Deadline: 31-Dec-23
The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has announced a call for proposals to support and fund civil society organizations (CSOs) piloting initiatives led by young actors of change.
The Samim project is a Mediterranean project dedicated to support and reinforce the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs), financed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and implemented by Lab’ess in partnership with PULSE and 4 Support Structures (SS) including Ecodev in Mauritania, Bidaya in Morocco, TCSE in Tunisia and JYIF in Jordan.
It is important to underline that two types of projects can be supported in the framework of the Samim project:
- The so-called “classic” development projects of general interest operating exclusively with the granting of subsidies. They are intended to respond to a local problem on the sub-themes of the sustainable city without generating income directly for the association that carries them.
- Examples of “classic” projects: Creation of a bicycle route to invite people to discover a historical and cultural heritage and to promote urban eco-tourism, or awareness raising training of residents in solid waste selective sorting in partnership with local authorities to improve waste management systems.
- Projects with an economic model in a perspective of income generating activity (IGA) for the association carrying them. They are intended to make the associations’ subsidy system independent and to make the structure sustainable by working on the economic development of the project.
- Examples of IGA projects: A community market where the neighborhoods women can display their creative products in exchange for a discounted membership or the creation of an urban agriculture project within the neighborhood that offers free gardening workshops to residents and sells its fruits and vegetables at the local market.
Characteristics of the Projects
- Sustainable cities and communities & responsible consumption and production (SDG 11 & SDG 12)
- It is important to point out that the Samim project has decided to focus on the theme of sustainable cities, because it addresses a number of key issues and challenges. Sustainable cities also represent a common subject that can allow interesting synergies between young project leaders and intervention areas. The following sub-themes of SDGs 11 and 12 will be covered:
- Waste management
- Circular economy
- Sustainable mobility
- Responsible consumption
- Eco-urbanism
- Urban agriculture in the broad sense
- Sustainable food
- Sustainable tourism
- Housing and energy transition
- Social and citizen innovations
- For example, the selected projects may contribute to climate action, sustainable cities and communities, life on earth, drinking water and sanitation, or other themes always related to the sustainability of urban environments.
- Thus, all projects supported by Samim will have a social and/or environmental impact on their urban ecosystems, particularly on the neighborhoods where they are being implemented.
- It is important to point out that the Samim project has decided to focus on the theme of sustainable cities, because it addresses a number of key issues and challenges. Sustainable cities also represent a common subject that can allow interesting synergies between young project leaders and intervention areas. The following sub-themes of SDGs 11 and 12 will be covered:
- Socio-economic impact
- The Samim project aims to support projects that contribute to the improvement of the quality of life in the neighborhoods where it operates. Indeed, the projects supported must be in harmony with the current socio-economic dynamics of the neighborhoods, create a new dynamic around sustainable cities, support existing initiatives and avoid unpredictable repercussions on the lives of residents.
- Fight against isolation and geographical inequality
- Greater Tunis, Casablanca, Rabat, Nouakchott and Amman are the largest cities in the four Samim project countries. They face major challenges such as increasing population density and rapid and unplanned urbanization which results in a high number of people living in informal settlements. These geographical inequalities also translate into a lack and inadequacy of services, infrastructure and community facilities and a lack of accessibility to the various services of the larger city.
- Urban innovation
- Urban innovation is an important marker of the Samim project. Through this term, Samim aims at designing innovative and creative answers adapted to the social and/or environmental problems faced by today’s intervention cities. Thus, the characterization of innovation could cover any project bringing an answer to a poorly satisfied need, a solution distinct from what exists on the territory or the transposition of an existing solution elsewhere but well adapted to the area in question.
- Gender and inclusion
- Gender is a social concept relating to the socially constructed differences between women and men, the way they interact and the functions of each. It refers to the social, economic, cultural and political attributes that are associated with being a woman or a man. When society normalizes these differences, the result is inequality between women and men.
- Gender mainstreaming and social inclusion are to be taken into consideration in this project, in order to address the barriers faced by vulnerable populations and to promote positive changes in attitudes, behaviors and practices within society. Thus, the Samim project aims to contribute to the removal of constraints to women’s access to resources and decision making, through the consideration of their specific needs within the city.
- Feasibility
- Social and environmental utility projects will be evaluated according to their feasibility, and must be achievable within a period not exceeding 12 months from the signing of the financing agreements. Similarly, the legal and technical feasibility of the projects will be taken into account throughout the evaluation of the applications in order to ensure the proper implementation of the projects and their sustainability.
- Sustainability of projects
- The projects as a whole will have to demonstrate a strategy of sustainability by mobilizing human and financial resources and adequate partners to perpetuate the action in harmony with the principles and values of the association.
- Existing projects and initiatives are eligible and invited to apply to this call for projects. These projects will be evaluated on the perspectives of scaling up the existing action thanks to the accompaniment of Samim and the strategies in place to perpetuate the action.
Funding Information
- Financial support between EUR 30 000 and EUR 34 000 is paid in local currency to the selected CSOs for the implementation of their project at the exchange rate of the month of contracting
Duration
- Duration of project implementation not exceeding 12 months (imperative)
- Projects aimed at scaling up or scaling out existing initiatives will also be considered. However, the CSO will need to demonstrate the sustainability strategy of the initiative.
Areas of Intervention
- Projects submitted must be located in one of the following cities:
- Wilaya of Nouakchott in Mauritania
- Casablanca and Rabat in Morocco
- Greater Tunis in Tunisia
- Amman in Jordan
- The precise geographical area of intervention will have to be defined in relation to the principle of combating isolation and geographical inequality presented above.
- Multi-country or multi-area projects will not be eligible.
Eligibility Criteria
- Be a CSO: association, NGO under local law or any other form of non-profit organization
- Minimum 2 years of legal existence of the association
- The average of the annual budgets (actual or projected) of the last 2 or 3 years is greater than/equal to the amount of the grant request
- The CSO has carried out at least 3 initiatives or actions in response to similar issues over the past 5 years of activities
- Knowledge of at least two languages of the project (English, French, Arabic)
- The CSO has permanent human resources (employees) capable of managing projects
- The CSO is located in the city where the project is going to be implemented
- The majority of the CSO is managed by a team of youth and women
- The CSO is not a subsidiary and benefits from governance and financial autonomy
For more information, visit AFD.