Grants to Promote Functioning Pluralistic and Participatory Democracy

Deadline: 29-Sep-22

The European Commission (EC) is pleased to announce a call for proposals to foster and promote a functioning pluralistic and participatory democracy in the Southern Neighbourhood countries.

Objectives

The specific objective(s) of this call for proposal are:

• To increase participation of CSOs in policy making process and policy dialogue, the promotion of public accountability and the advocacy role of civil society
• To enable CSOs in the Southern Neighbourhood to participate in structured dialogue with the European Union

Lots

The call for proposals is divided into different lots per types of activities. Framework Partnership and Specific Grant Applications must target only one of the following lots:

• Capacity building and financial / thematic support to CSOs
• Participation to regional structured dialogue of civil society with the EU with involvement of relevant stakeholders

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 11 000 000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• Indicative allocation of funds by lot:
  • Lot 1: EUR 7 000 000
    • minimum amount: EUR 2 500 000
    • maximum amount: EUR 3 500 000
  • Lot 2: EUR 4 000 000
    • minimum amount: EUR 1 500 000
    • maximum amount: EUR 2 000 000

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant(s)
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person and
    • be non-profit-making and
    • be a civil society organisation and
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary and
    • be established in:
      • an EU partner country from the Southern Neighbourhood – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria  and Tunisia, eligible for Union funding under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) instrument; or
      • an EU Member State ; or
      • a country of the European Economic Area.
  • For both Lots:
    • The Lead applicant should have experience of at least 3 years in one of the following themes in the Southern Neighbourhood
    • Governance, democracy and human rights,
    • Environmental protection, climate change,
    • Trade and economic cooperation
    • Migration
  • For Lot 1 only:
    • have recent proven experience of at least 3 years (since 2015) in implementing CSO capacity building activities in at least three countries from the Southern Neighbourhood , including coaching and on-the-job training, and
    • have recent proven experience (since 2017) in awarding and managing grants to CSOs, including the publication of calls for proposals, the definition of selection and award criteria, the evaluation of applications and the monitoring of implementation.
  • For Lot 2 only:
    • have recent experience of at least 3 years of engagement in policy dialogue and advocacy with civil society
• Co-applicant(s)
  • For Lot 1 only: The applicants (lead and co-applicants), taken together, should have thematic expertise on each of the main policy issues covered by the structured dialogue. This is particularly important for choosing relevant grantees that can play a useful role and also feed the regional dialogue with inputs and expertise
  • For Lot 2 only: The applicants (lead and co-applicants)should have proven engagement in policy dialogue and advocacy with civil society involvement in at least 3 countries of the Southern Neighbourhood and together be able to show thematic expertise on the main policy issues of the future regional dialogue.
  • Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
• Affiliated entities
  • 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 (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 https://bit.ly/3OxwC19