Deadline: 30 May 2016

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organisations for its thematic programme “Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities” to strengthen civil society organisations’ and local authorities’ contribution to governance and development processes.

The programme is divided into two lots:

• LOT 1 – CSOs (EUR 950 000): To support and strengthen CSOs’ capacity to perform their roles as development actors, services providers and agents in policy processes, in coordination with the country’s relevant stakeholders, in the areas of:
  • support to children, women, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups
  • gender equality
  • education
  • health
  • food security and sustainable natural resources management
  • water and sanitation
  • culture, media and information
  • cultural and natural heritage
  • interfaith dialogue and prevention of radicalisation
  • youth empowerment;
  • economic empowerment for disadvantaged groups and populations segments out of mainstream services
  • decent work and rights at work;
  • migration and fight to trafficking and smuggling.
• To foster CSOs’ cooperation with similar entities (eg with other Eritrean, African and European CSOs) and with LAs in-country and abroad and/or to strengthen CSOs’ cooperation with international and regional intergovernmental organisations.

• LOT 2 – LAs (EUR 300 000): To support LAas’ capacity to perform their roles as development actors, service and welfare providers, and promoters of inclusive and sustainable growth at the local level (according to their institutional mandate) in the areas of:
  • support to children, women, people with disability and other vulnerable groups
  • gender equality
  • education
  • health
  • food security and sustainable natural resources management
  • water and sanitation
  • culture, media and information
  • cultural and natural heritage
  • interfaith dialogue and prevention of radicalisations
  • youth empowerment
  • economic empowerment for disadvantaged groups and populations segments out of mainstream services
  • decent work and rights at work
  • migration and fight to trafficking and smuggling
• To foster LAs’ cooperation with similar entities (eg with other Eritrean, African and European LAs) and with CSOs in-country and abroad and/or to strengthen LAs’ cooperation with international and regional intergovernmental organisations.

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• LOT 1 – CSOs
  • minimum amount: EUR 150 000
  • maximum amount: EUR 500 000
• LOT 2 – LAs
  • minimum amount: EUR 150 000
  • maximum amount: EUR 300 000

Eligibility Criteria

• In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  • be a legal person or an entity without legal personality
  • be non-profit-making
  • be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, , local authority
  • be established in a Member State of the European Union or in the State of Eritrea or in another EU partner countries, as follows:
    • developing countries that are included in the list of recipients of ODA established by the OECD/DAC including countries and territories falling within the scope of Council Decision 2013/755/EU on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Union (‘Overseas Association Decision’)
    • countries that are signatories to the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000, including South Africa
    • countries eligible for the European Development Fund
    • countries eligible for Union funding under the European Neighbourhood Instrument established by Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the ‘European Neighbourhood Instrument’) including the Russian Federation.
    • 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.
  • Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations

How to Apply

• The application procedure consists of two phases:
  • Concept notes
  • Full applications
• In the first instance, only concept notes must be submitted for evaluation. Thereafter, lead applicants who have been pre-selected will be invited to submit a full application

For more information, please visit Europeaid and download the guidelines.