EU Call for Proposals: Civil Society Organisations as actors of Governance and Development

Deadline: 4 April 2019

The European Union is currently accepting proposals from eligible organisations for a program entitled “Civil Society Organisations as actors of Governance and Development” to contribute to the reinforcement of Russian Civil Society Organisations as a pre-condition for a more equitable, open and democratic society, for an inclusive and sustainable development and growth.

Program Lots

The program is divided in to two lots:

• LOT 1
  • Specific objective 1: to promote the social rights and protection of disadvantaged groups
    • Priority 1: actions to be proposed for funding from this Call should pay particular attention to the inclusion and rights of the following target groups: children, elderly, victims of domestic violence, persons with disabilities, persons with communicable diseases, homeless, minorities.
• LOT 2
  • Specific objective 2: to promote the economic and social rights/empowerment of women
    • Priority 2: actions aimed at supporting women’s labour market participation, promoting women’s equal access to – and control over – resources, productive employment, decent work, equal pay and access to finance.
  • Specific objective 3: to promote social economy and economic inclusiveness
    • Priority 3: Actions aimed at developing and strengthening social entrepreneurship targeting population with limited opportunities for social and economic empowerment (disadvantaged groups) and community mobilisation, with a particular focus on rural, less developed and remote areas.

Size of Grants

Any grant requested of this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• For Lot 1
  • minimum amount: EUR 300 000
  • maximum amount: EUR 500 000
• For Lot 2
  • minimum amount: EUR 500 000
  • maximum amount: EUR 750 000

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 civil society organisation
    • be established in the territory of the Russian Federation, as recognised by international law, or in a Member State of the European Union or in a Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA); 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
    • For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. Unless sector specific eligibility rules provide otherwise, if the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, applicants will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of the general conditions to the grant agreement.
  • Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations
• Co-applicants
  • 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.
• 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.

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/2S9YgTX  and download the guidelines.