Call for Proposals: Support Youth Engagement in Conflict Prevention and Peace-Building

Deadline: 15-Apr-24

The European Commission (EC) is pleased to announce a call for proposals to strengthen in-country civil society capacity to facilitate and enhance inclusive young women and young men participation in conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives and processes in Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia.

Objective

• The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals is:
  • In–country youth-led civil society organisations are better equipped to harness opportunities and to respond to challenges related to inclusive and conflict sensitive participation of young women and young men in conflict prevention initiatives, conflict resolution and peacebuilding processes at local, national and/or international level.

Priorities

• The priorities of this call for proposals are (not in order of precedence):
  • Supporting youth-led peacebuilding organisations and networks in their efforts to enhance inclusive youth participation and representation in peacebuilding initiatives and processes;
  • Enhance capacities of marginalised youth, particularly those more vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups or vulnerable to extremist ideologies, to engage in socio-political processes;
  • Fostering a culture of peace and respect for human rights and tolerance as a set of values conducive to peaceful societies;
  • Empowering young women and enhancing their role and meaningful participation in conflict prevention and conflict transformation as agents of positive change at societal level. This should be reflected in initiatives directly addressing young women meaningful participation in the entire project cycle and in initiatives supporting women-led organisations.

Sectors or Themes

• Peacebuilding, conflict prevention and resolution, youth inclusion.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 3,000,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• Size of grants
  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
    • minimum amount: EUR 500,000.
    • maximum amount: EUR 750,000.

Duration

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

Activities

• The following is an indicative, non-exhaustive list:
  • Activities aiming at promoting and supporting linkages between formal peace processes and youth-led peacebuilding initiatives;
  • Activities aiming at equipping youth, including marginalised youth, with knowledge and skills necessary for their active engagement in conflict prevention and peacebuilding processes;
  • Activities aiming at creating and maintaining open space for dialogue and youth empowerment, including through the protection of young activists;
  • Activities aiming to create space for inclusive (for instance inter- and/or intra- generational, inter-sectarian, inter-religious) dialogue on conflict resolution and peacebuilding topics relevant at local, national or international level;
  • Activities aiming at strengthening community dialogue involving for instance universities, religious authorities, youth associations and youth on issues such as gender, civic engagement, and peaceful resolution of disputes at local and community level with a special focus on environment and gender equality.

Location

• Actions must take place in one or more of the following countries: Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Tunisia.
• Action’s implementation in more than one of the above countries will be considered as an added value element.
• Within an action, specific activities can also be implemented in third countries which are different from the ones mentioned above, if that fits within the scope of the action and justified by the nature of the activity.

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, non-governmental organisation in line with the definition in recital (46) of the NDICI Regulation 2021/947 and
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or in Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia 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
• 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 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.