Call for Proposals: Regional support for Youth in Africa

Deadline: 21-May-23

The European Commission is accepting proposals to support the participation and engagement of young people in seizing opportunities and contributing to intercultural dialogue, human cohesion, human rights, climate change and employment in the Sahel, specifically in 6 countries of the Sahel region (Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso).

Objectives

• The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals is/are :
  • SO.1: Strengthening the capacities of young people (girls and boys) in the areas of leadership, social cohesion, conflict mitigation, climate change, social media, digitization, advocacy and coordination and management.
  • SO.2: Improved access to employment opportunities and socio-professional integration of young people.

Priorities

• This call for proposals has the following priority(ies):
• The cross-cutting priorities of this call for proposals are:
  • The work in consortia of international and local NGOs (in the 6 countries of intervention) in order to cover with expertise and capacities based on experiences the main axes of the actions to be developed and implemented.
  •  The search for coherence and close coordination with the interventions financed by the EU and its EEMM on the same issues in each country and region prioritized.
  •  Partnership with national youth organizations and with local and decentralized structures.
  • Conflict sensitivity, peace and resilience, environmental protection, climate change, and respect for human rights.
  •  Prioritization in countries in insecurity of actions in favor of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
  • Equality between men and women, the empowerment of women and girls and through numerous actions structured around the 6 main priority areas of the Gender Equality Action Plan (GAP III 2021-2025) which are: The eradication of all forms of gender violence. The promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Strengthening economic and social rights and ensuring the empowerment of girls and women. Foster equal participation and leadership. Integrate the action plan for women, peace and security. Meeting the challenges of green transition and digital transformation.
  •   The integration of digital technologies based on priorities for action: promoting digital culture and skills; fostering digital entrepreneurship and job creation; promote the use of digital technologies.

Strategic and geographic priorities

• Alignment of the action with the EU’s “Global Gateway” strategy and more particularly on their approach to strengthening partnerships and connecting goods, people and services around the world in a sustainable way, and that of to obtain better visibility of the action of the European Union in the world.
•  Alignment with the priorities of the different Team Europe Initiative (TEI) of each country involved and for which the YES project could have complementarities.
• The actions must also be consistent and aligned with the national policies of each country, in particular the National Youth Policies.
• The project should contribute strategically to the implementation of the “Youth Action Plan (YAP) in EU external action 2022 – 2027” and its future National Implementation Plans at the level of each country (CLIP acronyms in English).
•  The project should contribute strategically to the implementation of the “Gender Action Plan” (GAP III) and to the various Country Implementation Plans (CLIP) of each country.
•   Actions must be implemented in all of the following countries: Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso.
• The choice of areas of intervention will take into account EU interventions in each country to strengthen complementarity, and more particularly for interventions that can provide employment/self-employment opportunities for young people (girls and boys ) . In these areas of intervention, public youth centers (belonging to Ministries of Youth or decentralized administrations) will be taken into account to locate the actions of the project.

Sectors or Themes

• Pillar 1: Youth engagement (girls and boys) / A partnership to engage:
  •  Promotion of capacity building of youth CSOs at regional and national level to increase youth civic and political participation.
  • Reinforcement of bodies promoting advice and meaningful engagement of young people on EU external action/European cooperation policies through the creation of ” YouthSounding Boards ” (YSB) at the level of each country and of the Sahel.
  • Promotion of awareness campaigns at regional and national level for the promotion of peace, social cohesion, intercultural dialogue, the fight against climate change and other themes of interest to young people.
  • Strengthening partnerships to take responsibility and commit to key themes for young people.
  • Fostering conducive spaces and environments for civic participation and political engagement of young people.
• Pillar 2: Youth empowerment (girls and boys) / Improve youth access to economic opportunities :
  • Skills building and vocational education and training focused on economic/employment opportunities.
  • Strengthening platforms and youth centers to inform young people in the region about opportunities for personal and professional development.
  • Support for guidance and coaching of young people for access to employment and self-employment/entrepreneurship.
  • Foster youth employability, by supporting partnerships between the technical vocational education and training (TVET) system and the private economic sector/labour market;
•  Pillar 3: Youth connections (girls and boys) / Partnership to connect:
  • Promotion of coordination and advocacy of youth CSOs at regional and national level.
  • Actions favoring mobility opportunities for young people in education, training and work.
  • Actions promoting contact between young people, face-to-face or via social networks.

Funding Information

• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  • Minimum amount: EUR 4.5 million
  •  Maximum amount: EUR 5 million.
• Duration: The initial planned duration of an action may not be less than 36 months nor exceed 48 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  • be a legal person, and
  • have no profit motive, and
  • belong to one of the following categories of organisations: non-governmental organisation, local authority, international (intergovernmental) organization as defined in Article 156 of the Financial Regulation of the European Union  and
  • be established  in a Member State of the European Union or in one of the six countries where actions must be implemented (Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso) or in an eligible country within the meaning of the Instrument of neighbourhood, development cooperation and international cooperation (IVCDCI – Europe in the world);
• 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 the affiliated entity(ies) and not act as an intermediary, and
  • have effective and measurable work experience in at least three of the six beneficiary countries of the intervention.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • Co-applicants take part in drawing up and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those borne by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants must meet the same eligibility criteria as apply to the lead applicant itself.
  • Co-applicants must sign the mandate.
  • If the grant is awarded to them, any co-applicants become beneficiaries within the framework of the action (with the coordinator).
•  In addition, please note that contracts cannot be awarded to or signed with applicants on the EU restrictive measures lists.
• Affiliated Entities
• The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with one or more affiliated entities.
  • Only the following entities can be considered affiliated to the lead applicant and/or co-applicant(s):
    • Only entities that have a structural link with the applicants (the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
  • This structural link mainly encompasses two notions:
    • control, within the meaning of Directive 2013/34/EU on annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings.
  • Entities affiliated with an applicant can therefore be:
    • entities controlled directly or indirectly by the applicant (subsidiaries or first-tier subsidiaries) or controlled by an entity itself controlled by the applicant (sub-subsidiaries or second-tier subsidiaries). This is valid for the other control levels;
    • entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Similarly, they may be entities controlling a company controlling the applicant;
    • entities at the same level of direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies);
•  membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as, for example, a network, federation or association of which the proposed affiliated entity is a member, or the applicant is a member of the same entity (for example, a network, a federation or an association,…) than the proposed affiliated entity.

For more information, visit EC.