Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights & Democracy Program

Deadline: 01-Jul-2024

The European Commission is seeking proposals to contribute to the full enjoyment of all human rights and strengthen the capacities of civil society in the promotion of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms in El Salvador.

Program Objectives and Priorities

Lot 1: Civil Society Organizations Program (NDICI-OSC)
- The specific objective of lot 1 of this call for proposals is to strengthen the capacities of CSOs to promote dialogue with state institutions at the local level, as well as reinforce participation and articulation between different social actors, with special attention to the inclusion of vulnerable population (people with disabilities, older adults, indigenous peoples and LGBTIQ+ people.
- Type of actions as an indication:
  - Initiatives that promote citizen expression of matters of public interest, capacities to contribute to the processes of elaboration and monitoring of public policies, mainly those that impact local development;
  - Expand and strengthen networks of multi-sector community and national organizations to share strategies, promote citizen participation and protect the physical and virtual security of their members;
  - Promotion and defense of the rights of citizen participation (access to information, participation in decision-making, social oversight) in local government matters and within the framework of the new configuration of municipalities in El Salvador;
  - Promotion of community leadership through the construction of livelihoods, creation of spaces insurance and promotion of human rights of excluded groups;
Lot 2: Human Rights and Democracy (NDICI-HR)
- The specific objective of lot 2 of this call is to strengthen the work of human rights defense organizations, which work to ensure that access to justice for adolescents deprived of liberty conforms to the international parameters of rights applicable to juvenile criminal justice. With special attention to arbitrary captures and compliance with due process.
- Type of actions as an indication:
  - Monitor cases and provide mechanisms for access to justice, psychosocial care and reparation measures to victims of the negative effects of the emergency regime with emphasis on young people, women, LGBTIQ+ people, people with disabilities and human rights defenders;
  - Strengthening capacities for the rehabilitation and reintegration of young people who have been in conflict with the law;
  - Strengthening capacities for justice system operators, through the creation of protocols and psychosocial care guides for juvenile criminal justice care;
  - Support the implementation of methodologies that encourage vocational guidance, personal and citizenship skills that positively influence the social reintegration of young people in conflict with the law;
  - Initiatives to protect and defend the rights of young people and adolescents focused on the empowerment, employability and entrepreneurship of young people;
  - Improved capacity to collect and use data, investigate human rights violations, based on robust evidence, and improve access to justice through training and capacity development.

General and Operating Principles (for both lots)

This call for proposals will finance projects that respect the Rights-Based Approach (RBA) methodology at each stage of the project management cycle, from identification to evaluation, through formulation, implementation and monitoring, the five principles of the EBD: i) legality, universality and indivisibility of human rights, ii) participation, iii) non-discrimination, iv) accountability, and v) transparency, as reflected in the latest version of the document «Application of the approach based on human rights to international partnerships: an updated set of instruments to place rights holders at the center of the EU’s neighborhood policy, development cooperation and international cooperation.
Gender equality is an integral part of the human rights-based approach and encompasses the promotion, protection and respect of all human rights. The Gender Action Plan 2021-2025 (GAP 111)8 proposes a transformative and intersectoral approach, and integrates the gender perspective into all policies and actions. It aims to address the structural causes of gender inequality and discrimination, and combat gender norms and stereotypes. Finally, to leave no one behind, the action plan seeks to address all cross-cutting dimensions of discrimination, paying special attention, for example, to women with disabilities, migrant women and discrimination based on age or sexual orientation.
All proposals must be formulated on an already established baseline that allows specifying indicators of objectives and results. These must be disaggregated by gender, within the logical framework of the proposal, and thus facilitate the measurement of the change in the conditions that the action seeks to transform. The proposals must include a monitoring and evaluation system and specific activities for timely and active communication of the results and knowledge achieved. Likewise, they must be sustainable, scalable and multiplyable without requiring the injection of new external funds; these aspects must be considered in the design and implementation of the actions. It is important that human resources be available beyond the duration of the planned actions. The actions will have better sustainability if they are based on existing human resources in public, private or civil society partners, without the need to resort to hiring numerous personnel just for the purposes of implementing the action.
Furthermore, proposals should include, where appropriate, sensitivity to conflict and environmental issues (environmental sustainability, environmental risk reduction, etc.) and take into account the needs and challenges faced by target groups and people in vulnerable situations.

Funding Information

The total indicative amount allocated to this call for proposals amounts to €3,561,000 EUR. The Contracting Authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
Indicative allocation of funds:
- Lot 1 NDICI-OSC: 2,552,000 EUR
- Lot 2 NDICI-HR: 1,009,000 EUR
Subsidy amounts
- The subsidies requested within this call for proposals will be between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  - Lot 1 NDICI-OSC:
    - maximum amount: 1,000,000 EUR
    - minimum amount: 500,000 EUR
  - Lot 2 NDICI-HR:
    - maximum amount: 600,000 EUR
    - minimum amount: 500,000 EUR

Duration

The initial planned duration of an action may not be less than 36 months nor more than 48 months.

Location

For both lots the actions will be executed in El Salvador.

Eligibility Criteria

Primary applicant
- To be eligible for a grant, the main applicant must:
  - be a legal entity and
  - not have a profit motive; and
  - be a civil society organization; and
  - be established in El Salvador, or in a Member State of the European Union or in any admissible country in accordance with the provisions of the basic act IVCDCI-GE; and
  - be directly responsible, with their co-applicants and affiliated entities, for the preparation and management of the action and not simply act as intermediaries; and
  - verify having obtained legal status from the competent authority for at least three years, prior to the presentation of the proposal; and
  - check to have previously implemented actions within the scope of the actions listed in point 1.2. of this guide, for at least the same period of time, three years; (this criterion applies to at least one member of the consortium and only for lot 1 NDICI-OSC); and
  - submit with at least one co-applicant per proposal and at least one member of the consortium (applicant or co-applicant) must be Salvadoran.
- Please note that international organizationsl and pillar-assessed organizationsl8 are not eligible under this call for proposals.
Co-applicants
- The co-applicants will participate in the design and implementation of the action, and the costs incurred will be eligible for subsidies in the same way as those incurred by the main applicant.
- Co-applicants must meet the eligibility criteria applicable to the main applicant themselves.
- Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
- If the grant contract is awarded, the co-applicants (if applicable) will become beneficiaries of the action (along with the coordinator).
Affiliated entities
- The main applicant and its co-applicants may act with affiliated entities. Only the following entities may be considered affiliated entities of the lead applicant or co-applicants:
  - Only entities that have a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the main applicant or a co-applicant), especially if the link is legal or capital.
  - This structural link mainly covers two aspects:
    - Control on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and other related reports of certain types of companies.
    - Thus, the entities affiliated with an applicant can be:
      - Entities controlled directly or indirectly by the applicant (subsidiary companies or first-level subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled in tum by the applicant (second-level subsidiaries), and the same applies to subsequent levels of control.
      - Entities that directly or indirectly control the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities that control an entity that in turn controls the applicant.
      - Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (associated companies).
    - Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as, for example, a network, federation or association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate, or the applicant participates in the same entity (for example, network, federation or association) than the proposed affiliated entities.