ENHANCER Project Turkey: Cooperative Support Grant Scheme for Job Creation

Deadline: 25-Aug-23

The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) is inviting proposals to increase SuTPs’ participation in cooperatives/union(s) of cooperatives as employees or partners in a sustainable manner while enhancing the resilience of cooperatives/union(s) of cooperatives amid the Covid-19 pandemic to improve socio-economic integration and livelihood opportunities for SuTPs and LHCs.

Objectives and Priority Areas

• The overall objective of this call for proposals is to increase the job creation efforts of relevant local stakeholders in Adana, Ankara, Gaziantep, Hatay and Şanlıurfa through grants.
• The specific objective of this call for proposals is to contribute to well-established, promising cooperatives/union(s) of cooperatives in targeted provinces to grow and thereby generate sustainable employment for SuTPs and LHC members.
• Hence, grants will be awarded to proposals that have the potential to create additional employment (or formalize employment) or membership in parallel with sustainable business growth.
• The priorities of this grant scheme are:
  • Generating sustainable employment for SuTPs and LHC members,
  • Integrating SuTPs into the Turkish economy through sustainable employment,
  • Increasing the amount of decent and registered employment opportunities,
  • Improving matching jobs and worker skills,
  • Scaling up production through improving resource efficiency and inclusive recruitment of new members or employees,
  • Digitalizing business processes through inclusive recruitment of new members or employees.
• The project considers the grantees as strategic stakeholders rather than establishing a one-time support relationship with the cooperatives/union(s) of cooperatives in the mid-term business development. It aims to incorporate other entrepreneurial support available in other activities of ENHANCER Project such as mentoring, B2B matching, improving access to alternative financing, and integration of local value chains to supply or marketing channels of higher-order companies in the chains, where applicable. Such potential synergies among project activities will be sought in improving grantee cooperatives/union(s) of cooperatives’ propensity to grow and employ more SuTPs and LHC members.
• Under this grant scheme, the approximate number of cooperatives/union(s) of cooperatives that are planned to be supported is 10-15. These cooperatives/union(s) of cooperatives are expected to create a total of 150 new jobs (employees or members) of which 60% shall be SuTPs and 40% shall be LHC members. The call for proposals also adopts a gender-inclusive approach, where women employment will be expected to constitute a minimum of 25% of the total employment created. Please bear in mind that these percentages are the overall objective of the grant programme. Priority will be given to activities respecting gender equality and increasing women/youth employment and employment of SuTPs.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2,592,000.
• Size of Grants Any grant awarded under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  • minimum amount: EUR 40,000
  • maximum amount: EUR 200,000
• Duration: The initial planned duration of an action may not be less than 8 months nor exceed 12 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead Applicant(s)
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be legally registered as a cooperative or union(s) of cooperatives and have their headquarters in the targeted provinces: Adana, Ankara, Gaziantep, Hatay and Şanlıurfa; and
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action, not acting as an intermediary; and
    • have been established at least 1 year prior to the announcement date of this call for proposals;
  • Applicants may act individually or with co-applicant(s).
• Co-applicant(s)
  • Where it is not specified otherwise the lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) (if any) are hereinafter jointly referred to as ‘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 of (a) and (b) as applicable to the lead applicant itself. Co-applicants do not necessarily need to be legally registered in the same province as the lead applicant; however, they should be legally registered in one of the targeted provinces: Adana, Ankara, Gaziantep, Hatay and Şanlıurfa.
  • Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
  • As a general principle, but in observance of the principle of proportionality, ICMPD shall exclude from participation applicants, which were found in situations of:
    • bankruptcy, insolvency or winding-up procedures;
    • breach of obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions;
    • grave professional misconduct, including misrepresentation;
    • fraud;
    • corruption;
    • conduct related to a criminal organisation;
    • money laundering or terrorist financing;
    • terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities;
    • child labour and other trafficking in human beings.
  • Please note that:
    • Political parties and their affiliated structures are not eligible as lead applicants or co-applicants under this call for proposals.
    • Provincial/regional/district directorates of central government cannot participate in this call for proposals as lead applicants or co-applicants; however, they may participate as associates.

Ineligible

• Actions already financed or in a process of being financed from state budget or other EU programmes, or other public funds;
• Establishing and developing any activity which can be a breach of Turkish legislation regarding safety at work, environment protection, employment of the workforce;
• Actions which are ideologically biased or partisan in nature;
• Actions of supporting or linked to political parties;
• Infrastructure projects;
• Actions with costs incurred outside the contract period;
• Procurement or lease of land, buildings or other similar facilities and structures;
• Actions that had started before applicants signed the contract for awarding grants.

For more information, visit ICMPD.