EU’s National Resource Center for Civil Society Organizations in Albania

Deadline: 4-Jun-21

The European Union (EU) has announced the National Resource Center for Civil Society Organizations in Albania – Support to Social Entrepreneurship and re-use of Confiscated Assets to enhance CSOs capacities to effectively engage in the decision-making process and to support the development of innovative social entrepreneurship models integrate victims of organised crime, domestic violence, people with disabilities, substance abuse and youth delinquency.

• LOT 1: National Resource Centre for the Civil Society in Albania
  • The global objective of this call for proposals is to support the existence of a National Resource Centre for civil society in Albania (NRC), as a platform for civil society at the local, national and regional level.
  • The specific objective of this lot is to build the capacity of CSOs to be professional, credible, effective and accountable independent actors. In this respect, the priorities are:
  • Contribute to develop the civil society by providing capacity building, training, mentoring, awareness and information to grassroots organisations, CSO and media organisations in a wide variety of areas, such as participation to policy-making, cost-effective service provision, fundraising, communication, transparency, effectiveness, accountability, self-governance.
  • Support CSO networking, collaborating and advocating at local and national level in order to empower civil society to participate in all reform ocesses including the implementation of Road Map for the Government policy towards a more enabling environment for civil society development
  • Ensure visibility and effective outreach to concerned public bodies in order to improve state and civil society relations and enhance cooperation between civil society and media organisations and the state institutions, donor community and other relevant stakeholders.
• LOT 2: Support to Social Entrepreneurship and re-use of Confiscated Assets 
  • The global objective of this call for proposals is to support already existing and developing new models of social entrepreneurship, as well as increasing and strengthening the use of social enterprises and models as an effective tool to provide opportunities, skills and support to victims of organised crime, domestic violence, substance abuse and delinquency.
  • The specific objectives of this lot are:
    • to enhance CSOs capacities to effectively engage in the decision-making process on the social re-use of confiscated assets and
    • to support the development of innovative social entrepreneurship models, including to integrate victims of organised crime, domestic violence, substance abuse and youth delinquency but also vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, minorities, youth.
  • The priorities of this lot are:
    • Re-use of confiscated assets for purposes of social causes, such as the creation or expansion of social businesses/services.
    • Support to social enterprises (which are not necessarily supported through the model of confiscated assets) or strengthening the existing ones.
  • The main priority of this lot is the support to the model of social re-use of confiscated assets.

• Lot 1- National Resource Centre for Civil Society in Albania — EUR 500 000
• Lot 2 – Support to Social Entrepreneurship and re-use of Confiscated Assets— EUR 1 500 000

• be a legal person and
• be non-profit-making and
• be a Civil Society Organisation, and
• be established in Albania or a Member State of the European Union, or in another IPA II beneficiary, or in one of the members of the European Economic Area the countries covered by CIR 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.
• Municipalities (ONLY FOR LOT 2):
• Potencial applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations

• There must be at least one (1), up to a maximum of three (3) co-applicants. Either the applicant or one of the co-applicants has to be registered in Albania.
• 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 form.

• 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 (grandrlaughter 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.