Wehubit announces CFPs on “Closing the Digital Divide through Education, Training and the World of Work”

Deadline: 21 February 2020

Wehubit has announced a call for proposals on “Closing the digital divide through education, training and the world of work”.

Objectives

• The general objective of this Call for Proposals is to increase the use and access to digital solutions offering better living conditions in the partner countries of the Belgian Development Cooperation.
• The specific objective of the call for proposals is to support the upscaling or replication of initiatives that close the digital divide for vulnerable groups (youth, women, unemployed, refugees and migrants) by improving digital literacy and skills through D4D initiatives in education, training and the world of work.

Sectors or Themes

The action must contribute to the specific objective of the Call for Proposals. It must also specifically show in detail that it is aligned with the guiding principles of the Wehubit programme:

• Promotion of digitisation as a means to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals;
• Alignment with the Digital for Development (D4D) strategy paper of the Belgian Development Cooperation;
• Ensure a Human Rights-based Approach (HRBA);
• Application of the Principles for Digital Development;
• Scaling up and replication of an existing digital solution which has positively gone through an implementation phase and reached a business case.

Innovation within these actions is considered as an asset.

Grant Information

Any grant application under this Call for Proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• Minimum amount: 50.000,00 EUR
• Maximum amount: 350.000,00 EUR

Duration

The initial term of an action may not be less than 12 months, or exceed 36 month.

Countries

The actions must be implemented in one of the countries of the Belgian bilateral development cooperation: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants
  • To be eligible for grants, the applicant must satisfy the following conditions:
    • be a legal person; and
    • be a public actor or be a private non-profit actor; and
    • Applicant’s organisation (or their co-applicant) needs to be established or represented in the country where the action is implemented. To Wehubit it means that applicants are locally registered with the authorities, that they have local staff and that they are directly implementing activities in the country; and
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and not be acting as an intermediary; and
    • have already managed a grant amounting to 40% of the amount applied for. A certificate of satisfactory performance signed by the donor is mandatory and constitutes proof thereof; and
    • dispose of financial statements certified by an independent body (audit or statutory commissioner). Those statements must not be older than 2 years.
  • The applicant may act on its own or with one or more co-applicants.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • The co-applicant(s) shall participate in the implementation of the action, and the costs that they incur shall be eligible in the same way as those incurred by the applicant.
  • The co-applicant(s) must satisfy the eligibility criteria which apply to the applicant itself, except that:
    • they don’t need to prove that they have already managed a grant amounting to 40% of the amount applied for;
    • they don’t need to be established or represented in the country where the action is implemented if it is the case for the lead applicant.

Activity Types

By way of example, they list the types of activities that are eligible:

• Implementation of digital solutions: geolocation technology, databases, big data, virtual reality, blockchain, gamification, social networks, etc.
• Capacity development: strengthening staff skills in the action’s technological and digital domain.
• Product development: adaptation/development of digital products in view of a development on a larger scale.
• Quality: implementation of quality improvement and control systems.
• Digital literacy: improving people’s skills in using digital tools and technologies.
• Data systems: using digital technology to improve the collection, management and use of data.
• Institutional technical assistance: supporting laws and regulations that improve access to digital technologies or their use.
• Participation to trade fairs: presentation at local, regional and European trade fairs of digital solutions developed by the action.
• Others: The relevance of these initiatives will be assessed by the selection committee, but like the above-mentioned activities, they must also contribute to the results to be achieved and to the action’s specific objective.

The following types of actions are not eligible:

• actions consisting exclusively or primarily of sponsoring the participation of individuals in workshops, seminars, conferences and conventions;
• actions consisting exclusively or primarily of financing individual scholarships for studies or training;
• actions consisting primarily of financing investments in equipment;
• actions consisting primarily in using a proprietary digital solution;
• actions presenting a digital solution which has not yet been implemented.

For more information, visit https://www.wehubit.be/en/financing-instruments#grants-anchor