Deadline: 21-May-23
The Embassy of Finland in Beirut is seeking proposals to support Lebanese civil society initiatives for development through the Fund for Local Cooperation (FLC).
The Fund for Local Cooperation (FLC) is one of the Finnish development cooperation instruments and aims at supporting the civil society to participate in the development process of Lebanon. The funds are channeled through Lebanese civil society organizations to complement the bilateral cooperation of Finland.
The Embassy’s FLC Program aims at improving the capacity of local civil society actors to implement target-oriented projects. Projects supported through the FLC must serve Finland’s foreign and security policy objectives. As part of Finland’s official development co-operation the funded projects should adhere to the cross-cutting themes of Finnish development policy to reduce poverty, promote gender equality and strengthen the rights of the most vulnerable.
They are looking for projects falling under these two priority areas:
- Promoting the rights of people belonging to the most vulnerable groups (especially the LGBTIQ+ -community and Palestinian refugees).
- Strengthening inclusive, peaceful and democratic societies.
Funding Information
- The Embassy’s Fund for Local Cooperation for 2023 is 120 000 euros in total, which will be divided between 1-3 projects, depending on the received proposals. The maximum project budget is 100 000 euros, with a maximum duration of twelve months.
Eligible Projects
- The FLC seeks to promote the activities of local civil society for the implementation of projects with a clear aim. Projects carried out under FLC funding strengthen the civil society and its members in Lebanon and support institutional and private-sector actors in projects with verifiable development impacts.
- Projects carried out under FLC funding must always be classified as development aid (including, for example, projects that support business partnerships) in accordance with the OECD/DAC ODA criteria.
- Every proposal must take into consideration the Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) and be designed according to the Result-Based Management (RBM) principles.
Eligibility Criteria
- Only local actors are eligible to apply for Finland’s FLC funding.
- By definition the local actor must be established and officially registered in Lebanon on an official and permanent basis, its activities are targeted at Lebanon and the support benefits Lebanon. Eligible actors may include non-governmental organisations, science and technology communities, universities and other educational and research institutions, independent media, public bodies and cultural institutions, chambers of commerce and commercial associations, organisations engaged in the promotion of export and investment, businesses, cooperatives, interest groups of companies and employees, foundations or religious communities.
- Support for a company is eligible only when its main objective is to promote the economic development and well-being of developing countries, and should be directed to a project or other clearly defined target-oriented activities, which have verifiable development impacts. Where the partner is a company, the project may not involve procurement from that company (purchases exceeding a certain threshold value require a call for tenders), but the grant must be an explicit allocation of funding for assistance.
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For a proposal to be considered, these key elements of Finnish Development Policy must be applied:
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Human Rights, notably the rights of women and children, and marginalized groups like persons with disabilities. Projects assessed as Human Rights “blind” cannot be funded.
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The project must incorporate the Results Based Management (RBM) approach.
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The project should provide added value to the priorities and the cross-cuttingobjectives (CCOs) of Finland’s Development Policy, which include the:
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Promotion of gender equality,
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Reduction of inequality,
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Promotion of sustainable management of natural resources, environmentalprotection and climate sustainability
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For more information, visit Embassy of Finland in Beirut.