Deadline: 29 May 2020
The European Union (EU) has announced a call for proposals to support the emergence and sustainability of Pan-African civil society network(s) and to encourage their engagement with AU institutions and organs.
The global objective of this call for proposals is to contribute to the achievement of Aspiration 3 and 6 of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 ‘An Africa of good governance, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law’ and ‘An Africa, whose development is people driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children’.
The specific objectives of this call for proposals combine those of the AGA-SP and the EU strategy for engagement with Pan-African civil society:
- To foster the emergence and sustainability of independent Pan-African civil society organisations and initiatives in the area of democratisation, governance, and/or the promotion and protection of human rights.
- To promote CSOs’ effective engagement with the AGP in order to foster the ratification of AU governance and human rights norms and tools by AU Member States and to monitor their implementation and usage.
- To open spaces for wide-ranging multi-stakeholders dialogue and advocacy activities scale addressing governance and human rights concerns on a continental level.
Thematic Areas
Proposals should name and respond to only one of the two thematic lots. They can address either one of the two specified objectives mentioned above or both of them.
- Lot 1 – Support data-based advocacy and engagement activities of Pan-African CSO networks with members of the African Governance Platform on human rights issues.
- Lot 2 – Support the emergence of innovative citizen-led initiatives operating on a continental scale to promote and monitor the implementation of the ACDEG.
Priorities
- Lot 1:
- Enhance the monitoring and strategic advocacy functions of CSOs in support the AU protocols/charters/decisions and other continental legal frameworks in human rights areas related to the AGA;
- Support the production and aggregation of reliable public data related to citizens perceptions of human rights matters at large and their common usage by continental civil society and institutional stakeholders to encourage informed dialogue on the performance of Member States in the implementation of continental commitments;
- Contribute to the citizens awareness-raising of AU governance and human rights norms and tools that are binding for the AU Member States for a better monitoring of their implementation;
- Contribute to the structuring and strengthening of Pan-African civil society organisations, initiatives and networks for a more effective engagement with the institutions member of the AGP;
- Contribute to structuring avenues and mechanisms for sustainable dialogue and interactions between organised civil society and the AGP.
- Lot 2:
- Proposals under this lot should support the emergence and/or scaling up of original civic initiatives aimed at producing and sharing information and sustaining online engagement at continental level between citizens, CSOs and AGA organs, notably those that will directly or indirectly benefit from the AGA-SP as mentioned above, on matters related to the adoption and implementation of the ACDEG.
- Contribute to the promotion and monitoring of ACDEG across Africa by means of digital tools or new media initiated and orchestrated by youth civic activists;
- Promote the usage of creative formats adapted to online usage to reach out to a continental audience on matters related to democratic governance and human rights, with possible relays in traditional media at all levels;
- Contribute to raising awareness of African citizens and CSOs in the opportunities and challenges associated with ACDEG and encourage their involvement alongside AGA organs;
- Offer an online space for sustainable and constructive citizens and CSOs’ engagement with AGA organs on democratic governance matters to complement other real-life initiatives aimed at fostering exchanges between civil society, AGA and AU institutions at large;
- Contribute to the structuring and strengthening of Pan-African civic tech initiatives and networks for a more effective engagement with the institutions member of the AGP.
Funding Information
- The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 6 000 000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
- Size of grants
- Minimum amount: EUR 2 000 000
- Maximum amount: EUR 3 000 000
Duration
The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 48 months.
Location
- Actions should take place in Africa and seek to achieve impact at continental level. Actions limited to one African country or one of the five African regions (Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Central Africa, Western Africa, Eastern Africa) only will not be eligible.
- Pilot actions taking place in countries, within at least two different African Regional Economic Communities can be proposed, in so far as they include in their design some specific measures to have an impact at continental level.
Eligibility Criteria
- Lead applicant(s)
- In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
- Be a legal person;
- Be non-profit-making;
- Be a civil society organisation, a not-for-profit association or a legally registered network/platform of CSOs;
- Be established in an African country or in a Member State of the European Union;
- 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 provide financial statements demonstrating the financial capacity necessary for carrying out the project.
- The lead applicant must prove it has carried out a minimum of 3 projects to a total value of at least €1 million each in the past 5 years.
- In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
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.
- The scope of the proposed projects should target activities in relation with the AU institutions and organs and as such all applying consortia must involve African CSOs.
- Applying consortia are also expected to include African CSOs, whether as lead or as co-applicants, established within at least two different African Regional Economic Communities.
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).
- Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
- Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
- 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.
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