Open Call: Strengthening the Capacity of CSOs in Peace Building in Ethiopia

Deadline: 19-May-23

The European Commission is seeking proposals to empower local peacebuilders in crisis-affected contexts in Ethiopia.

Objectives

• The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals are:
  • strengthen the operational and financial capacity of local peacebuilders in crisis-affected contexts in Ethiopia
  • establish an effective sub-granting system to support small scale locally led CSOs peacebuilding efforts in crisis-affected contexts in Ethiopia

Priorities

• The priority(ies) of this call for proposals are:
  • Give more ownership to a diversified local civil society in the design and implementation of smallscale peacebuilding initiatives and/or assignments that respond to context-specific needs of communities
  • Promote effective, inclusive and sustainable engagement of local CSOs in peace building activities in Ethiopia
  • Stimulate dialogue and exchange of experiences among CSOs networks in a number of areas of common interests, especially prevention of violence
  • Promote cohesion and strengthen mutual trust and ties among CSOs working in the peace buildingspace;
  • Support and/or facilitate creation / strengthening of COSs led initiatives for peace across Ethiopia;
  • Promote inspiring narratives of how local CSOs can be effective agents for change.

Sectors or Themes

• The applications should include:
  • Conflict sensitivity, human rights and do-no-harm: The approach followed in developing the design of the proposals is expected to be conflict-sensitive, do-no-harm, inclusive and participatory.
  • Gender, age, diversity: The design of the proposals shall reflect gender sensitive approach, with gender-sensitive, sex-disaggregated and age-disaggregated indicators and statistics that capture diversity measures.
  • Climate responsiveness: The design of the proposals shall reflect climate responsive (where possible) approach.
  • ICSP/NDICI Core indicators: The application should contain the core indicators presented in “List of core indicators for IcSP/NDICI – Crisis response and Peace, Stability and Conflict Prevention (Peacebuilding)”.
  • Context knowledge and stakeholder analysis are crucial – preference will be given to organizations that show sound understanding of local context, conflict dynamics and stakeholders and can rely on an existing network of contacts. It is important to contextualise the proposed activities within other EU-funded programmes in Ethiopia.
  • Involvement of local partners and grass-roots organisations: A high level of involvement of the local partners (co-applicants, affiliated entities, associates, etc.) in the identification and the implementation of the actions is an essential component, as it will have an impact on the capacity of the projects to operate satisfactorily in each targeted country. Preference will be given to proposals including a well-structured involvement of local partners.
  • Multi-level coordination and cooperation between relevant stakeholders involved is fundamental for effective and efficient delivery of results. In addition, the application should include an explanation of how the action aligns, coordinates and complements national frameworks, processes and efforts (this could be either at broader international or national levels or at more local level).
  • Sustainability: All proposed actions should seek to achieve long-lasting changes and positive impact on concerned communities beyond the lifetime of the project. Actions should also aim to strengthen the common identity/interest and the ability of young men and women led organizations of the region to contribute to peacebuilding in the longer term. Applicants should demonstrate in their proposals how these objectives will be achieved.
  • Risk analysis and mitigation measures: Taking into account the possible sensitivity of the activities, a detailed risk analysis should be made for every relevant activity accompanied by possible measures to mitigate this risk.
  • Cross fertilisation of expertise amongst civil society actors is highly encouraged

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 4,000,000.00.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 800,000.00
  • maximum amount: EUR 2,000,000.00
• Duration: The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 36 months.

Location: Actions must take place in Ethiopia, with a focus on crisis-affected areas.

Eligibility Criteria

• 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 constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the applicant’s country of registration and
  • be established in a Member State of the European Union or any other eligible country as indicated in regulation n°2021/947 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union’s instruments for financing external action. However, where the lead applicant is not established in Ethiopia, it must act with minimum one co-applicant established in Ethiopia and
  • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • The maximum recommended number of co-applicants to be involved in the action.
  • 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)
  • In addition, please note that contracts cannot be awarded to or signed with applicants included in the lists of EU restrictive measures.
• 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 coapplicant(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.

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