European Commission under its Non-State Actors and Local Authorities NSA/LA in Development Program has issued a restricted call for proposals seeking concept notes for funding that is aimed at supporting the progressive empowerment and the engagement of Chinese NSA and LAs at the local level.
More specifically, the NSA/LA in Development Program will complement the EU strategy, which upholds the implementation of the Chinese 12th Five-Year Plan and a common intent of the EU and China to promote sustainable development in the context of the current rapid urbanization trend.
Global and Specific Objectives
The global objective of the NSA/LA in Development Program is poverty reduction in the context of sustainable development, including the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and other internationally agreed targets. This Call for Proposal falls under Objective 1 of the Program: promoting an inclusive and empowered society in partner countries that will facilitate non-state actor and local authority participation in poverty reduction and sustainable development strategies.
The overall objective of the present Call for Proposal is to support operations aiming at promoting an inclusive and empowered society in the Peoples’ Republic of China in order to
– benefit populations out of reach of mainstream services and resources and excluded from policy making processes;
– strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations, with a view to facilitating their participation in defining and implementing poverty reduction and sustainable development strategies; and
– facilitate interaction between State and non-State actors in different contexts.
The specific objective of this Call for Proposals is to support initiatives led by Non State Actors aimed at strengthening their capacity, role and participation in the formulation and implementation of sound, accountable and equitable strategies tackling the challenges posed to rural and urban communities by the rapid urbanization process in China.
Thematic Priorities
Applications should focus on one of the two following priorities at least
Thematic Priority 1 – Actions focusing on capacity building of NSAs, such as:
– Institutional and technical capacity (dialogue, strengthening of implementation and networking capacities etc.);
– Advocacy and monitoring of public policy making and implementation;
– Awareness raising and policy research (data gathering etc.) aimed at a better formulation, implementation and evaluation of development policies at all levels.
Thematic Priority 2 – Actions falling within the scope of the following sectors:
– Social welfare and Social Infrastructures, with particular focus on planning, provision and delivery of quality services in urban and peri-urban area;
– Public and Environmental health in urban, peri-urban and rural areas;
– Employment, Decent Work and Corporate Social Responsibility;
Actions targeting Thematic Priority 2 must in any case integrate the necessary elements of capacity building of NSAs.
Last date for submission of concept notes is December 7, 2011
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