European Commission invites Proposals from CSOs in Gambia

Deadline: 15-Feb-23

The European Commission (EC) is now inviting proposals to strengthen the local Civil Society Organisations’ (CSOs) engagement as actors of governance and development at country level.

Objectives

• The global objective of this call for proposals is:
  • To strengthen the capacities of local CSOs’ to engage in policy dialogue at national level and in dialogue, implementation and monitoring of EU and national development plans and programmes.
• The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
  • The research, the promotion, the production, the marketing, the vulgarisation/extension and the use of organic fertilisers in the Gambia are strengthened, and the consumption of diversified food items produced using those is promoted.

Priority Areas

The priority of this call for proposals is:

• The priority area of the present call for proposal relates to circular economy, recycling and sustainable agroecological practices.
• Proposals should take into account the following issues:
  • The inclusion of gender aspects and the participation of vulnerable and socially excluded groups. All projects will need to show, whenever relevant, how these issues are taken into account in the design, implementation and monitoring of their activities.
  • Emphasis on sustainable livelihoods – The issue of sustainability of the activities beyond the life of the project should be realistically addressed.
  • The programme should facilitate the development of durable and effective mechanisms for meaningful engagement between NSAs and state institutions.
  • Proposals must clearly show how their impact will be measured and demonstrate that this information exists or can be generated by the project.
• Priority will be given to actions that:
  • Support gender equality and the empowerment of women as development actors, entrepreneurs and workers;
  • Clearly integrate a link with the private sector with view to creating a market for organic fertilisers; therefore, the inclusion of a private sector operator as associates to the proposal will be an advantage;
  • Integrate applied research into the project; therefore, partnering with a research centre is encouraged;
  • In case of a proposal submitted by an international CSO, partnering with one or several Gambian CSO as co-applicants will be mandatory
  • Build the capacity of the local communities on the production of organic fertilisers.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2,100,000.
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  • minimum amount: EUR 500,000
  • maximum amount: EUR 700,000
• The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 36 months.

Location: Actions must take place in The Gambia.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead Applicant(s)
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person and
    • be non-profit-making and
    • be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, be established in The Gambia or a Member State of the European Union or other eligible countries as stipulated in the NDICI-GE10. and
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary and
• 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, the following are however also eligible: Local authorities and Associations of Local Authorities, when duly justified for the benefits of CSOs and/or in achieving the objectives of the proposed action.
  • 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, 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.
    • The structural link shall as a general rule be neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation. This means that the link would exist independently of the award of the grant; it should exist before the call for proposals and remain valid after the end of the action.
• The following are not considered entities affiliated to an applicant:
  • Entities that have entered into a (procurement) contract or subcontract with an applicant, act as concessionaires or delegatees for public services for an applicant,
  • Entities that receive financial support from the applicant,
  • Entities that cooperate on a regular basis with an applicant on the basis of a memorandum of understanding or share some assets,
  • Entities that have signed a consortium agreement under the grant contract

For more information, visit EC.