EU seeking Proposals to Strengthen the Capacity of CSOs to Monitor Public Financial Management in Côte d’Ivoire

Deadline: 7 November 2019

The European Union (EU) is seeking proposals from eligible organisations for a program entitled “Strengthening the capacity of CSOs to monitor Public Financial Management” to improve good governance, increase the transparency of PFM, and the accountability of the state to citizens.

The purpose of this call for proposals is to strengthen the capacity of CSOs to monitor public financial management issues and economic aspects in Côte d’Ivoire.

Focus Areas

• Strengthening democratic governance and prisoners’ rights. This support is funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). Its goal is to promote democracy and human rights around the world. It supports civil society initiatives to become an effective force for political reform and the defense of human rights.
• Strengthening the voice of young people and their social inclusion, funded by the thematic program Organization of Civil Society (CSO).
• Promotion of an increased role for CSOs as an instrument for promoting peace and democratic dialogue, funded by the thematic program Civil Society Organization (CSO).
• Promoting Peace and Accompanying Economic Partnership Agreements. The EU recognizes that civil society organizations can be powerful agents of change. In order to enable them to play their full role in the delivery of social services, the defense of transparency and human rights, and to contribute to policy making, the EU is committed to promoting an environment which is more favorable to them.

Priorities

This call for proposals has the following priorities:

• Strengthen the capacity of CSOs to analyze issues related to the economy and the management of public finance
• Vulgariser less information economiques et budgétaires
• Conduct in-depth analysis of key issues related to the economy and public financial management
• Strengthen opportunities for dialogue between the different actors monitoring Economic Governance

Funding Information

Any grant requested under this Call for Proposals must be between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• minimum amount: EUR 400,000
• maximum amount: EUR 500 000

Eligibility Criteria

Lead Applicant

• To be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  • be a legal person and
  • have no profit and
  • be a Civil Society Organization (CSO) constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country concerned. CSOs from a Member State of the European Union must be registered in their country of origin for at least three years at the time of filing the application. CSOs in Côte d’Ivoire must be registered (having obtained the approval of the Ministry of the Interior, or failing this, be in possession of the receipt) for at least two years at the time of filing the application, and
  • be established in a Member State of the European Union or be a member of the OECD or be established in Côte d’Ivoire and
  • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant (s) and the entity or affiliated entities, and not act as an intermediary and
  • prove that he has regularly carried out activities similar to those proposed for more than 12 months and
  • Have sufficient capacity and experience to carry out the grant, ie at least (as applicant or leader) in the last three years the implementation of a project at least equal to the amount of the project proposed under this call for proposals
• “For British applicants: Please note that the eligibility criteria must be respected throughout the duration of the grant. Unless otherwise specified in the sectoral eligibility rules, if the United Kingdom withdraws from the European Union during the grant period in the absence of an agreement with the EU, in particular to ensure that United Kingdom applicants continue to be eligible, applicant will no longer receive EU funding (while continuing, if possible, to participate) or applicant will be required to leave the project on the basis of the General Conditions.
• Can not participate in calls for proposals or receive grants, potential applicants in one of the following situations

Co-Applicant (s)

• The co-applicants participate in the preparation and implementation of the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those borne by the lead applicant.
• Co-applicants must meet the same eligibility criteria as those applying to the lead applicant itself.

Affiliated entities

• The lead applicant and his co-applicant (s) may act with one or more affiliated entities.
• Only the following entities may be considered affiliated to the lead applicant and / or the co-applicant (s):
  • Only entities that have a structural link with the applicants (the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
  • This structural link mainly encompasses two notions:
    • control, within the meaning of Directive 2013/34 / EU on annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
      • Entities affiliated with an applicant may therefore be:
        • entities controlled directly or indirectly by the applicant (subsidiaries or first-tier subsidiaries) or controlled by an entity itself controlled by the applicant (sub-subsidiaries or second-tier subsidiaries), and this is valid for other levels of control;
        • entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Similarly, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
        • controlled entities, directly or indirectly, at the same level as the applicant (sister companies).
    • membership, that is, the applicant is legally defined as, for example, a network, federation or association of which the proposed affiliated entity is a member, or the applicant is a member of the same entity (for example, a network, federation or association) than the proposed affiliated entity.

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/2K2ULOz and download the guidelines.