Engaging Civil Society for better Nutrition Programme (Nepal)

Deadline: 10-May-24

The European Commission is seeking submissions for its action grant to contribute to the effectiveness of the Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan 3 implementation, with a focus on inclusion of the most vulnerable.

Nepal is a Least Developed Country (LDC) located in the Himalayas, endowed with an extremely diverse geography, climate, population and very biodiverse. It is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, ranking fourth in terms of climate risk. Nepal aspires to graduate from least developed country by December 2026.

The GoN has worked in close coordination with development partners to formulate the third phase of the Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan (MSNP-3), which covers the period from 2023 to 2030. MSNP-3 differs from previous nutrition plans in that it is designed in line with the new federal structure of governance, which has devolved many responsibilities to local and provincial governments. MSNP3 is funded by the Government of Nepal and various partners. It is a continuation to the previous strategies MSNP-2 (2018-2023) and MSNP-1 (2013-2018).

Call for proposals has the ambition to facilitate the contribution of civil society in the nutrition sector, working together with the EU Budget support, in dialogue with the 3 tiers of Government in Nepal. The call will support better policy dialogue and accountability, as well as better nutritional outcomes on the Leave No One Behind (LNOB) agenda.

Objectives 

• The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
  • For Lot 1, “Good governance for quality nutrition services”:
    • Ensuring meaningful and structured participation of CSOs in results-oriented policy dialogue on Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan-3 and effective governance in its implementation, at federal and provincial levels.
  • For Lot 2, “Quality nutrition services: leaving no one behind in the Terai” and Lot 3, “Quality nutrition services: leave no one behind in the hilly and mountain regions”:
    • Ensuring civil society’s support to inclusive implementation of MSNP-3 at local level, delivering equitable access to nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive high quality services.

Priorities

• The priorities of this call for proposals are:
  • For lot 1, specific linked to objective 1:
    • Actions will work on policy dialogue towards more accountability and inclusiveness of MSNP-3 at federal and provincial levels.
    • The policy dialogue on nutrition should rely on collaborative multi-actors partnerships coordinated with authorities, with the long-term objective of promoting more accountable, effective and sustainable systems. In addition, the policy dialogue can address issues that do not receive adequate consideration within the existing MSNP framework but are key to progress and reflect human rights concerns.
    • The actions proposed will promote data driven advocacy and accountability through, for example, models, campaigns, studies, research, capacity building and promotion of best practices (existing or to be developed).
    • The actions can also support the promotion of social accountability tools to improve the governance of the nutrition systems.
  • For lot 2 and lot 3, linked to specific objective 2:
    • Actions will focus on facilitating and increasing the access to public quality nutrition services for socially and economically disadvantaged and marginalised population (including those with disabilities).
    • Recognising that the factors hindering access to quality nutrition services are multiple in nature and cannot be solely addressed by purely “nutrition” interventions, actions under this lot will take a holistic approach to reach the unreached, promoting transformative, local solutions. They will promote behaviour and norm changes in communities to increase the appeal of accessing the services, provide culturally appropriate solutions and tackle opportunity costs of good nutrition for the most vulnerable.
• This call has the following 4 crosscutting priority issues:
  • Promoting Gender equality and social inclusion through Gender/Social Transformative approaches, based on sound analysis of the root causes (Gender sector analysis, disability analysis, community specific analysis etc.), challenging harmful gender norms, promoting meaningful representation, and using SMART6, sexdisaggregated indicators.
  • Following Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) encompassing all human rights, whether civil, political, economic, social or cultural. Specific mentions of the use of the HRBA principles at different moments of the action cycle will be an asset.
  • Ensuring knowledge creation and replicability: The action should have a “multiplier effect”, i.e. a possibility for replication and extension of the outcomes, especially if it applies innovative approaches. To ensure replicability and extension, the action should have a robust monitoring system, adequate documentation, and demonstrate the ‘multiplier effect’.
  • Driving coherence of nutrition-related actions: since nutrition outcomes are not linked to a single sector, and the policy the Government is implementing (MSNP III) is itself multi-sectoral, Actions selected under this call for proposals should not try to cover all sectors themselves and instead must demonstrate strong coordination and coherence with other implementing partners in those sectors.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 1,900,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  • Lot 1- Good Governance for quality nutrition services:
    • minimum amount: EUR 450,000
    • maximum amount: EUR 500,000
  • Lot 2- Quality nutrition services: leaving no one behind in the Terai:
    • minimum amount: EUR 600,000
    • maximum amount: EUR 700,000
  • Lot 3- Quality nutrition services: leaving no one behind in the hilly and mountain regions:
    • minimum amount: EUR 600,000
    • maximum amount: EUR 700,000
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the action:
  • Minimum percentage: 51% of the total eligible costs of the action.
  • Maximum percentage: 80% of the total eligible costs of the action
  • Maximum percentage: 95% of the total eligible costs of the action only applicable where all members of the partnership (lead applicant, co-applicants and affiliated entities if any) are established in Nepal.

Types of Actions

• Lot 1- Good governance for quality nutrition services: 
  • Actions reinforcing collaboration between CSOs and Government entities.
  • Actions promoting evidence based planning, transparency, monitoring and accountability in the implementation of MSNP-3.
  • Action advocating for strengthened governance and inclusiveness of MSNP-3 at federal and provincial level, in particular those using social accountability tools.
• Lot 2- Quality nutrition services: leaving no one behind in the Terai region and Lot 3- Quality nutrition services: leaving no one behind in the hilly and mountain regions. 
  • Action promoting equitable and inclusive access to nutrition services.
  • Action contributing to improving the quality of nutrition services, in particular by aligning services to identified needs.
  • Action promoting transformative local solutions, in particular promoting positive norm or behaviour change against practices harmful for good nutrition.

Eligibility Criteria           

• Lead applicant
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person, and
    • be non-profit-making, and
    • be a specific type of organisation: non-governmental organisation, and
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or in Nepal or in any country eligible under the Financing Instrument for development cooperation for the period 2021-2027
    • Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entities, not acting as an intermediary.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • The lead applicant must act with at least one (1) co-applicant, but not more than three (3) co-applicants:
    • If the lead applicant is Nepali, it must act with at least one (1) co-applicant,
    • If the lead applicant is non-Nepali, it must act with at least one (1) Nepali co-applicant. Selection of a particular co-applicant will have to be justified based on the co-applicant’s particular experiences, or organisational strengths, or other strategic significance in the context of the proposed action.
  • 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.

For more information, visit European Commission.