European Commission accepts proposals for Large Grants in Ethiopia

Deadline: 20-Jul-23

The European Commission (EC) is offering grants to improve capacity building for CSOs in Ethiopia.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues

• The global objective of this call for proposals is to strengthen CSOs as actors of governance and development in their own right in line with the objectives of the CSOs thematic programme MAAP 2021-2024.
• The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
  • Support CSOs partnerships and dialogue among themselves and with the government at different administrative levels;
  • Promote an enabling environment for CSOs in Ethiopia;
• The priorities of this call for proposal are:
  • Peace-building focusing on involvement of women and youth: Considering the current context, this area of work will be prioritised, especially at grassroots’ level. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for building CSOs’ capacities on peace-building, conflict prevention and social cohesion and promoting CSOs networks that conduct advocacy, research, and coordination on this topic. Specific impact will be put on the inclusion of women in the peacebuilding process to mitigate their underrepresentation in this sphere, as well as the inclusion of youth.
  • Capacity building for advocacy skills: For a strong civil society sector, relevant advocacy skills are crucial for the civil society, as direct representatives of the Ethiopian population, have a concrete influence on decision and policy making in the country. In the current context of post-conflict situation, it is of crucial importance to equip civil society organisations with relevant skills for an effective advocacy.
• The following will be considered as added-value element in both priorities:
  • The adoption of the gender transformative approach with a special focus on actions related to preventing Gender Based Violence, Women Economic Empowerment, and Social Protection.
  • The consideration of human rights/democracy in project design and implementation;
  • The targeting of hard to reach, vulnerable and marginalised groups of society – including women, the elderly, the youth, people with disabilities, pastoralists, minorities and those most affected by ethnic violence – and equal participation of such groups in project activities;
  • The incorporation of principles that enhance social cohesion and inclusivity in peaceful transformation.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 1,500,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• Size of grants
  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
    • Minimum Amount: EUR 350,000
    • Maximum Amount: EUR 500,000

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 non-governmental/civil society organization and/or their networks or associations and
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or in Ethiopia or in any other countries stipulated by the NDICI-Global Europe Regulation, Article 28
    • This obligation does not apply to international organizations.
    • 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
• Co-applicant(s)
  • Mandatory is to have minimum 1 and recommended maximum 3 co-applicants.
  • 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.
  • Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
• 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, 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.

For more information, visit European Commission (EC).