CFPs: Support CSOs as Actors of Governance & Development in Partner Countries

Deadline: 15-Feb-23

The European Commission (EC) is offering grants to support Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) as actors of governance and development in partner countries.

The global objective of this call for proposals is to strengthen CSOs in Mongolia as independent actors of good governance and development in their own right, to contribute to an inclusive, participatory, empowered, and independent civil society and democratic space in partner countries and an inclusive and open dialogue with and between Civil Society Organisations.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this call for proposal is to:

Specific Objective 1: To strengthen capacities of local CSOs in the area of digital transformation to increase their contribution to empowerment of the society via digital technology
Specific Objective 2: To improve capacity and ability of local civil society partners to uphold and promote an enabling environment in Mongolia
Specific Objective 3: Strengthened capacity of local CSOs to youth inclusion and strengthened capacity of local youth partner CSOs

Priorities

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

Activities contributing to Specific Objective 1:
- Support CSOs in raising awareness of public authorities and citizens regarding the possible opportunities and challenges posed by the digital transformation, and support CSOs in advocating for strong policies, legislation and regulatory frameworks aimed at addressing those challenges and harnessing the opportunities of digitalization, in line with the EU’s human-centric approach
- Support CSOs in strengthening digital skills of citizens in order to create an inclusive digital transformation
- Supporting CSOs awareness of digital threats as well as their digital security through training and secured digital infrastructure
- Support and strengthen CSOs capacity to reduce the digital gender gap and other gaps related to age, disability, location, social and economic status, discrimination and migration/refugee status (IDPs, refugees, etc.)
Activities contributing to Specific Objective 2:
- Support for civil society advocacy related to an enabling environment, including support to strengthen the positive narrative of civil society and counter defamation, hate speech and digital harassment on social media platforms
- Support for local and national civil society networks and platforms and civil society participation in multi-stakeholder dialogue fora aimed at strengthening alliances for civil society with other actors including media, private sector, academia etc. including ensuring accessibility of meetings and platforms to enable diverse organisations to participate.
Activities contributing to Specific Objective 3:
- Initiating, contributing to, and supporting policy dialogue on youth and enabling the active participation of youth, youth organizations in decision-making processes at all levels
- Supporting capacity building and training for youth organizations, and for CSOs working specifically on youth inclusion
- Strengthen the rights of young people, including of those more marginalised, such as girls, young with disabilities or belonging to other marginalised groups, and their empowerment and involvement in public affairs, including by promoting their participation in their economy, society, and decision-making, notably through their active engagement in youth organisations

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2 000 000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
- minimum amount: EUR 500 000
- maximum amount: EUR 670 000
The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 30 months nor exceed 48 months.

Location: Actions must take place in Mongolia.

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 Civil Society Organisation and
  - be established in a Member State of the European Union or in a Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA) or in Mongolia officially registered in accordance with the legislation in force in the country concerned., 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 are NOT eligible, nor can act as co-applicant (s) under this call for proposals.
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
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, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU 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.
- The structural link shall as a general rule be neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation. This means that the link would exist independently of the award of the grant; it should exist before the call for proposals and remain valid after the end of the action.

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