EU seeking Proposals to support Tunisian CSOs to Play an Active Role in Local Development

Deadline: 17-Aug-2020

The European Union (EU) has announced a call for proposals to contribute to the sustainable and inclusive economic development of Tunisia, through the support provided to Tunisian CSOs active in the development of the private sector and job creation, so as to improve their role as actors of economic and social development at local level as well as the impact of their actions.

The purpose of this call for proposals is to: set up and monitor a human and financial support system for economic operators (entrepreneurs, groups of entrepreneurs, project leaders, students / apprentices, associations, etc.), in the sustainable tourism and cultural tourism sector, that of crafts and design, and activitiesrelated to the enhancement of heritage.

Priorities

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

• job creation and the development of entrepreneurial actions, in particular for young people and women, and in the most economically disadvantaged regions;
• setting up innovative and high-quality funding and support mechanisms in areas relevant to the TounesWijhetouna program, aimed at supporting projects with economic, social and environmental impact; all funding will necessarily be supplemented by support from the beneficiary; the selection of beneficiaries must be ensured in a fluid and flexible manner throughout the duration of the action, in a concerted manner with the operators implementing the components / projects of the TounesWijhetouna program;
• the supply of financing mechanisms, which may take various forms such as repayable advances, honorary loans, investment grants, loan guarantees, etc., is an essential aspect of this action, and the share of the budget allocated to these mechanisms must be at least equal to or greater than half of the overall budget of the project;
• a high level of complementarity and articulation is expected between this action and the TounesWijhetouna program, and the proposals will have to present the terms of governance of the project making it possible to guarantee the expected complementarity;
• the geographic coverage of the action is the entire territory of Tunisia, targeting as a priority the most disadvantaged regions as well as the intervention areas of the components / projects of the TounesWijhetouna program.

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 1,800,000. The Contracting Authority reserves the right not to allocate all of the available funds.

Amount of grants

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

• minimum amount: 1,700,000 EUR
• maximum amount: EUR 1,800,000

Eligibility Criteria

Lead Applicant(s)

To be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

• be a legal person and
• have no profit and
• belong to one of the following categories of organizations: non-governmental organization and
• be established in Tunisia, in a Member State of the European Union or of the European Economic Area. This obligation does not apply to international organizations and
• be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant (s) and the affiliated entity or entities, and not act as an intermediary.

Co-applicant(s)

• If the applicant is not established in Tunisia, he must have one or more co-applicants of which at least one is established in Tunisia.
• The co-applicants participate in the development and implementation of the action, and the costs they bear are eligible in the same way as those borne by the lead applicant.
• Co-applicants must meet the same eligibility criteria as those which apply to the lead applicant himself.
• Co-applicants must sign the mandate.
• If the grant is awarded to them, any co-applicants become beneficiaries under the action (with the coordinator).

Affiliated entity(ies)

• The lead applicant and his co-applicant (s) may act with one or more affiliated entities.
• Only the following entities can be considered affiliated with 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 includes two concepts:
    • control, within the meaning of Directive 2013/34 / EU on annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain forms of business:
      • The entities affiliated to an applicant can 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-level subsidiaries), and this is valid for the other levels of control;
        • entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they can be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
        • entities controlled, directly or indirectly, at the same level as the applicant (sister companies).

• membership, i.e. 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, a federation, an association,…) than the proposed affiliated entity.

For more information, visit EuropeAid and download the guidelines.