Deadline: 23 March 2015
The European Commission is seeking proposals from non-profit/civil society organizations in Sri Lanka for its European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) programme under its Country-Based Support Scheme (CBSS) to promote respect for democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Sri Lanka. The overall indicative amount made available under this Call for Proposals is EUR 2 000 000.
Duration
The initial planned duration of an action should be between 24 to 36 months.
Location
Actions must take place in Sri Lanka in any part of the country, without geographical constraints.
Programme Objectives
The global objective of this Call for Proposals is to contribute to the development and consolidation of democracy, the rule of law and respect for all fundamental rights and freedoms in Sri Lanka. This includes
- promoting human rights
- democratic reforms
- building consensus on controversial policy areas
- enhancing
- political representation/participation
- enhancing inclusiveness
- pluralism of civil society
The specific objectives of this Call for Proposals are:
- to promote the rights of women, children, elderly, persons with disabilities and the vulnerable in all areas of governance.
- to identify leaders and increase skills in order to promote change at local, provincial and national level and support collaborative civil society networks in order to influence and mainstream them into relevant policies.
- to enhance the national and grass roots efforts towards reconciliation, stimulating ethnic relations, and religious tolerance, while also promoting the rights of vulnerable groups.
- to promote freedom of expression and association through free and independent media that are capacitated to report on human rights issues.
Lots
Lot1: Vulnerable Groups
- Women’s rights with Actions aimed at
- addressing the immediate needs of women, especially widows (female headed households) by provision of livelihood and other income generating means to reduce economic hardships. This could also include rights of migrant workers.
- preventing sexual violence and ensuring improved victim treatment, evidence collection and judicial response.
- identifying and providing special care, including professional counselling to women suffering from trauma and other psychological disorders resulting from the effects of the conflict and/or other forms of structural violence.
- promoting political leadership development of discriminated and excluded communities.
Lot 2: Democratization, fundamental rights & Freedoms
- Freedom of Expression and Association with actions aimed at
- empowering media and promoting ethical reporting.
- encouraging and disseminating cinema, TV, radio, stage drama productions and wider arts that highlight commonalities and promote mutual understanding between different ethnic communities.
- combating all forms of discrimination and promoting inter-religious/racial harmony and reconciliation.
- Legal Assistance with actions aimed at
- building the legal capacity of Sri Lanka to further the effectiveness of the legal system and the administration of justice, initiatives could include education to judges, lawyers and non-judicial court officials, universities and civil society organizations to develop and propose reforms that respond to citizens’
- provides legal remedies to members of society who lack access to services due to social and economic barriers.
Size of grants
Grant requested under this programme must fall between EUR 300 000 to EUR 400 000.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible for a grant, the applicant must:
- be a legal person and
- be non-profit-making and
- be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, public sector operator, local authority, international (inter-governmental) organization and
- be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
- Under each Lots, applicants must act with minimum two Sri Lankan co-applicants who all must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the applicant himself.
- The applicant and its co-applicant(s) can act with affiliated entity(ies). Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):
- Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the beneficiary (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the beneficiary (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
- Entities directly or indirectly controlling the beneficiary (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the beneficiary;
- Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the beneficiary (sister companies)
- The beneficiary is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the beneficiary participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association) as the proposed affiliated entities.
How to Apply?
- Applicants have to register themselves in PADOR, an on-line database on EuropeAid website.
- Thereafter Concept Note together with its relating Checklist and Declaration by the applicant must be submitted in one original and three (3) copies in A4 size, each bound.
- A CD-Rom with the Concept Note in electronic format must also be submitted via regular mail, along with the paper version, in a sealed envelope.
For more information about this call for proposal, please visit EuropeAid – Sri Lanka.
