European Commission announces DEAR Programme

Deadline: 4-Nov-22

The European Commission (EC) is accepting proposals for Raising public awareness of development issues and promoting development education in the European Union (DEAR Programme).

Objectives

The global objective of the DEAR programme and of this call for proposals is to achieve a more inclusive society with a developed sense of co-responsibility for local and global sustainable development and global challenges (notably global inequalities and ecological crises).
The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
- More EU citizens, including youth, have a critical understanding of the interdependent world as well as of their own role in it and have the interest to act for sustainable development;
- More EU citizens, including youth, are actively engaged in sustainable development on local and global level;
- Global Citizenship Education is better integrated into formal and non-formal education in EU Member States

Priorities

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

Youth engagement
- The engagement of young EU citizens in the actions will be considered key in this call for proposals. Young EU citizens are agents of development and change and, as such, are essential contributors to the 2030 Agenda, including through their ability to innovate.
Gender equality
- Actions shall contribute to the Gender Action Plan (GAP III). Actions need to contain one specific objective on gender and issues related to gender equality, and women empowerment shall also be addressed and mainstreamed in the actions.
Cross cutting themes
- Actions should contribute to promoting the fundamental values, “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.”
Targeting population segments less sensitive to and less involved with global challenges
- Regarding the perceived importance of development cooperation, Eurobarometer 512 recognised that “patterns in responses based on socio-demographic groups reflect those seen in previous reports. Gender is not influential, but opinions vary based on age, education level, financial situation, socio-professional field, Internet use, political orientation, socio-professional categories, and one’s opinion about the EU.”
Cooperation between Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and Local Authorities (LA)
- Cooperation between Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and local authorities (LA) is encouraged, including, where relevant, between entities based in the EU and in EU partner countries.

Types of Lots

Lot 1: Actions engaging EU citizens in global sustainable development and responses to global challenges
Lot 2: Actions engaging young EU citizens and young people living in partner countries in joint initiatives
Lot 3: Actions supporting initiatives implemented through financial support to third parties
Lot 4: Actions with a focus on formal, informal and non-formal Development Education
Lot 5: Actions by Local Authorities

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 93 590 000, of which EUR 73 590 000 are for CSOs (CSOs as lead applicants) and EUR 20 000 000 are for LAs (LAs as lead applicants).
Indicative allocation of funds by lot:
- Lot 1: EUR 20 000 000
- Lot 2: EUR 10 000 000
- Lot 3: EUR 24 590 000
- Lot 4: EUR 19 000 000
- Lot 5: EUR 20 000 000
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts of total eligible costs of the action:
- Lot 1 and 3:
  - minimum amount: EUR 5 000 000
  - maximum amount: EUR 10 000 000
- Lot 2, 4, 5:
  - minimum amount: EUR 3 000 000
  - maximum amount: EUR 7 000 000

Eligibility Criteria

Lead Applicant(s)
- Under Lot 1, 2, 3 and 4, 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 (CSO) or an association of CSOs
  - be established 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 and
  - be able to demonstrate to have carried out activities in the field of development education and awareness raising, and/or global learning for at least three years, preferably during the last 3 to 5 years.
- Under lot 5, in order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  - be a legal person
  - be a Local Authority (LA) from a Member State of the European Union, constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country, or Associations of Local Authorities (ALA) registered in a Member State of the European Union
  - be established in a Member State of the European Union
  - be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicants and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary and
  - be able to demonstrate to have carried out activities in the field of development education and awareness raising, and/or global learning for at least three years preferably during the last 3 to 5 years.
Co-applicant(s)
- Under all lots, the lead applicant must act together with a minimum of 2 co-applicants.
- For Lot 2, the lead applicant must apply together with a minimum of 2 co-applicants, of which at least one must be established in a EU Member State different from the lead applicant and at least one must be established in a country or territory, as defined in Annex M.
- 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.
- In addition to the categories referred to in Section 2.1.1, the following are, however, also eligible:
  - be legal persons or an entity without legal personality and
  - be non-profit-making and
  - be a specific type of organisation such as:
  - a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) or
  - an association of CSOs or
  - a Local Authority (LA) or
  - an association of LAs and
  - be effectively established in one of the eligible countries or territories as per Annex M
- Co-applicants must sign the mandate.
- If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).
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 coapplicant(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.

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