Deadline: 31 March 2020
As a part of the preliminary budget for 2021, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs issues a call for proposals for development cooperation projects of Finnish CSOs for the period of 2021-2024.
Project support for Finnish NGOs is an important form of civil society development cooperation and part of Finland’s development policy implementation. The development cooperation projects of NGOs increase the diversity and impact of Finnish development cooperation in their own fields of expertise and with their own operating practices in developing countries around the world.
According to the Guidelines for Civil Society in Development Policy (2017), strengthening civil society is both a development policy objective and a means to promote Finland’s other development policy objectives and the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Project support also promotes Finland’s foreign policy objectives, such as the implementation of human rights policy objectives.
Project support may be applied for development cooperation projects that fulfill the application criteria, including projects that are ongoing during 2021-22. The discretionary government transfer is granted for projects eliminating extreme poverty, reducing inequality and realization of human rights, according to Agenda 2030, the priorities of Finnish development policy and the Guidelines for Civil Society in Development Policy (2017). The transfer is temporary support and the goal is to strengthen the civic space and the capacity of civil society in developing countries. The discretionary transfer may only be applied for the implementation phase of the project.
Funding Information
According to the preliminary plan, approximately 25 million euros will be granted for the years 2021- 24.
Requirements
The applicant organization and the project must fulfill the below minimum requirements (the application will not be evaluated, if the minimum requirements are not fulfilled):
- Requirements for the applicant:
- Discretionary government transfer may be granted to an organization or foundation that has been registered for at least two years at the time of applying.
- The assurance form and the other mandatory appendices must be submitted together with the application form.
- Requirements for the project:
- The project contributes to at least one priority area of Finnish development policy: strengthening the status and rights of women and girls, education, functioning societies and democracy, strengthening the economies of developing countries and creating jobs, climate change and natural resources.
- The applicant organization must provide an account of the required self-financing according to the general conditions for the use of discretionary government transfers and the complementary conditions for project support.
- The project is implemented in a developing country/countries determined by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD.
- The project has a local cooperation partner and the applicant has a memorandum of understanding (required appendix) for the project implementation.
- The project must strengthen the local civil society according to the Guidelines of Civil Society in Development Policy (2017).
- The project is at minimum human rights sensitive according to the Guidance Note on Human
Rights Based Approach in Finland’s Development Cooperation (2015).
How to Apply
- Ministry for Foreign Affairs uses an e-Service and its electronic forms for the administration of project support.
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To download the forms you will need to have the latest version of the free Adobe Reader software.Save the forms on your own work station before opening them (Save target as). You can edit, save or forward forms to others before you submit the application.
For more information, visit https://um.fi/project-support-to-civil-society-organisations#Principlesofsupport