UfM Grant Scheme to Promote Employment and Entrepreneurship in the Green Economy

Deadline: 29-May-23

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Grant Scheme is now open to support the green transformation of the Southern Mediterranean economies with a view to supporting employment promotion in the green economy.

This call for proposals is especially targeted to benefit vulnerable groups, which are disproportionately affected by the consequences of climate change and the related changing socio-economic landscape.

The green economy, green skills and green jobs are poised to play a key role in a sustainable recovery of the Southern Mediterranean region in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The post-crisis reconfiguration of economies is an opportunity to make use of the lessons learned during the pandemic, in particular with a view to advancing green transition, digitalization and value chain management.

Objectives

Fostering skills, especially for young people and women, in order to enhance their chances to find employment in sectors related to the green economy transition
Supporting entrepreneurial activity and the capacities of MSMEs with a view to enabling income generation and job creation in green and sustainable sectors
Supporting the economic empowerment of women in the green economy, for example through skills training, awareness raising or capacity building initiatives

Priorities

Green skills development in the Southern Mediterranean: Fostering skills, especially for young people and women, in order to enhance their chances to find employment in sectors related to the green economy transition.
Supporting entrepreneurial activity and MSMEs in the green economy: Supporting entrepreneurial activity and the capacities of MSMEs with a view to enabling income generation and job creation in green and sustainable sectors.
Empowering women as drivers of the green economy: Supporting the economic empowerment of women in the green economy, for example through skills training, awareness raising or capacity building initiatives.

Funding Information

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
- Minimum amount: EUR 150.000
- Maximum amount: EUR 300.000

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant

In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
- be a legal person (non-governmental organisation); pursuant to the conditions established in the Financing Agreement between UfM and GIZ, government agencies, local authorities, public sector operators and international organisations1 are not eligible under this call. and
- be non-profit-making and
- be established in the UfM Region and
- be established in one of the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia
- be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary and

Co-applicant(s)

Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).

Affiliated entity(ies)

The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to coapplicant(s):
Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular
a legal or capital link.
This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
- Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
- Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
  - Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
  - Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
  - Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
- Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,…) as the proposed affiliated entities.