Call for Proposals for Participation of CSOs in Belize Sustainable Energy Roadmap

Deadline: 8-Jun-21

The European Union (EU) has announced a call for proposals for the Participation of Civil Society Organizations in Belize Sustainable Energy Roadmap to enhance the inclusion and performance of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) in the improvement of the energy sector. Their actions will contribute to the socioeconomic development of Belize.

This call for proposals is relevant for the Agenda 2030. It contributes primarily to the progressive achievement of Sustainable Development Goals No 3 “good health and well-being”, as well as it promotes progress towards No.7 (clean energy), No.10 (reduced inequalities) and No.13 (climate action).

Objectives and Priorities

The specific objective of this call for proposals is: “Promote and support strategies and actions that contribute to access and use of energy services and solutions based on renewable energy and energy efficiency in Belize.

Civil Society Organisations will be supported to participate actively in the transformation of the energy sector with emphasis on sustainability. CSO interventions supported by the call will focus on projects targeting (indigenous) communities, women, children and vulnerable groups, to overcome inequalities of access to energy services and to use energy efficiently and sustainably considering the effects of climate change.

Proposals may address one, two or all of the following priorities:

• Developing and promoting access and utilisation of sustainable energy services and solutions that are based on energy efficient and renewable energy systems especially for productive activities;
• Investment or development of new energy systems that are based on renewable energy resources especially in support to job creation opportunities;
• Supporting and promoting the adoption of disaster resilient energy solutions, approaches, structures and systems;
• Raising awareness of renewable energy (RE) use in society, the economy and the environment, induce behavioural changes on adoption of best practices among community and policy makers segments leading to RE themes in decision-making processes and application in development sectors especially in communities.

Applicants must show how they will integrate cross cutting issues of inclusion of vulnerable groups gender and climate change mitigation or adaptation measure.

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 515 000. The Contracting Authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

Size of grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• minimum amount: EUR 205 000
• maximum amount: EUR 255 000

Note: The funds available under this call will have to be contracted at the latest by 22/07/2022 as foreseen in the Financing Agreement ‘Belize Sustainable Energy Roadmap’.

Actions proposed will have to adhere to the following priorities:

• Sustainability: Actions proposed for funding must demonstrate that they contribute to the achievement of governments energy service goals in a sustainable way beyond the end of the EU’s financial assistance and/or being resilient to the effects of extreme weather events.
• Institutional sustainability: will need to be addressed, demonstrating that the project management structure will continue to successfully operate the project during its entire expected lifetime.
• Scalability and replicability: Applicants will need to demonstrate that the proposed action offers a good potential for replication and upscaling. An assessment of this potential should be provided. The applicants shall also recommend a project information dissemination plan.
• Productive and welfare use of energy: Actions should go beyond increasing access to affordable energy services for households only and must include activities that promote or stimulate local productive activities to promote economic growth, generate jobs and increase livelihood opportunities.
• Active role of women: Applicants shall consider involving women in the development, implementation, operation and management of the proposed actions.
• Private sector involvement or leveraging private sector funds: Considering the limited amounts of funds available] under this Call for Proposals in comparison with the total required investment needs, the involvement of private investors and financial institutions as associates in the action could be sought, including in mitigating the risks of the action.

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant(s)

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

• be a legal person; and
• be non-profit-making and
• be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, public sector operator, local authority, international (inter-governmental) organisation as defined by Article 156 of the EU Financial Regulation and
• be established in Belize or in a Member State of the European Union or in an African, Caribbean or Pacific (ACP) State
• This obligation does not apply to international organisations
  • be officially registered according to the legislation in force in their respective country during at least the last three years; and
• be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

• 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 satisy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant.
• Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.

• The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
• Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(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 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.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/32VxaI8.