European Commission: Human Rights and Democracy Thematic Programme for the Lao PDR

Deadline: 30-May-23

The European Commission (EC) is now seeking applications for its Human Rights and Democracy Thematic Programme to promote and protect human rights and democracy.

The thematic programme on Human Rights and Democracy (HR&D) established under Regulation (EU) 2021/947 builds upon the key features of the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) as a major flagship tool of the EU’s external action, in line with the 2030 agenda and the European Consensus on development.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues

The global objective of this call for proposals is to contribute to the respect for fundamental rights and rule of law in the Lao PDR.

The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals is to fight impunity by building the knowledge base for accountability and developing a public sense of justice among both rights holders and duty bearers.

The priority(ies) of this call for proposals are:

• Priority A: Develop capacities of local civil society organisations, including through building advocacy, resilience, networking and strengthening viability and sustainability, in order to support the promotion of human rights, prevent impunity, monitor and report human rights violations, and to increase social accountability and civic participation;
• Priority B: Raise public awareness of impunity and corruption, and their negative impact on individuals and society, including through the production of specific digital tools, such as videos, drama-series, video-clips and the use of new technologies that would help contributing to public accountability and transparency.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 700 000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must not exceed the below maximum amount:
  • Maximum amount: EUR 700000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • Be a legal person and
    • Be non-profit-making and
    • Be civil society organisation, including non-governmental non-profit organisations and independent foundations, community-based organisations, private sector non-profit agencies, institutions and organisations, and networks thereof at local, national, regional and international level or
    • Be international (inter-governmental) organisations; and
    • Be established in any countries with no geographical requirements; and
    • 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.
  • Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations.
    • Lead applicants, co-applicants, affiliated entities and, in case of legal entities, persons who have powers of representation, decision-making or control over the lead applicant, the co-applicants and the affiliated entities are informed that, should they be in one of the situations of early detection or exclusion, personal details (name, given name if natural person, address, legal form and name and given name of the persons with powers of representation, decision-making or control, if legal person) may be registered in the early detection and exclusion system, and communicated to the persons and entities concerned in relation to the award or the execution of a grant contract.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • The lead applicant must act with co-applicant(s) as specified hereafter:
    • Number of co-applicants should not be more than three and at least one of co-applicants must be a Lao CSO, legally established in the Lao PDR.
    • 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, the following are however also eligible:
    • Local authorities (LAs) or Association of Local Authorities (ALAs) established in a Member States of the European Union, in a Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA), or in the Lao PDR, and constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country concerned.

For more information, visit EC.