Support Grants for Human Rights and Democracy Initiatives (Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe)

Deadline: 05-Jun-24

The European Commission is seeking applications for Human rights and Democracy thematic program to protection and promotion of human rights and democracy for sustainable development and building more inclusive.

The thematic program “Global Europe – human rights and democracy” covering the period 2021-2027, is the EU’s flagship instrument for advancing human rights and democracy, including to address the consequences of global challenges, such as climate change and environmental degradation, digital technologies and new technologies.

Gabon

• Gabon has entered a transition phase since August 30, 2023, based on the timeline following an inclusive national dialogue process (April-May 2024) leading to a referendum on a new constitution (November-December 2024), followed at the beginning 2025 of a new electoral code, a revision of the lists (April 2025) and elections in August 2025 putting an end to the transition.
• From a human rights perspective, as established by the Human Rights, Democracy 2021-2024 Strategy, Gabon must always address the challenges linked to corruption, gender inequality, violence against women, obstacles to the inclusion of disabled people or minorities, ineffective justice in the management of pre-trial detentions and ritual crimes and finally an environment that is not conducive to the development of a responsible and independent civil society. Civil society plays a key role in meeting all these challenges.

Sao Tome and Principe

• Sao Tome and Principe experienced general elections in September 2022 characterized by a peaceful conduct of the electoral campaign and voting operations, as well as an adequate level of transparency and integrity of vote counting operations. However, the country experienced post-electoral unrest on November 25, 2022 for which the solidity of democratic institutions was tested even if the independent investigation underway is a sign of resilience of the São Toméan rule of law. From the perspective of human rights, as recognized by the Human Rights, Democracy Strategy 2021-2024, civil society is increasingly active in the field of human rights and in monitoring public policies. Human rights defenders in general do not encounter obstacles in their activities. Despite this positive performance in the regional context of Central Africa, there are areas of concern (challenges in the effectiveness of the judicial system, particularly access for the most vulnerable, lack of legal aid which could lead to irregular detentions.

Types of Lots

• Lot 1: Gabon – Human rights
• Lot 2: Gabon – Democracy
• Lot 3: Sao Tome and Principe – Human rights
• Lot 4: Sao Tome and Principe – Democracy

Program Objectives and Priorities 

• General objective of this call for proposals is the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law.
• In Gabon, the specific objective is to contribute to the promotion and protection of socio-eco-environmental human rights, including of women, the disabled and minorities and to support the transition process towards a democratic and inclusive society.
• In Sao Tome and Principe, the specific objective of lot 3 (human rights) consists of ensuring the accountability of agents of the judicial system and guaranteeing access to justice for all, by guaranteeing the right to a fair trial, that of lot 4 (democracy) consists of contributing to the improvement of electoral processes throughout the electoral cycle.
• The priorities of lots 1, 2 and 4 consist of [i] protecting and empowering individuals, [ii] building resilient, inclusive and democratic societies and [iii] safeguarding fundamental freedoms, in particular by exploiting the possibilities offered by digital technologies and new technologies and meeting the challenges they pose. For lot 3 the priority is improving access to justice.
• For all lots, proposals must respect the human rights-based approach which ensures that EU external action is designed and implemented in a way that directly or indirectly contributes to the realization of human rights for all. The human rights-based approach is consistent with aid effectiveness principles and involves viewing target groups as “rights holders” with legally recognized rights. The following five working principles should be applied adequately to any project proposal: application of all rights, participation and access to decision-making, non-discrimination and equal access, accountability and access to the rule of law, as well as transparency and access to information. Compliance with the human rights-based approach will be assessed in the proposal evaluation grids.
• Grant recipients will have to ensure that labor and social protection code standards are respected in line with the Commission Communication on Decent Work in the World (23 February 2022), which reaffirms the EU’s commitment to in favor of decent work, both inside and outside its borders,
• In line with the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the elimination of child labor and forced labour, any organization or group working with children or young people will need to have clear guidelines on how to keep children safe and address child protection concerns. Therefore, applicants and co-applicants who work directly with or for children must demonstrate, in their proposals, that they have a child protection policy in place for any project activity involving interactions with children.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals amounts to EUR 1,550,000, of which EUR 570,000 will be launched subject to the availability of appropriations provided for in the general budget of the Union for 2023.
• The total financial envelope planned for this Call for Proposals is €1,550,000. The indicative financial envelope per lot is as follows:
  • Lot 1: Gabon – Human rights: EUR 525,000
  • Lot 2: Gabon – Democracy: EUR 525,000
  • Lot 3: Sao Tome and Principe – Human rights: EUR 250,000
  • Lot 4: Sao Tome and Principe – Democracy: EUR 250,000

Types of Activities

• For each of the lots in this call for tenders, the indicative activities (non-exhaustive list) provided as an example are:
  • Lot 1 Gabon – human rights: “Civil society contributes to the promotion and protection of human rights, including those of women, the disabled and minorities”
    • Promote and educate human rights among populations and institutional actors, particularly in terms of gender equality, the rights of women, children and the most vulnerable, notably through appropriate use of the media;
    • Support the protection of people and groups who are discriminated against, vulnerable or victims of violence because of their ethnic or social belonging, their gender, their disability (including women, children, migrant populations, prisoners, ethnic minorities, etc.);
    • Promote actions enabling civil society to develop its role in dialogue with institutions (legal or institutional reforms, particularly in terms of environmental law) and its participation in international or regional forums (UN, OIF, etc.);
    • Promote the role of civil society in the fight against corruption for better equity and more social justice;
    • Promote the role of civil society in raising awareness and protecting fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression.
  • Lot 2 Gabon – democracy: “Civil society plays an active and constructive role in the Gabonese transition process.
    • contribution to the new constitution project and dissemination/awareness raising in the 9 provinces of the country;
    • contribution to the revision of the electoral law (in particular on the basis of proposals made by civil society in 2022) and dissemination/awareness raising in the 9 provinces of the country;
    • participation of civil society in verifying the electoral list and displaying it (in particular by electronic means);
    • contribution to advocacies aimed at modifying the provisions relating to electoral observation to allow civil society and the media to observe the elections, train civil society to monitor all stages of the electoral process, including the phases of tab;
    • training of observers, scrutineers and representatives of election candidates with a view to participating in observation;
    • organization or contribution to national campaigns for political participation and education for democratic citizenship, especially for women, young people, minorities, the disabled and generally the most vulnerable;
    • Advocacy for access to civil status for vulnerable populations (notably indigenous groups, albinos, widows and people living in rural areas) and biometric systems.
  • Lot 3 São Tomé and Príncipe – human rights: “ensure the accountability of agents of the judicial system and guarantee access to justice for all, guaranteeing the right to a fair trial
    • organization of awareness campaigns, days of activism and broadcast of spots and other media on issues of access to justice, including in the context of violence against women;
    • free provision of itinerant legal assistance for people in vulnerable situations and support to the courts;
    • organization of events aimed at young people with a view to the digitalization (for example mobile application) of legal assistance;
    • strengthening links between civil society actors and universities, legal professionals and institutional actors through exchanges of good practices and experiences;
    • Development of a human rights observatory under the leadership of civil society organizations.
  • Lot 4 São Tomé and Príncipe – democracy: “Civil society, particularly women and young people, play an informed and active role in democratic processes, particularly electoral and economic governance”
    • Organization of civic and electoral education activities, including the dissemination of information on changes to legislative, regulatory and procedural frameworks, including with the possible support of local radio stations
    • Contribute to advocacy aimed at implementing the recommendations of the 2022 EU election observation mission, including to bring electoral legislation into line with international commitments including provisions to ensure sustainable participation of people with disabilities to the electoral process
    • Contribute to advocacies aimed at modifying the provisions relating to electoral observation to allow civil society and the media to observe the elections, train civil society in monitoring all stages of the electoral process, including the tabulation phases and monitoring of the post-election period
    • Contribute to the establishment of an electoral platform bringing together a large number of civil society organizations based on principles to be developed such as impartiality, coherence with the other dimensions of the rule of law (good governance, human rights)
    • Support the emergence of a network of civil society organizations capable of autonomously and rigorously managing the different stages necessary for carrying out public expenditure monitoring surveys;
    • Contribute to the monitoring of public expenditure to destination and the evaluation of the quality of public services in terms of human rights, education, health, water, sanitation or the environment.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • To qualify for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal entity and
    • have no profit motive and
    • for lots 1,2 and 4 belong to one of the following categories of organizations: non-governmental organization and
    • for lot 3 belong to one of the following categories of organizations: non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or networks of local Santomé NGOs experienced and with operational and financial capacity in questions of access to justice (such as, between others, in the context of domestic violence), and awareness-raising and advocacy in the area of good governance and
  • be established
    • In Gabon or in a Member State of the European Union for lots 1 and 2
    • In São Tomé and Principe or in a Member State of the European Union for lot 4
    • In São Tomé and Principe for lot 3
  • Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity and not act as an intermediary.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • If the lead applicant is established in a member state of the European Union, it must act with at least one co-applicant established in Gabon for lots 1 and 2, and established in São Tomé and Principe for lot 4.
  • The lead applicant must be from São Tomé.
  • The co-applicants participate in the development and implementation of the action, and the costs they bear are eligible in the same way as those borne by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants must meet the same eligibility criteria as those that apply to the lead applicant itself.

For more information, visit European Commission.