The European Commission (EC) is seeking proposals to strengthen CSOs as independent actors to operate sustainably and provide development assistance to the population while promoting an inclusive dialogue on policy issues and contributing to the delivery of public services.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues

The specific objectives of this call for proposals is to promote digital democracy, civic empowerment, research and data analysis, policy dialogue and outreach to national community groups and decision-makers, upgrade of capacities to address poverty and development issues and effective contribution to domestic policies processes, including from a strategic, administrative and organisational points of view.

The priorities of this call for proposals are to:

• gaining improved knowledge of research, innovation, design, implementation and evaluation of projects and policies
• build capacity of CSO’s to engage in dialogues with different stakeholders to identify common priorities and steer decisions towards more effective development processes and interventions and maintaining human rights
• developing sustainable business models and diversifying CSOs funding
• building collectives, networks and/or strengthening existing civil society platforms to be able to speak in a unified voice and to deal with the new regulatory framework
• contributing to evidence based policy-making through improved dialogue capacities and outreach, research, data collection and analytical skills
• Strengthening leadership capacities and community mobilisation to promote social cohesion, democratic values and contributing to peace making process
• Proposals must address the global objective, the specific objective and more than one priorities of the call.

The crosscutting priorities of this call for proposals are:

• Mainstreaming environmental protection and climate change
• The European Commission is firmly committed to integrate environmental concerns and fight against climate change in its development co-operation and international partnerships policy. Under the present call, actions should include key aspects such as environment protection, sustainable management of natural resources and building resilience to climate change.

Gender equality 

Gender equality constitutes a fundamental human rights principle and a common value of the European Union through integrating the objectives of the third EU Gender Action Plan (GAP III), with a specific focus on the goal outlined in the NDICI-GLOBAL EUROPE on strengthening strategic dialogue on gender equality and women’s empowerment with CSOs including women organisations through the framework of the CSO Roadmaps, where the inclusion of women’s organizations is highly prioritized. The design of the action should give particular attention to gender inclusiveness to ensure a reinforced role of women’s as actors of change.

Rights-based approach

The European Consensus on Development commits the EU and its Member States to implementing a rights-based approach (RBA) to development, encompassing all Human Rights as well as EU’s commitment to promote and protect human rights and democracy as enshrined in the Joint Communication and EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy for 2020-2024.

Actions must therefore incorporate the five working principles of the RBA approach: applying all human rights for all; meaningful and inclusive participation and access to decision-making; non-discrimination and equality; accountability and rule of law for all; transparency and access to information supported by disaggregated data.

Youth participation 

The European Union recognises youth as key actors of development and an integral part of the solution to promote peace and security. Creating sufficient good quality jobs for young people remains a key challenge. CSOs promote young people’s rights, facilitate their engagement in social, civic, political and economic life, and ensure their contribution to inclusive growth and sustainable development. Young people should also participate in democratic processes and assume leadership roles. The European Youth Strategy 2019-2027 lays out the framework for EU youth policy cooperation and can serve as a source to involve young people in policy dialogue and democratic life.

All actions must clearly reflect how they integrate each and all of the crosscutting priorities.

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2,513,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

Size of grants

• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
• minimum amount: EUR 800,000
• maximum amount: EUR 1,256,500

Duration

• The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 36 months.

Types of Activity

Examples of type of activities are provided hereunder:

• Capacity building activites, including training, workshops, meetings, conferences, exchange-learning/visits, mentoring, on-the-job training etc.
• Networking including peoples’ and community groups exchanges, community-mobilisation and empowerment, knowledge conservation, creation of sub-regional networks, establishment or strenghtening of cooperatives, regular and annual CSOs seminars, mechanisms supporting networking (Information Technology and multi-media platforms) at local and regional level.
• Monitoring of public services/policy implementation, including role of media (mainstream, alternative, social), citizen reporting, journalist training, public campaign and studies/research.
• Engagement with the State including strengthening of institutional/government capacities and build culture for social dialogue, participatory management and decision-making through mutual understanding.
• Awareness raising, policy dialogue and advocacy action including training on advocacy skills, on access to remedies, on media interventions, awareness raising campaign, public campaign, consultation meetings, public conference, working with media, academic and think tank networks.

Location

Actions must take place in the following country: the Kyrgyz Republic.

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant

In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

• be a legal person and
• be non-profit-making and
• be a non-governmental organisation (international organisations are ineligible) and
• be established in a Member State of the European Union or in any other eligible country as stipulated in the NDICI-GE Regulation and
• be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co- applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary and
• have been registered for at least two years at the submission deadline for concept notes.

Co-applicant(s)

• In case of involving co-applicants in the action, three co-applicants is the maximum recommended number.
• 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.
• Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.

Affiliated entities

• 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 co- applicant(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 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.

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/prospect-details/181292PROSPECTSEN?order=DESC&pageNumber=1&pageSize=50&sortBy=startDate&keywords=EuropeAid%2F181292%2FDD%2FACT%2FKG&isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502