EU Call for Proposals: Supporting Civil Society, Local Authorities and Human Rights in Ukraine

Deadline: 25 January 2019

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organisations for a program entitled “Support to Civil Society, Local Authorities and Human Rights in Ukraine” to enable Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to engage as actors of governance and development at country level.

Objectives

• Lot 1 The specific objective of this Lot for proposals is to strengthen the role of Ukrainian civil society in promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms.
  • The priorities of this Lot are:
    • to promote and strengthen civil society support to the fight against ill-treatment, torture and impunity, by working to prevent cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; ensuring accountability for torture and ill-treatment; and providing support for the rehabilitation of torture.
    • to promote equality and combat all forms of discrimination, including related to gender, sexual orientation, persons belonging to minorities and vulnerable groups.
    • to protect and strengthen the status of human rights defenders, also via legal support and strategic advice, supporting their capacities to carry out human rights work and network with other civil society organisations, including in conflict and post-conflict areas and in Crimea; contributing to the sustainability of their activities; raising awareness about their work and role in the promotion of democracy and protection of human rights.
    • to contribute to improving the situation relative to a) quality of policy and regulatory framework aimed to uphold the rule of law, b) equality before the law and access to justice, c) right to a fair trial, d) upholding housing, land and property rights across the country;
    • to support freedom of belief, opinion and expression and the right to information, including also on new online media, and countering hate speech..
• Lot 2 The specific objective of this Lot is to enhance the capacity of civil society and local authorities through networking and innovation.
  • The priorities of this Lot are:
    • to develop CSOs regional thematic networks through specific sectoral initiatives;
    • to support the introduction and expansion of innovative methodologies, techniques and practices of public outreach and engagement, including cultural actions and ICT;
    • to support joint and mutually re-enforcing initiatives of local authorities and CSOs for local development.

Particular attention will be paid to ensuring that support to CSOs is conflict-sensitive and that it will not contribute to incitement to violence, hatred, racism or xenophobia.

Size of Grants

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

• Lot 1
  • minimum amount: EUR 75 000;
  • maximum amount: EUR 300 000.
• Lot 2
  • minimum amount: EUR 350 000;
  • maximum amount: EUR 1 000 000.

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 specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, charity foundation
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or contracting parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in an ENI partner country
    • 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 will be required to leave the project on the basis of the General conditions to grant contract (change of the legal situation of the beneficiary) of the grant agreement. 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
  • Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations
• Co-applicant(s)
  • The maximum number of co-applicants for a project is three.
  • 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.
  • In addition to the categories, the following are however also eligible:
    • Local authorities
    • Public operators
• 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/2QaQqx3 and download the guidelines.