Call for Proposals: Support to Civil Society Organizations’ Initiatives to Assist & Protect Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Deadline: 11-Sep-20

The Council of Europe’s Anti-Trafficking Division has launched a call for project proposals by civil society organisations to prevent trafficking in human beings and assist and protect victims of trafficking in the specific context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives

• In the specific emergency context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the grants will fund projects designed to ensure that victims of human trafficking and those at risk of being trafficked are included in the response measures to the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
• Projects designed could address the following issues:
  • Research on the impact of COVID-19 on the fight against trafficking in human beings and the protection of victims and persons at risk of becoming victims;
  • Promotion and protection of the rights of victims of trafficking, including issues related to impaired access to health, adequate accommodation and psycho-social services;
  • Provision of information and support to facilitate reporting and self-identification, as well as access to justice and redress. This might include initiatives aiming at developing early warning mechanisms to protect vulnerable people from trafficking in human beings, including for the purpose of labour exploitation; · Awareness-raising targeting both victims of trafficking or persons at risk of being trafficked, and the general public. This might include initiatives aiming at combating trafficking in human beings facilitated by the increased use of the Internet and other communication tools.

Funding Information

• The indicative available budget under this call for proposals is 80 000 Euros (eighty thousand Euros).
• The Council of Europe intends to award grants of up to a maximum amount of 20 000 Euros (twenty thousand Euros) each.

Means of Action

Projects should include specifically tailored activities aiming at supporting the implementation and/or followup of GRETA’s findings and recommendations related to the country where the action is implemented.

Implementation Period

• The implementation period of the projects should start on 1 October 2020 and shall not extend beyond 1 May 2021.
• Reporting requirements shall be completed on 1 June 2021 at the latest.

Target Stakeholders

Projects should target in particular the following key stakeholders:

• Civil society organisations
• Victims of trafficking and persons at risk of being trafficked
• General population

Eligibility Criteria

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

• be legally constituted as a non-governmental organisation in a Council of Europe member state;
• be entitled to carry out activities described in its project proposal;
• have been active for at least five years in the field of combating trafficking in human beings;
• have sufficient financial capacity (stable and sufficient sources of funding) to maintain its activity throughout the period for which the grant is awarded and to participate by way of its own resources (including human resources or in-kind contributions);
• have sufficient operational and professional capacity, including staff, to carry out activities described in its project proposal;
• have a bank account. Multiple applications are not allowed and shall lead to the exclusion of all applications concerned.

Award Criteria

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

• the relevance and added value of the project with regard to the objective of the call (30%);
• the extent to which the action meets the requirements of the call (30%);
• the quality, accuracy, clarity, completeness and cost-effectiveness of the application, including the estimated budget (25%);
• the relevance of the experience of the applying organisation(s) and staff (15%).

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