Call for Proposals: European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights Program (Eritrea)

Deadline: 9-Jun-21

The European Commission is calling proposals for European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights Program (EIDHR) to contribute to the development and consolidation of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The EIDHR is designed to help civil society to become an effective force for political reform and defence of human rights. Other specific features of the EIDHR include greater flexibility and increased capacity to respond to changing circumstances.

Over the past few years, partners supported by the EIDHR have been primarily local and international civil society organisations, but have also included international intergovernmental bodies with special expertise.

Objectives

The global objective of this call for proposals is: to support and empower civil society in protecting and promoting democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The specific objective of this call for proposals is: to fight against discrimination in all its forms with a focus on women and the most vulnerable groups such as children and people with disabilities.
The current EIDHR regulation identifies the following five objectives:
- Support to human rights and human rights defenders in situations where they are most at risk
- Support to other EU priorities in the field of human rights, with the main focus on:
  - preserving human dignity, including the universal abolition of the death penalty, and the fight against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
  - combating discrimination in all its various forms, including protecting and defending women’s rights, protecting and defending children’s rights, protecting and defending the rights of indigenous peoples, protecting and defending the rights of migrants, refugees, internally displaced and stateless persons, as well as protecting and defending the rights of other discriminated groups and persons belonging to minorities
  - promoting and protecting the freedom of religion or belief
  - promoting and protecting the economic, social and cultural rights
  - advancing on business and human rights and supporting sustainable trade and investment policies
  - fighting against impunity and promoting accountability
  - promoting international humanitarian law, and the responsibility to protect
- Support to democracy
- Support to EU election observation, and
- Support to targeted key actors and processes, including international and regional human rights instruments and mechanisms.

Priorities

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

Protecting and defending the rights of vulnerable and marginalized women
Protecting and defending the rights of vulnerable children
Protecting and defending the rights of persons with disability as marginalized group
Promoting and protecting the economic, social and cultural rights, particularly of vulnerable groups
Advocacy, lobbying and development of strategies by civil society organisations to push for legal reform, and to influence policy-making
Provision of psychosocial, medical, legal assistance and any other type of support
Promoting inclusive and strategic partnerships, networking and cooperation with CSOs and other relevant stakeholders or among CSOs

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 400 000.
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
- minimum amount: EUR 60 000
- maximum amount: EUR 100 000
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the action:
- Minimum percentage: 50 % of the total eligible costs of the action.
- Maximum percentage: 95 % of the total eligible costs of the action.

Eligibility Criteria

Lead Applicant

In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

be a legal person,
be non-profit-making,
be a specific type of organisation such as: civil society organizations. Given the nature of the objectives, however, the actions’ focus will preferably be on in-country civil society organizations,
be established in Eritrea,
be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

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.
Co-applicants must sign the mandate. If awarded the grant contract, the coapplicants) (if any) will become beneficiary (ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).
Applicants included in the lists of EU restrictive measures at the moment of the award decision cannot be awarded the contract.

Affiliated entities

The lead applicant and its co-applicants may act with affiliated entity(ies).
Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to coapplicant(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 an applicant may hence be:
    - Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the 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.