Grants to Support Civil Society Organisations in Trinidad and Tobago

Deadline: 29-Mar-23

The European Commission (EC) is now accepting proposals to strengthen local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) engagement as actors of good governance and development at country level.

Objectives and Priorities

• The overall objective of the CSO Thematic Programme is to strengthen local CSOs as independent actors of good governance and development. The action aims to contribute to an inclusive, participatory, empowered, and independent civil society, which is pivotal for promoting a democratic space in partner countries. The action also seeks to promote an inclusive and open dialogue with and between Civil Society Organisations at local, regional and global levels.
• The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
  • To strengthen the capacities of local CSOs’ to engage in policy dialogue at national level.
    • This objective will seek to reinforce the voice and actions of CSOs as monitors, advocates and partners in national and local policy dialogue and as providers of information and expertise to foster transparency, public knowledge and participation. This is intended to support CSOs to hold public authorities to account at all administrative levels (both local and national), with a view to ultimately empowering citizens especially the most vulnerable.
    • This component is aimed at improving the livelihoods of populations in need, particularly the most vulnerable and any other disadvantaged groups, through enhanced CSO capacity to deliver initiatives aimed at:
      • stimulating policy innovation and improving responsiveness of policies (e.g. budgets) to populations’ needs in relevant sectors
      • improving capacities to participate in multi-actor partnerships with the private sector and public authorities.
  • To improve the ability of local civil society organizations to uphold and promote an enabling environment on behalf of vulnerable communities, with some attention to digitalization.
    • The absence of an enabling environment often affects CSOs ability to address and respond to development challenges. CSOs need a set of guarantees (conducive environment) that ensures rights and opportunities to operate, act and perform.
    • The component is linked to building CSO capacity and will support CSO actions to enhance social development by improving population’s access to (and benefit from) social services. In this regard support for CSOs actions towards enhancing and promoting access to social services and inclusiveness for the most vulnerable groups in line with the resilience agenda, will be looked at – service delivery possible (crisis situation, COVID, conflict) but not the main goal of the actions under this programme.
    • All initiatives carried forward by CSOs should take place in an institution-building logic especially where public institutions are weak or under-resourced. Actions to be considered must include community mobilization and capacity development to enable the targeted population to acquire increased understanding and ability to influence the underlying causes and continue accessing services beyond the life of the action. Actions proposed must demonstrate an analysis of the problems with solutions to address the issues for the vulnerable communities.
  • To strengthen the capacity of local CSOs to engage in actions dedicated to promoting gender equality, women and youth empowerment & inclusion as well as promote cultural expression. Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls: Gender equality is a significant objective of this Action.
    • Youth and Culture: The EU recognises youth as key actors of development and an integral part of the solution to promote peace and security. Despite this, young people are far too often excluded from policy and decision-making processes on issues that affect them and their future. Civil Society is an important actor in promoting youth engagement and involving, and/or representing, youth and youth interests (including cultural activities) in key policy processes. The Action seeks to support youth organizations capacities and participation, as well as the capacities for youth inclusion as CSO partners at large, in a gender sensitive and responsive way, taking into account the different barriers and obstacles for male and female youth. It furthermore seeks to contribute to strengthening youth engagement in policy dialogue with the EU, through the inclusion of youth in the structural dialogue with Civil Society at large.

Priorities

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

• Governance
• Digital
• Green Deal
• Youth

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 715,000.00. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  • minimum amount: EUR 150,000.00
  • maximum amount: EUR 300,000.00
• Duration: The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 48 months

Location: Actions must take place in following country: Trinidad and Tobago

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 specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation or international (inter-governmental) organisation
    • be established in Trinidad and Tobago
    • 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 the completion, within the last 5 years, of at least 1 project of a similar size and in a related field to the action being requested in the grant
• 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 can be registered in Trinidad and Tobago as well as in the EU.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • 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 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.
  • The structural link shall as a general rule be neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation. This means that the link would exist independently of the award of the grant; it should exist before the call for proposals and remain valid after the end of the action.

For more information, visit EC.