protection and prevention of conflict impact on women. Scope to include projects supporting effective implementation of Iraqi National Action Plan on women, peace and security; and increased access to support for survivors of sexual and gender based violence.
Key Points
- The Embassy anticipate accepting bids in the range of £25,000 to £75,000, but consideration will be given to smaller high-impact bids that are replicable.
- There is no guarantee of funding for a second year of activity. Implementers are encouraged to show how projects could be sustained if funding were to be agreed.
- The Embassy do not fund service-delivery projects; all funding must be activity-based (not for general staff costs, office rental etc.)
- The Embassy fund in arrears but can agree a funding schedule to match activities. This means that the organisation must cover initial costs and the Embassy will reimburse costs against production of receipts for agreed expenses. They will also require regular reporting and receipts for activities.
- The combined total of management fees, overheads and administration costs should not exceed 10% over the overall project budget. 10% is not a target, but a limit.
- Running costs associated with an implementer’s office, such as office equipment, buildings, repairs, etc. should not fall to the project budget as direct costs. They are part of the of the organisation’s overheads and covered by the administration costs.
- The Embassy do not fund per diems for participants at events.
Selection Criteria
Bids will be assessed against the following criteria:
- Project impact – delivering sustainable, meaningful change.
- Project viability – including the capacity of implementing organisation to (a) engage with key stakeholders to deliver key outcomes and (b) deliver 85% of programmed expenditure by the end of December 2019.
- Project design – there must be clear links between the proposed intervention and the project outcomes.
- Risk management – robust analysis of key risks, and a plan of action to manage and mitigate those risks.
- Value for money – the number of direct beneficiaries engaged and the scale of achievable outcomes should be competitive; and the ability to draw in co-funding from other partners will also be considered.
- NGO bidders must provide evidence that they are registered and licensed to deliver the proposed activities in Iraq/KRI.
The reach and range of partners engaged, dissemination strategy and potential to replicate your project will also be considered. The Embassy also welcome bids for co-funding with other embassies in Iraq and KRI/international organisations that already support similar areas of activity.
How to Apply
Proposals must be submitted at the address given on the website.
For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/call-for-project-bids-for-funding-in-iraq-fco-international-programme-201920