Deadline: 31-Jul-24
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria through the Embassy/Consulate General of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Republic of North Macedonia announces a procedure for acceptance and selection of proposals for projects that will be implemented with a grant within the framework of the official development assistance of the Republic of Bulgaria with an initial term of execution in 2025 year.
Priority Areas
- The priority areas and directions for the implementation of projects on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia are:
- Raising on administrative capacity with purpose strengthening on supremacy on the law, the democratic one management and promotion on the civil society and civil activity on the young people and theirs empowerment at management on the public ones policies;
- Construction on capacity and exchange on experience in the field on the good management and the role on the civil community;
- Support for preservation and conservation on the world culturally and naturally inheritance;
- Protection on the rights on children, people with disabilities and disadvantaged situation
- Insurance on inclusive and qualitative education and improvement on the school infrastructure;
- Support for insurance on universal healthy coverage and access to qualitative healthcare services;
- The sustainable management on the natural resources, protection on nature and reduction on the consequences from climatic changes;
- Assistance development and renewal on local infrastructure;
- Support for small and medium business and entrepreneurship, with specially attention to the creation on new opportunities for the young people from weakly developed regions;
- Construction on supporting capacity on security and strengthening on the legal one country.
Goals and Scope of the Projects
- Promoting connectivity in all areas, including work with young people, strengthening good neighborly relations, regional stability and mutual cooperation, cooperation in the field of culture and social policy;
- Stimulating and supporting the building of the administrative capacity of the Republic of North Macedonia in order to strengthen the rule of law and democratic governance;
- Improving the quality of education in educational institutions on the territory of the country by equipping halls and offices with technical means for profiled training in various disciplines, improving the building stock and the adjacent infrastructure by means of repair works and installation of new installations, repair of internal premises, etc.;
- Provision of better health care through repair and reconstruction of health facilities, as well as equipment with modern computer and specialized equipment;
- Improving the working conditions and promoting the activity of creative collectives and sports teams in the Republic of North Macedonia by means of equipment with modern technical means, musical instruments, sports equipment, repair and reconstruction of buildings, etc.;
- confirmation of democratic values, freedom of speech and human rights in the context of the pursuit of European integration of the Republic of North Macedonia
Funding Information
- The minimum allowable value of a project is BGN 20,000.
- The recommended maximum value per project is:
- for projects whose main purpose is delivery of goods and/or provision of services – up to BGN 150,000;
- for projects whose main purpose is to carry out repair and/or construction activities – up to 300,000 BGN
- for projects whose main purpose is implementation are the so-called soft components of ODA /conferences, seminars, colloquiums, creative workshops, etc./, the amount of aid cannot exceed 30,000 BGN, as well as the term of execution is not allowed to exceed 9 months.
Expected Results
- Confirmation of the good name and international authority of the Republic of Bulgaria;
- Improvement of socio-economic development;
- Improvement of management;
- Reducing poverty and increasing well-being;
- Deepening the interaction between the institutions at the central, regional and local level;
- Improving the quality of the education system;
- Improving the quality of social and health services;
Eligible Activities
- Activities contributing to the strengthening of public institutions in the partner country, responsible for the development and implementation of national policy in priority areas and aimed at helping to strengthen their transparency, accountability and efficiency and contributing to strengthening the development of civil society and increasing its contribution for social justice, democracy and sustainable development, for example:
- Development of new/updating existing training modules;
- Organization and conduct of trainings for the employees of the administration of the partner country;
- Conducting trainings on specific topics in Bulgarian institutions to exchange good practices and increase the qualifications of employees from the administration of the partner country;
- Organization and holding of seminars, forums, conferences;
- Developing research and strategies;
- Activities to raise awareness of citizens’ rights;
- Activities to promote multicultural dialogue and to limit racism, xenophobia, hate speech, discrimination and intolerance in society;
- Activities to improve dialogue between non-governmental organizations and local, regional and national authorities;
- Mandatory activities that must be provided in the project:
- preparation of an audit report by an independent financial auditor
- activities to ensure publicity and visibility of the provided financial aid, according to the Guidelines for Publicity and Visibility of Bulgarian Development Aid, worth from 3 to 5% of the total value of the grant for the implementation of the project.
Target Groups
- Disadvantaged people;
- Young people and youth organizations
- Civil associations and organizations
- Socially vulnerable groups;
- Local population in cities and villages;
- State and local administration, with as many people as possible for the results of the implemented projects to be accessible.
Eligibility Criteria
- Primary and secondary budget managers – legal entities of the Republic of North Macedonia
- Municipalities and their associations;
- Educational, health and social institutions;
- International humanitarian organizations;
- International and local non-governmental organizations;
- Others who meet the requirements
Ineligible
- Individuals and legal entities for whom there are circumstances under Art. 23, para. 3-8 of Resolution No. 234 of the Council of Ministers of 01.08.2011 on the policy of the Republic of Bulgaria on participation in international development cooperation
- Beneficiaries whose project/s from previous years are not/were not successfully completed within the term of the contract/annex and without final reports accepted by the MFA by June 30, 2024.
- Beneficiaries who have not submitted interim reports on projects from previous years within the term of the contract/annex.
- Current beneficiaries who have not reimbursed due funds from previous projects financed under the Development Cooperation Program.
- Applicants without a sustained project history of less than 2 years.
- Applicants with a registration period of less than 2 years.
- Applicants who have received advance funding at the end of 2022 and with ongoing project implementation in 2024, and have not submitted and approved an interim report at the time of the announcement of the campaign to receive project proposals for funding in 2025.
- Applicants may not submit more than one project proposal under this announcement. In the event that an applicant submits more than one project proposal, all of their submitted project proposals will be excluded from subsequent evaluation.
For more information, visit Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.