Call for Proposals: Support to Civil Society in Georgia

Deadline: 27-Feb-24

The European Commission (EC) has announced a call for proposals to support civil society in strengthening and promoting good governance, democratic values and human rights in Georgia.

Objectives

The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals is/are:
- Lot 1: to foster pluralism and inclusiveness in Georgian society and to strengthen the role, leadership and capacities of minorities and vulnerable groups in view of their effective participation in social dialogue, political processes and sustainable development
- Lot 2: to foster rights-based mental healthcare policy implementation
- Lot 3: to support waste prevention, waste management and encourage circular economy practices
- Lot 4: to counter disinformation and foreign interference and manipulation (FIMI)

Priorities

The priorities of this call for proposals are:
- Lot 1:
  - supporting religious and ethnic minority groups to ensure full social and economic inclusion in society as well as creating equal opportunities for ethnic and religious minorities to engage in political and civic participation
  - strengthening capacities of civil society, improvement of legislative framework, policies and practices to promote rights of LGBTIQ persons and promoting social inclusion of LGBTIQ persons in all spheres of life (family, work, social services including health care, education, politics, faith) both in urban and rural settings
- Lot 2:
  - implementing policies and actions that contribute to the strengthening and capacity building of the mental health sector in Georgia
  - promoting policy dialogue and actions for enforcement and implementation of the national mental health policy and legislation
  - raising awareness amongst the general public on mental health issues, fighting stigmata and contributing to the joint work with relevant non-state and state actors
- Lot 3:
  - implementing policies and actions that contribute to the strengthening and capacity building of local waste prevention and management capacities
  - encouraging behavioural change among populations towards reduction and separation of waste
  - assessing the needs for and contributing to the development of key waste prevention and management equipment/infrastructure at local level
  - introducing circular economy concepts at local level and setting re-using/reducing/recycling/upcycling initiatives as best practices
  - contributing to the design of a National Framework for Waste Prevention and Waste Management Linkage to Circular Economy Planning at municipal level based on the national guidance documents
- Lot 4:
  - building societal resilience and strengthening the whole-of-society approach to tackling disinformation by empowering CSOs, fact-checkers, researchers, scholars, media monitors, academia, media and investigative journalists
  - raising awareness amongst the general public about national security and hybrid threats, including cybersecurity, disinformation and foreign interference and manipulation – FIMI by working with relevant non-state and state actors

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 5 885 000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
Indicative allocation of funds by lot:
- Lot 1: EUR 1 685 000
- Lot 2: EUR 1 500 000
- Lot 3: EUR 1 500 000
- Lot 4: EUR 1 200 000
Size of grants
- Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  - Minimum amount (EUR)
    - Lot 1: 750 000
    - Lot 2: 1 400 000
    - Lot 3: 1 400 000
    - Lot 4: 1 000 000
  - Maximum amount (EUR)
    - Lot 1: 842 500
    - Lot 2: 1500 000
    - Lot 3: 1 500 000
    - Lot 4: 1 200 000

Duration

The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 48 months.

Activities

Lot 1
- Information provision and awareness raising on issues related to ethnic identities and heritage of minorities, such as language, culture, traditions;
- Facilitation of intercultural dialogue and educational activities and trainings;
- Promotion of proactive and strategic communication on broader issues of discrimination/tolerance;
- Training and empowerment of in media and journalism to foster a greater platform to promote inclusivity and involve role models for contributing to social transformation;
- Facilitation of information and training regarding civic and public engagement to foster greater involvement of minorities in public and political life;
Lot 2
- Development and conducting of Information and awareness raising campaigns and promotional events;
- Development and implementation of new training curricula (or update of old ones);
- Capacity development through workshops and seminars, peer learning visits, exchange of knowledge and experience, transfer of know-how at local, national and international level;
- Training relevant MH practitioners; coaching and mentoring of beneficiaries at local, sectoral or international level;
- Creation and/or improvement of digital tools/apps/software/portals;
Lot 3
- Development and conducting of information and awareness raising campaigns and promotional events;
- Capacity development through workshops and seminars, peer learning visits, exchange of knowledge and experience, transfer of know-how at local, national and international level;
- Reinforcement of internal capacities of municipal staff and CSOs working on waste prevention, waste management;
- Creation and/or improvement of digital tools/aps/software/portals;
- Creation and/ or strengthening of sector associations;
Lot 4
- Development of a FIMI toolbox;
- Conducting tailored strategic communication and advocacy campaigns on national and grassroots levels to raise the awareness of target groups on specific thematic issues;
- Facilitation of multi-stakeholder partnerships between the civil society sector, relevant authorities, private companies, creative industry and media;
- Capacity building of CSOs, fact-checkers, watchdog groups, activists, investigative media, academia, researchers, influencers and independent content creators;
- Monitoring of information space, traditional media and social media platforms to identify emerging narratives, uncover coordinated inauthentic behaviour, and curb the spread of manipulated content, fake news and conspiracy theories;

Location

Actions must take place in the following country: Georgia.

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant(s)
- In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  - Lot 1:
    - be a legal person and
    - be non-profit-making and
    - be a civil society organisation and
    - be established in a Member State of the European Union, in Georgia, or in any other eligible countries as stipulated in the basic act NDICI 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.
  - Lots 2 & 3:
    - be a legal person and
    - be non-profit-making and
    - be a civil society organisation and
    - be established in: Georgia or a Member State of the European Union, or in any other eligible countries as stipulated in the basic act NDICI ; 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.
  - Lot 4:
    - be a legal person and
    - be non-profit-making legal entities and
    - be established in: Georgia or a Member State of the European Union, or in any other eligible countries as stipulated in the basic act NDICI;
Co-applicant(s)
- It is obligatory that at least one co-applicant is involved in the action.
- If the lead applicant is not established in Georgia, the involvement in the action of at least one co-applicant established and functioning in Georgia is obligatory.
- 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 the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
- Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
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.