Call for Proposals: Human Rights and Support to Civil Society in Nigeria

Deadline: 18-Jul-24

The European Commission has announced a call for applications under thematic programme on human rights and democracy and provide support to civil society organisations in Nigeria.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues

• The call has two sets of objectives and priorities that address each thematic area.
  • Human Rights and Democracy Thematic Programme
    • The global objective of the thematic programme on human rights and democracy is to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law worldwide.
    • The specific objective is to attain two of the strategic priorities for EU action on protecting and promoting human rights and supporting democracy in line with the EU Human Rights and Democracy Country strategy for Nigeria adopted in 2021.
    • The two selected priorities of the support to human rights and democracy are:
      • Lot 1: Rights of the Child 
        • Support relevant institutions, religious leaders, faith-based organisations and communities to address age-long traditions and social norms that infringe on the rights of the child. Promote the rights of the child including passage and implementation of the Child Rights Act.
      • Lot 2: Rights of Persons with Disability 
        • Support civil society organisations, faith-based organisations and the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities collaboratively engage to implement the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act and promote the rights of Persons with Disability.
  • CSO Thematic Programme 
    • The global objective of the support to civil societies is to strengthen CSOs as independent actors of good governance and development in their own right. The specific objectives are to strengthen the capacities of local CSOs to engage in policy dialogues at national level and in dialogues, implementation and monitoring of national development plans and programmes at sub-national level. It also contributes to achieving the objectives of the EU Roadmap for engagement with civil society in Nigeria (2021 – 2027).
    • The selected priorities of the support to civil societies are:
      • Lot 3: Social Protection 
        • Support civil society organisations, faith-based organisations and communities participate collaboratively and engage with government to ensure effective delivery of social protection services by federal and state institutions and harness opportunities to strengthen social protection systems with government institutions with social protection mandates at federal and sub-national levels.
      • Lot 4: Youth Inclusion 
        • Support actions that build the capacity of youth led/youth focused organisations including building their capacity to effectively engage and collaborate with government at federal and state levels on developing youth inclusive policies and support youth participation in decision-making processes.

Crosscutting Themes 

• Actions proposed under this call for proposals must meet all of the following:
  • Actions that will support the achievement of the objectives of this call for proposals.
  • Actions that establish a memorandum of understanding between implementing partners and relevant stakeholders.
  • Actions that build on previous experiences and/or liaises with other initiatives working towards similar objectives.
  • Actions that are conflict sensitive and adopt a Human Rights Based Approach.
  • Actions that mainstream gender, climate change adaptation, and increase the participation of internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups.
• Specific themes for Lot 1: Rights of the Child 
  • Actions that address age-long traditions that infringe on the rights of the child e.g. Child marriage, child slavery, etc.
  • Actions that address the abuse and exploitation of children in all of its forms e.g. Child labour, child slavery, child trafficking, etc.
  • Actions that promote the rights of the child including domestication and implementation of the Child Rights Act at sub-national levels.
• Specific themes for Lot 2: Rights of Persons with Disabilities 
  • Actions that support implementation of the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act.
  • Actions that domesticate the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act at state levels
  • Actions that promote economic empowerment of persons with disabilities through technology and entrepreneurship skills development.
• Specific themes for Lot 3: Social Protection 
  • Actions that enhance the knowledge base on social protection interventions in Nigeria and allow cocreation of social protection policies.
  • Actions that create awareness on impact of social protection interventions in Nigeria.
  • Actions that support inclusivity of social safety nets designs and monitoring; and expansion of the social register.
  • Actions that supports strengthening of social protection systems with government institutions with social protection mandates.
• Specific themes for Lot 4: Youth Inclusion 
  • Actions that support participatory dialogue mechanisms.
  • Actions that enable technology based solutions for providing feedback on basic service delivery.
  • Actions that build the capacity of youth organisations and/or networks to advocate for youth inclusive policies at federal and state levels.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 3,740,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• The overall indicative amount made available under the Human Rights and Democracy thematic programme is EUR 1,740,000 and EUR 2,000,000 under the CSO thematic programme.
• Indicative allocation of funds by lots:
  • Lot 1: EUR 870,000
  • Lot 2: EUR 870,000
  • Lot 3: EUR 1,000,000
  • Lot 4: EUR 1,000,000
• Size of grants
  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
    • Lot 1
      • Maximum amount: EUR 870,000
      • Minimum amount: EUR 435,000
      • Intended number of contracts: 1-2
    • Lot 2
      • Maximum amount: EUR 870,000
      • Minimum amount: EUR 435,000
      • Intended number of contracts: 1-2
    • Lot 3
      • Maximum amount: EUR 1,000,000
      • Minimum amount: EUR 500,000
      • Intended number of contracts: 1-2
    • Lot 4
      • Maximum amount: EUR 1,000,000
      • Minimum amount: EUR 500,000
      • Intended number of contracts: 1-2

Duration 

• The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 36 months.

Types of Activity 

• The types of activities that may be financed under this call for proposals include but are not limited to:
  • Lot 1: Rights of the Child  
    • Activities that will support high-level dialogue with political, civil and religious authorities.
    • Activities that will support civic education and literacy in the area of child rights within and outside the education system, and facilitate opportunities for community actors to develop their own roadmap for supporting child rights at community levels.
    • Activities that build community resilience to prevent and report child abuse and exploitation.
  • Lot 2: Rights of Person with Disabilities 
    • Activities that will support high-level dialogues with political, civil and religious authorities on the need for inclusivity of persons with disabilities.
    • Activities that raise awareness on the Discrimination against Persons with Disability (Prohibition) Act and support domestication of the Law at state level. These can include advocacy, lobbying State Houses of Assembly, sensitizing communities on the need to domesticate laws at state level.
    • Activities that promote economic empowerment of persons with disabilities including providing technology and entrepreneurship skills.
  • Lot 3: Social Protection 
    • Activities that create awareness on effects of poverty and inequalities, the knowledge base on social protection interventions in Nigeria and assess the impact of government social protection policies at national and state levels.
    • Activities that support inclusivity of social safety nets designs and monitoring; expansion of the social register; participation of community and civil society actors in the design, implementation and monitoring of social protection programmes at state and national levels.
    • Activities that strengthen local organisations and communities actors to ensure effective delivery of social protection programmes.
  • Lot 4: Youth Inclusion 
    • Activities that address apathy of youths on governance issues.
    • Activities that improve access to government data, including access to government data for persons with disabilities.
    • Activities that translate relevant information enhancing youth participation in governance into local languages.

Location

• Actions must take place in Federal Republic of Nigeria. Actions can be implemented at the state level i.e. in one or more of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

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 a Member State of the European Union, Nigeria, or countries as stated in art. 28 NDICI-Global Europe Regulation. This obligation does not apply to international organisations 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 and
    • have documented experience implementing projects in the area of the lot under which they are submitting an application for and
    • must operate at the state or local government level in Nigeria with considerable experience working at the grassroots. Failing this, must have a co-applicant operating at the state or local government level with considerable experience working at the grassroots and
  • Experience providing and managing sub-grants of up to EUR60,000 to local organisations will be an added value.
• 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 all eligibility criteria, except having experience managing and providing sub-grants to local organisation as this only applies to the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants should be no less than 2 and no more than 3.
  • Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator)
• Affiliated entities 
  • 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 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 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 and association) as the proposed affiliated entities.

For more information, visit EC.