European Commission Grants for NGOs in Zambia

Deadline: 03-Sep-2024

The European Commission (EC) is soliciting proposals aimed at creating opportunities for re-entry to formal education and access to vocational and alternative pathways for female adolescents dropping out of school.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues 

• The global objective:
  • Decrease inequalities through enhancing wellbeing and opportunities for adolescent girls.
• The specific objectives:
  • Improve access to and create opportunities for re-entry to formal education, TEVET skills training and alternative pathways for productive life-skills for female adolescents;
  • Strengthen coordination and support multi-sector integrated interventions across government systems to enhance the effectiveness of social service delivery to female adolescents; and
  • Strengthen community-based approaches to better protect and support female adolescents, including young mothers.
• The priorities:
  • Creating opportunities for retentions in schools and productive TEVET life-skills development for adolescent girls, including young mothers;
  • Strengthening linkages to available national social protection systems and services delivery to support livelihood and wellbeing;
  • Advocacy campaign to provide safe and supportive environment that will help prevent early pregnancies and root out negative and harmful practices that hinder girls education and access to skills development; and
  • Engagement with adolescents in the development of focussed approaches and outreach programmes for identification, group/individual guidance and counselling and entrepreneurship guidance.

Sectors or Themes

• Education and Skills development;
• Promotion of safe and supportive environment;
• Development of focussed approaches and outreach programmes; and
• Creating linkages/pathways to national social protection systems and services delivery.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2,000,000. 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 2,000,000
    • Maximum amount: EUR 2,000,000.

Duration

• The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 42 months.

Types of Activity

• Applicants are encouraged to use innovative approaches and intervention methodologies. Coordination of activities and creation of synergies with on-going/past EU programmes, projects, and with other non-EU funded programmes and projects need to be ensured.
• The list of indicative and non-exhaustive activities include:
  • For prevention, develop adolescent focused approaches that support girls, including prevention from and response to SGBV, transition into adulthood with the necessary competencies and confidence;
  • Scale up efforts on existing systems and services aimed at supporting adolescents’ economic empowerment, engaging with adolescents by providing them with skills training, entrepreneurial and financing opportunities, employability, or asset transfers;
  • Develop outreach programmes for identification, group/individual counselling and support, referral services and entrepreneurship guidance for young mothers;
  • Sensitise Parents Teachers Committees (PTCs), community and traditional leadership to ensure schools provide a safe and supportive environment free from hostility and discrimination in which the adolescent mothers can continue their education;
  • Work with community based organizations, local authorities, traditional and religious leaders, line ministries to develop measures and focussed interventions such as kindergartens or NGO support to take care for children close to schools that deliver skills development services, to enable the supportive environment to re-enter school or a skills vocational training;

Location

• Actions must take place in:
  • Luapula Province – Chiengi, Kawambwa, Mwansabombwe, Chifunabuli and Nchelenge, and;
  • North-western Province – Zambezi, Mwinilunga, Mushindamo, Mufumbwe and Kabompo.

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 organisation;
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or in Zambia or in any other countries stipulated under Article 28 of the Regulation (EU) N° 2021/947 establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI-Global Europe). This obligation does not apply to international organisations;
    • be a specific type of organisation such as: a civil society organisation (CSO) institutions and organisations and networks thereof at local and national levels;
    • 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
    • have at least 2 years working with adolescent programming with TEVET skills development and empowerment.
• 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.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • In addition to the categories referred, the following are however also eligible:
    • Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
    • 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 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 EC.