EU announces European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Programs in El Salvador

Deadline: 21 May 2019

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organizations to provide funding under two programme lots:

• LOT 1: European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR)
• LOT 2: Civil Society Organizations (CSO)

The general objective of this call for proposals is to strengthen civil society so that it can play its role, thus seeking a more participatory, representative and active society in sustainable development in El Salvador.

Program Objectives and Priorities

• LOT 1: European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights
  • The specific objective of this lot is to support the defense of human rights and defenders of human rights in situations of greater risk.
  • The priority of this lot is the strengthening of the capacities of human rights defenders working with the most vulnerable populations, such as: victims of violence, internally displaced persons and disappeared persons.
  • Type of actions (indicative):
    • Psychological accompaniment, legal advice and other support for victims of violence, internally displaced persons and disappeared persons.
    • Advocacy actions with authorities to create an environment conducive to protection for human rights defenders.
    • Generation/strengthening of spaces for dialogue with the authorities in charge of providing protection to human rights def
    • Strengthening of training processes for defenders and their focused organizations: citizenship rights, social comptroller, dialogue, organization, advocacy and political communication.
    • Preparation and dissemination of reports and recommendations on the situation of victims of violence, internally displaced persons and disappeared persons.
• LOT 2: Civil Society Organizations Program
  • The specific objective of this lot is to contribute to the strengthening of CSO advocacy capacities to support initiatives that contribute to good environmental management.
  • The priorities of this lot are:
    • Strengthen the democratic dialogue and advocacy capacities of CSOs in environmental issues
    • Promote the systematization and replication of good practices of production and consumption adapted to climate change and friendly to the environment
    • Promote and / or strengthen the social / citizen organization for the management of the environment.
  • The proposals presented in this lot must necessarily address all the aforementioned priorities.

Grant Information

The grants requested under this Call for Proposals will be comprised between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• minimum amount: EUR 300,000
• maximum amount: EUR 400,000

Eligibility Criteria

• Principal applicant:
  • To qualify for a grant, the principal applicant must:
    • be a civil society organization and
    • be a legal person and
    • not have a profit motive and
    • For lot 1, no nationality restriction applies. However, taking into account the nature of the objectives, in case the applicant is a non-Salvadoran organization, it must have a Salvadoran co-applicant, and
    • For lot 2, be established in El Salvador or in a member state of the European Union, a member state of the European Economic Area, a beneficiary country of IPA II or a member state of the OECD. To be eligible, non-Salvadoran applicants must prove that they have a minimum of three years of relevant experience in El Salvador, and submit a proposal with at least one Salvadoran co-applicant and
    • have been formally constituted for at least 3 years
    • have at least two years of experience in the management of actions in the areas covered by this call for proposals and
    • be directly responsible, with their co-applicants and other affiliated entities, for the preparation and management of the action and not simply act as intermediary.
    • Public institutions such as Ministries, Departmental Governments or Municipalities, or International Intergovernmental Organizations, are not eligible as applicants or co-applicants, but may participate as partners.
• Co-applicants
  • For both lots:
    • The co-applicants will participate in the design and execution of the action, and the costs incurred will be eligible in the same way as those incurred by the main applicant.
    • The co-applicants must meet the eligibility criteria applicable to the main applicant.
    • The main applicants who are not of El Salvador nationality must act obligatorily with at least one (1) Salvadoran co-applicant.
• Affiliated entities
  • The principal applicant and his / her co-applicant (s) may act with affiliated entities.
  • Only the following entities may be considered entities affiliated with the main applicant or the co-applicant (s):
    • Only entities that have a structural link with the applicants (ie, the main applicant or a co-applicant), especially if the link is legal or capital.
    • This structural link mainly covers two aspects:
      • Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34 / EU 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 can also be entities controlled by a controlled entity in turn by the applicant (second level subsidiaries), and the same applies to the following levels of control.
          • Entities that directly or indirectly control the applicants (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).
      • Accession, that is, the applicant is legally defined as, for example, network, federation or association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate, or participates in the same entity (for example, network, federation or association) that the affiliated entities proposed.

How to Apply

• The application procedure consists of two phases:
  • Concept notes
  • Full applications
• The concept note together with the declaration by the lead applicant must be submitted at the address given on the website.

For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2Urc6qg and download the guidelines.