EU Call for Proposals: Grant for CSOs – Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme (WSSSRP) III

Deadline: 20 March 2018

The European Union (EU) is seeking proposals for its program entitled “Grant for CSOs – Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme (WSSSRP) III” to fully engage the potential of the civil society in advocating for better governance in the water and sanitation sector and to provide an enabling environment for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to act as a potential driver for good governance in the broader context of the public sector service delivery.

The specific objective of the programme is to increase access to safe, adequate and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services in Adamawa, Ekiti and Plateau States.

Objectives

The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals is/are:

• To improve water policy and institutional framework in the three States that will contribute to addressing the problem of lack or inadequate policy and institutional framework in the States.
• To support water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector institutions in the three States to enable them to fulfil their mandates of sustainable water and sanitation services.
• To develop approaches and strategies for improving water and sanitation governance at State, Local Government Authority (LGA) and community levels for sustained Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) service delivery.

Priorities

• Innovations on Public and Non-Public sector involvement/leverage: The action must cover innovative approaches (in organization, financing and/or delivery mechanism) to leverage public and non-public sector coordination and financing in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector to ensure good governance, transparency/value for money and long-term sustainability of WASH facilities.
• Coherence and alignment: The action must ensure coherence and alignment of the activities with the institutional reforms and regulatory framework in the sector and in the States.
• Replication and Scaling-up: Preference will be given to proposals demonstrating innovative approaches that show most promising prospects for long-term economic viability and sustainability and that have the potential for successful replication, adaptation and scaling-up under the prevailing conditions in the target States.
• Partnerships: It should be clearly shown in the proposal that the applicant and co-applicant(s) actively contribute to the implementation of the project. The Contracting Authority will attach particular importance to the quality of the partnership.

Specific Focus Areas

• Advocating for improved WASH governance at State and LGA levels, through:
  • regular sector performance monitoring and tracking
  • facilitation of regular consumers consultative forum to improve information flow
  • stakeholders’ involvement/participation in annual sector actions plans and budgeting process
  • transparency and accountability voicing through the mass media and other medium of voice expression
• Community level capacity building and sustainability approach through:
  • regular meetings with and monitoring of community level structures such as Water Consumer Associations(WCAs), Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committees (WASHCOMs), Volunteer Hygiene Promoters (VHPs) to promote WASH governance at community level.
  • interfacing between the Local Government Council (LGC)/LGA WASH Departments/Units and the communities for improved WASH governance.
  • the LGA WASH Departments/Units increase capacity for simple operation and maintenance of WASH facilities in the communities.
  • facilitation of quarterly LGA, WCA/WASHCOM and State WASH clinics for cross learning, improved governance and sustainability

Funding Information

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the Minimum EUR 250,000 and Maximum EUR 330,000

Indicative allocation of funds by lots:

• Lot 1: Adamawa State – EUR 330,000
• Lot 2: Ekiti State– EUR 330,000
• Lot 3: Plateau State– EUR 330,000

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person
    • be non-profit-making
    • be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, public sector operator, local authority, international (inter-governmental) organisation as defined by Article 43 of the Rules of application of the EU Financial Regulation
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or African Caribbean and Pacific country. Organisations established outside Nigeria must have at least one co-applicant that is a legal entity established in Nigeria. This obligation does not apply to international organisations
    • 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.
  • The lead applicant must declare that the lead applicant himself, the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies) are not in any of these situations.
  • The lead applicant may act individually or with co-applicant(s).
• Co-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-applicant(s) must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the Coordinator).
• Affiliated entity(ies)
  • 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

In order to apply for the grants, applicants have to register themselves in PADOR, an on-line database via given website.

For more information, please visit Europeaid and download the guidelines.