Deadline: 30-Oct-20
The Council of Europe is launching a call for proposals with the aim to co-fund national and local projects in Armenia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine under the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe joint programme Partnership for Good Governance, and its regional project “Strengthening access to justice through non-judicial redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Eastern Partnership countries.”
The program is aimed at combating discrimination, favouring the inclusion of groups at risk of discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes, and raising awareness among vulnerable communities and the general public about redress to discrimination.
Moreover, the project aims to co-fund national and local projects in Armenia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine aimed at combating discrimination, favouring the inclusion of groups at risk of discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes, and raising awareness among vulnerable communities and the general public about redress to discrimination.
Project Aims
- National stakeholders to align anti-discrimination legislation and policies to European standards on discrimination, hate crime and hate speech;
- ‘Equality bodies’/Ombudsperson institutions and NGOs to have increased capacities to assist vulnerable groups in pursuing discrimination complaints;
- ‘Equality bodies’/Ombudsperson institutions and NGOs to carry out awareness-raising on discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes, for vulnerable communities as well as the general public;
- National stakeholders to develop the necessary competencies to address hate speech in line with human rights standards.
Funding Information
- The indicative available budget is 42.000 Euros (forty-two thousand Euros).
- The Council of Europe intends to award up to 5 grants of a maximum amount of 9.000 Euros (nine thousand Euros) each.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible for a grant, an applicant must:
- be legally constituted as a non-governmental organisation in Armenia, the Republic of Moldova or Ukraine;
- be entitled to carry out in Armenia, Republic of Moldova or Ukraine the activities described in its project proposal;
- have been active for at least three years in the field of human rights and combating discrimination;
- have sufficient financial capacity (stable and sufficient sources of funding) to maintain its activity throughout the period for which the grant is awarded and to participate by way of its own resources (including human resources or in-kind contributions);
- have sufficient operational and professional capacity, including staff, to carry out activities described in its project proposal;
- have a bank account.
- Projects could address the following:
- Prevention of discrimination, such as awareness-raising, human rights education, information to vulnerable communities about redress mechanisms and victims support;
- Support to the development of intercultural dialogue and community cohesion;
- Actions for supporting vulnerable communities when they are victims of discrimination, by empowering them to ask for redress to discrimination;
- Promotion and the protection of the rights of vulnerable communities at the local level, for example through awareness-raising actions or services for communities, such as ethnic minorities, Roma, LGBT, the disabled, etc.;
- Strengthening victim support services and information at the local level;
- Combating hate speech and hate-motivated violence or the stigmatisation of certain groups;
- Tackling multiples forms of discrimination affecting certain groups, for example, Roma women, or LGBT people from ethnic minorities, etc.;
- Information about redress mechanisms to discrimination hate speech and hate crimes.
Evaluation and Selection Procedure
- The projects presented will be assessed by an Evaluation Committee composed of three staff members of the Council of Europe.
- The procedure shall be based on the underlying principles of grant award procedures, which are transparency, nonretroactivity, non-cumulative awards, not-for-profit, co-financing and non-discrimination, in accordance with Rule 1374 of 16 December 2015 on the grant award procedures of the Council of Europe.
- The applicants, and their projects, shall fulfil all of the following criteria:
Exclusion criteria
Applicants shall be excluded from the grant award procedure where they:
- have been sentenced by a final judgment on one or more of the following charges: participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, money laundering;
- are in a situation of bankruptcy, liquidation, termination of activity, insolvency or arrangement with creditors or any like situation arising from a procedure of the same kind, or are subject to a procedure of the same kind;
- have received a judgement with res judicata force, finding an offence that affects their professional integrity or constitutes serious professional misconduct;
- do not comply with their obligations as regards payment of social security contributions, taxes and dues, according to the statutory provisions of the country where they are established;
- are or if their owner(s) or executive officer(s), in the case of legal persons, are included in the lists of persons or entities subject to restrictive measures applied by the European Union;
- By signing the Application Form, applicants shall declare on their honour that they are not in any of the abovementioned situations. The Council of Europe reserves the right to ask applicants at a later stage to supply the following supporting documents:
- an extract from the record of convictions or failing that an equivalent document issued by the competent judicial or administrative authority of the country where the applicant is established, indicating that these requirements are met;
- a certificate issued by the competent authority of the country of the establishment;
- for natural persons, a scanned copy of a valid photographic proof of identity (e.g. passport);
- for legal persons, an extract from the companies registers or other official document proving ownership and control of the applicant.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/30RXphZ