European Commission: Thematic Framework Partnerships for Human Rights and Democracy

Deadline: 27-Feb-23

The European Commission is seeking applications for the Thematic Framework Partnerships for Human Rights and Democracy.

The thematic programme on human rights and democracy (2021-2027) (hereafter the thematic programme) under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe (NDICIGlobal Europe) is a flagship tool for promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law worldwide.

Objectives

• Framework Partners will be selected to, jointly with the EU, advance human rights and democracy in specific thematic areas identified through actions of global and/or regional scope. Financial Framework Partnership Agreements (FFPAs) will constitute the basis for a medium-term cooperation framework between the Commission and specific beneficiaries. Amongst the selected Framework Partners, a limited number of Specific Grants will subsequently be awarded to implement the priorities described below per Lot.
• The global objective of this call for proposals is to support and empower civil society in protecting and promoting democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms worldwide.
• The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
  • To establish strategic frameworks of enhanced cooperation based on common general objectives in the following thematic areas of human rights and democracy:
    • Abolishing the death penalty (Lot 1)
    • Protecting Freedoms of Association and of Peaceful Assembly (Lot 2)
    • Protecting independent media (Lot 3)
  • To award Specific Grant agreements to a limited number of those selected Framework Partners, to implement actions corresponding to strategic EU priorities.

Priority issues per lot

• Lot 1: Abolishing the Death Penalty
  • The priorities of this lot are to:
    • Reinforce the global trend towards the abolition of death penalty through coordinated and CSO-driven global, regional, national and local level advocacy, leverage of highlevel diplomacy and political pressure;
    • Promote the signature, ratification and implementation of international and regional instruments that advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, and in particular, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its Second Optional Protocol;
    • Promote innovations, coordination and synergies in country-level anti-death penalty actions and strengthen CSO/ relevant abolitionist actor capacities through national,
• Lot 2: Protecting Freedoms of Association and of Peaceful Assembly
  • ​The priorities of this lot are to:
    • Support actions and capacities of CSOs at country levels, in particular youth-led and youth-focused organisations, to promote and protect the freedoms of association and of peaceful assembly and the exercise of these rights;
    • Strengthen capacities of civil society to support the effective exercise of the fundamental freedoms of the association and peaceful assembly by, inter alia, assisting and enabling activists (in particular youth), observing public assemblies, and monitoring and documenting violations of human rights (for example: access to justice, due process rights in relation to arbitrary arrest, freedom of expression and opinion, freedom of trade union activities, etc.);
    • Promote the capacities of citizens, especially young people, to safely and legally exercise their participation rights, and seek practical and regulatory improvements to allow for this exercise in practice;
    • Promote innovations and capacities for national and international networking, advocacy and awareness raising about political participation rights including the right to protest, including civic education aimed at young persons and engagement with authorities and law enforcement.
• Lot 3: Protecting Independent Media
  • The priority of this lot is to:
    • Strengthen capacities of media actors for the promotion of freedom of expression, media freedom and pluralism online, combatting hate speech, extremism and disinformation.

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available through Specific Grants under this call for proposals is EUR 31 000 000. The Contracting Authority reserves the right not to award all available funds. Similarly, this amount could be increased should more funds become available.

• Indicative allocation of funds by lot:
  • Lot 1: EUR 6 000 000
  • Lot 2: EUR 5 000 000
  • Lot 3: EUR 20 000 000
• For Lot 1, Abolishing the Death Penalty:
  • Minimum amount: EUR 2 000 000
  • Maximum amount: EUR 3 000 000
• For Lot 2, Protecting Freedoms of Association and of Peaceful Assembly:
  • Minimum amount: EUR 2 500 000
  • Maximum amount: EUR 5 000 000
• For Lot 3, Protecting Independent Media:
  • Minimum amount: EUR 5 000 000
  • Maximum amount: EUR 10 000 000.
• Any grant requested for actions under the second stage of this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the action:
  • Minimum percentage: 50 % of the total eligible costs of the action.
  • Maximum percentage: 95 % of the total eligible costs of the action

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant (1) In order to be eligible for a Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA), the lead applicant must:
  • Be a legal person and
  • Be non-profit-making and
  • Be a non-governmental civil society organisation (CSO) (please note that the Evaluation Committee will take into consideration the different legal forms of registration in the respective countries, for which the applicant should attach a justification) and
  • Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the Framework Partnership Agreement (first phase) and of any Specific Grant (second phase) that might be financed under the FFPA with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

Co-applicant(s)

• The applicant may act with co-applicant(s), but this is not compulsory.
• There is no upper limit on the number of co-applicants, but the composition of any consortium should aim towards the achievement of objectives in the most effective and cost-efficient manner, and the role of each co-applicant. The composition of the consortium will be evaluated in point 4.3 of the Specific Grant application evaluation grid.
• Co-applicant(s) participate in designing and implementing the Framework Partnership Action Plan and any action defined in a Specific Grant contract, and the costs they may incur in the implementation of any grant related to the Framework Partnership 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 itself.the following entities are also eligible as coapplicants:
• For all Lots: Research institutes
• For Lot 3, Protecting Independent Media: for-profit organisations, and/or public and private agencies whose mandate or main purpose is international media development.
• If invited to sign the FFPA, the co-applicants together will be the “Partner” in the formal agreement, indicating that it is represented by the legal entity of the lead applicant and listing the co-applicants as consortium members. As the representative legal entity, the lead applicant will sign the agreement on behalf of the whole group of applicant organisations.

Affiliated Entities

• 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 European Commission.