European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights CBSS (Syria)

Deadline: 26-Jul-21

European Commission is inviting proposals for the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights CBSS to help civil society to become an effective force for political reform and defense of human rights.

More specifically, the aim of the CBSS is to strengthen the role of civil society in promoting human rights and democratic reform, in supporting the peaceful conciliation of group interests and in consolidating political participation and representation.

Under this objective, all human rights concerns – political, civil, economic, social and cultural – and all aspects of democratisation may be considered.

Objectives

The global objective of this call for proposals is to support and strengthen civil society organisations, democracy activists and human rights defenders working on critical human rights and democracy issues.
The specific objective of this call for proposals is to support and strengthen civil society organisations, democracy activists and human rights defenders working on protection and promotion of human rights with a focus on the most vulnerable groups.

Priorities

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

To counter human rights violations and attacks against fundamental freedoms and rights;
To increase the representation of- and to support the participation of vulnerable groups to local governance processes that lead to the delivery of improved and equitable services;
To contrast the marginalisation of vulnerable groups and to foster respect for their rights and dignity; to combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices, including those based on sex and age, in all areas of life; and to promote awareness of the capabilities and contributions of vulnerable groups.

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 1,000,000.
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
- minimum amount: EUR 900,000
- maximum amount: EUR 1,000,000
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the action:
- Minimum percentage: 80 % of the total eligible costs of the action.
- Maximum percentage: 95 % of the total eligible costs of the action.

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant

In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
- be a legal person
- be non-profit-making
- be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation
- be established in a Member State of the European Union or Syria or in any eligible countries as per the relevant provisions of the EU Common Implementing Regulation (CIR) 236/2014 for at least three years
- 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;
- be able to demonstrate at least two years of operational activities inside Syria.

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.
Co-applicants must sign the mandate.
If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator)

Affiliated Entity(ies)

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, 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.