Public Call for Support to Addressing COVID-19 Consequences (Serbia)

Deadline: 26-Feb-21

With the support of the Government of Switzerland, the Swiss PRO Programme through the new public call will directly support up to ten local projects that will be addressing the rights and the needs of citizens living in substandard settlements alleviating the consequences of COVID-19.

Objectives

Overall Objective: Improve the access of citizens of Roma substandard settlements to their rights and needs through beer provision of social inclusion policies and practices.
Specific Objective: Enhance access to the rights and fulfillment of the needs of at least 300 citizens living in Roma substandard settlements.

The Programme will directly support up to ten (10) local social inclusion projects implemented by LSG as a lead applicant at its territory in mandatory partnership with a CSO or implemented independently by CSO as a lead applicant that will be addressing the rights and the needs of citizens living in substandard settlements alleviating the consequences of COVID-19 at the territory of 59 LSGs that in accordance with the Mapping of Substandard Settlements in Serbia has at least one informal settlement at its territory with at least 100 citizens. The projects will be selected, evaluated, and approved in a competitive process, while the following key thematic areas will be addressed:

Access to health and sanitation.
Support children in education (mentorship support including distance learning resources and school supplies).
Formal or non-formal learning through vocationally-oriented training for youth up to 30 years of age.
Improvement of work safety for the most common occupations among citizens in substandard settlements (waste collectors, sellers on the market, and musicians).
Raising awareness on COVID-19 and fostering behavioral changes.
Support for livelihood recovery.

Funding Information

The overall amount available under this Call for Proposals is USD 150,000 (in RSD).
The minimum value of the grant per project is USD 13,000 (in RSD) and the maximum is USD 15,000 (in RSD).
The implementation of activities from the projects will last for a maximum of 10 (ten) months, and for a minimum of 8 (eight) months, from the day the grant contract is signed.

Non-Eligible Activities

Non-eligible activities and expenditures Following activities and expenditures will not be considered eligible for funding by the Programme:

Projects that do not explicitly tackle the topics;
Projects aimed at filling up any funding gaps from on-going activities;
Activities that can be more appropriately funded from other funding sources;
Activities where a substantial part of the budget covers recurrent costs and/or personnel costs;
Travel, catering, and/or conference services costs not founded in project rationale;
Projects focused on research or promotional activities with no specific outcomes;
Extensive hardware/software purchases without true foundation in project rationale;
Items from the budget, including office costs, fees, or salaries, already funded by other sources (other projects, other organizations – public or civic, etc.);
All costs originating before the project beginning or accrued after project closure.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility criteria for LSG as a lead applicant:
- Be one of 57 LSGs that are within the Region of Šumadija and Western Serbia and the Region of Southern and Eastern Serbia and that in accordance with the Mapping of Substandard Settlements in Serbia has at least one informal settlement at its territory with at least 100 citizens.
- The LSG is expected to provide its financial contribution of a minimum of 10% out of the total value of the project eligible costs while in-kind contribution (e.g. costs for resolving/alleviating sanitation issue in an informal settlement, like water supply, per diems for sanitation, and health workers, etc.) will be under special consideration during the evaluation.
- The mandatory partnership between LSG (as a lead partner) and local CSO (as a project partner). The partnership must be in a written form (Partnership Agreement or Leer of Intention for Partnership Agreement), signed by relevant signatories from both sides, and with a clear division of tasks and responsibilities. It will be possible for one LSG to forge partnerships with up to two local CSOs, but the total grant budget for one municipality will remain the same.
- One LSG as a lead applicant can submit only one project proposal. One applicant can be awarded only one grant.
CSO as a partner:
- Only CSOs legally registered for a minimum of 2 (two) years with clear and provable track-record from the previous projects involving international donors and organizations.
- CSO as a partner should be Roma-founded CSO, Roma Associations, or other CSO with provable track-record from the previous projects addressing improvement of Roma status.
- CSOs from one LSG may forge a partnership with non-domicile LSG, under the condition that the other LSG has at least one substandard Roma settlement with at least 100 citizens and CSO has capacity for fieldwork.
CSO as a lead applicant:
- Only CSOs legally registered for a minimum of 2 (two) years with clear and provable track-record from the previous projects involving international donors and organizations.
- CSO as a lead applicant should be Roma-founded CSO, Roma Associations, or other CSO with provable track-record from the previous projects addressing improvement of Roma status.
- CSO as a lead applicant could propose activities only for the territory of 59 LSGs that in accordance with the Mapping of Substandard Settlements in Serbia has at least one informal settlement at its territory with at least 100 citizens regardless of CSO`s seat. In case that proposed activities should be implemented out of the CSO seat, the additional capacity for the fieldwork should be proved.