Call for Proposals: Protecting the Rights of Vulnerable Children in Timor-Leste

Deadline: 05-Apr-2024

The European Commission (EC) has announced a call for proposals to protect and promote human rights and democracy in Timor-Leste.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues

• The specific objective of this call for proposals is to address inequalities in access to human rights by protecting and empowering individuals, more specifically the most vulnerable children in Timor-Leste.
• The priorities of this call for proposals are:
  • to protect and empower the most vulnerable children in Timor-Leste through civil society action in defence of child rights; and
  • to build the capacity of Timorese civil society to protect and empower the most vulnerable children in Timor-Leste through civil society action in defence of child rights.
• More specifically, the aim of this call for proposals is to fund activities that promote protection, fulfilment, and understanding of the rights of children in Timor-Leste, with a special emphasis on the most vulnerable categories. More specifically, these include girls, as well as children with mental and/ or physical disabilities; children deprived of a family environment (including those in kinship care or in a street situation); children in the judicial system; adolescent mothers; LGBTIQ children, children living in remote areas with limited or no access to basic services, etc. In addition (in parallel), the aim is to develop the capacity of Timorese civil society to undertake such activities.
• Specific activities that this call aims to enable include those that:
  • Take concrete action to prevent, stop, and/ or remedy the abuse and violence (emotional, physical, sexual, etc.) and/ or neglect perpetrated against the most vulnerable children, whether it takes place in households, in government institutions (educational, social, judicial, etc.), in the private sector, or in any other context.
  • Take concrete action to ensure access to basic services for vulnerable children including health, education, water and sanitation, psychosocial services, food and non-food items, shelter, etc. by addressing the existing barriers to access.
  • Promote and support the active participation of children in decisions that affect them.
  • Inform Timorese children and/ or their carers about child rights through strategic communication and events, including on one or more relevant ‘International Days’.
  • All activities supported by this call shall include a strong component of inclusion and equitable access and sharing of benefits based on context-specific vulnerability assessments to ensure no child is left behind.

Sectors or Themes

• Human Rights and Democracy. Actions must address the objectives and priority issues of this call for proposals.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 970 000, EUR 420 000 to be financed under 2023 budget and indicatively EUR 550 000 to be financed under 2024 budget.
• Size of grants
  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
    • Minimum amount: EUR 970 000
    • Maximum amount: EUR 970 000

Duration

• The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 48 months.

Activities

• Types of activity which may be financed under this call:
  • activities working with vulnerable children, their families, communities, institutions, to protect children from abuse, violence and neglect
  • activities that empower vulnerable children, their carers, and their communities to remove obstacles preventing vulnerable children from enjoying full access to their rights
  • activities that protect vulnerable children from involvement in the worst forms of child labour and from early child marriage
  • activities assist the correct civil registration of children to facilitate them accessing their full rights
  • providing medical care and/ or psychological counselling to child victims of abuse, violence or neglect
  • providing legal assistance to vulnerable children in need of such assistance whether as an accused, a victim, a complainant, or a witness

Location

• Actions must take place in Timor-Leste.

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 civil society organisation (CSO), and
    • be established in any country, 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.
  • International (inter-governmental) organisations as defined by Article 43 of the Rules of application of the EU Financial Regulation are not eligible, nor can act as co-applicant(s) under this call for proposals.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • Co-applicants must participate with the lead applicant 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 form.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).
  • In addition, please note that contracts cannot be awarded to or signed with applicants included in the lists of EU restrictive measures.
• 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 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 EC.