European Commission Regional Call for Proposals under the Instrument for Stability and Peace (IcSP)!

Deadline: 17 May 2018

European Commission has announced a Regional Call for Proposals West Africa funded under the Instrument for Stability and Peace (IcSP), Article 4, Action Card Supporting Civil Society Actors, Annual Program 2017.

The overall objective of this call for proposals is to support and strengthen civil society in the countries and regions concerned so as to improve their capacity to participate in the security sector and in the fight against electoral violence, while encouraging their networking and advocacy capacities, as well as their relations with local, regional and national authorities.

Objectives

• Supporting and strengthening civil society locally, regionally and nationally so as to involve it more in the field of security
  • Accordingly, the priorities for Lot 1 – Strengthening the involvement of civil society in the field of security in nine countries in the Sahel region and the Lake Chad Basin – are:
    • Supporting and assisting the involvement of civil society and support for the design and implementation of the Security Sector Reform process, making it more inclusive and geared to people’s security needs
    • Supporting civil society initiatives and projects promoting partnerships and cooperation between key security players locally, regionally and nationally
    • Supporting initiatives to improve relations between security forces and people
• Supporting and strengthening civil society locally, regionally and nationally so as to enable it to play a greater role in preventing electoral violence in the country or countries where it operates
  • Accordingly, the priorities for Lot 2 – Increasing the involvement of civil society in preventing electoral violence in eight countries in coastal West Africa and the Lake Tchad Basin – are:
    • Identifying areas of potential violence and facilitating local and national efforts to address and prevent violence
    • Supporting and assisting stakeholders (communities, NGOs, media, electoral bodies, security forces and authorities) in building their capacity to initiate and manage electoral processes peacefully
    • Supporting all forms of peaceful and constructive communication and mobilisation

Proposals in either lot must involve at least two countries. Approaches may be purely national (multi-country) or regional. A single application may combine both approaches.

Funding Information

• Any grant requested under Lot 1 must be between EUR 1 000 000 and EUR 1 500 000
• Any grant requested under Lot 2 must be between EUR 750 000 and EUR 900 000

Indicative allocation of funds by lot/geographical distribution:

• Lot 1: Strengthening the involvement of civil society in the field of security in nine countries in the Sahel region and the Lake Chad Basin (Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon). The indicative amount allocated is EUR 3 000 000.
• Lot 2: Increasing the involvement of civil society in preventing electoral violence in eight countries in coastal West Africa and the Lake Tchad Basin (Guinea, Nigeria, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Chad and Cameroon). The indicative amount allocated is EUR 2 400 000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • To be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person
    • be non-profit-making
    • belong to the following category: civil society actors as listed under Article 1.3 of Regulation No 230/2014 establishing an instrument contributing to stability and peace include non-governmental organisations, organisations representing indigenous peoples, local citizens groups and traders’associations, cooperatives, trade unions, organisations representing economic and social interests, local organisations (including networks) involved in decentralised regional cooperation and integration, consumer organisations, women’s and youth organisations, teaching, cultural, research and scientific organisations, universities, churches and religious associations and communities, the media and any non-governmental associations and private and public foundations likely to contribute to the development or external dimension of internal policy. Other bodies or actors not listed in this paragraph may be financed when necessary to achieve the objectives of this Regulation;
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or other eligible country as indicated in regulation n°236/2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union’s instruments for financing external action
    • 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.
  • The lead applicant may act individually or with one or more co-applicant(s).
• Co-applicant(s)
  • Co-applicants are involved 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 fulfil the same eligibility criteria as apply to the lead applicant.
  • 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-applicants may act with affiliated entity(ies).
  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant or co-applicant(s):
  • Only entities with a structural link to the applicants (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 thus 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). 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 e.g. as a network, federation or association in which the affiliated entity also participates, or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation or association) as the proposed affiliated entity.

How to Apply

In order to apply for the grants, applicants have to register themselves in PADOR, an on-line database via given website.

For more information, please visit Europeaid and download the guidelines.