Deadline: 25 June 2019

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organizations for a program entitled “Support to civil society actors in promoting confidence-building and preventing radicalisation in South Asia& Knowledge Exchange on issues of importance to the EU-India Strategic Partnership”.

The overall objective of this call for proposals is thus, on the one hand, to provide support to in-country civil society actors in peace-building and preparedness; and, on the other, to support civil society actors working on topics of particular relevance relating to the EU-India Strategic Partnership.

Program Lots

The program is divided into four lots:

• Lot 1 – IcSP– Preventing Violent Extremism in India:
  • In India, there are increasing concerns about terrorism, not only as a transnational threat, but also in the online space. The internet and social media have become one of the main vehicles used by extremists and terrorist organisations to organise, recruit and incite violence. As in many other countries, law enforcement agencies and communities are struggling to prevent violent extremism through the internet and social media. One of the objectives of EU-India security cooperation, as agreed at the 2017 EU-India Summit, is to tackle online radicalisation, which presents an opportunity for involving CSOs.
  • The specific objective for this lot is to enhance the capacity of local CSOs in the prevention of radicalisation, promotion of tolerance, as well as more robust involvement of CSOs in online PVE activities.
• Lot 2 – IcSP– Confidence building measures / Dialogue in Pakistan: 
  • In recent years, Pakistan has experienced a strong decline in terrorist incidents and fatalities. Further efforts are still needed to promote social cohesion and tolerance, countering radicalisation and violent extremism, and build confidence between authorities and local communities. Security is a crucial and relevant topic in the EU cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with counter-terrorism as a key objective. This cooperation will be further strengthened by the forthcoming EU-Pakistan Strategic Engagement Plan (SEP) which will provide a new framework for a reinforced partnership between the EU and Pakistan.
  • In line with the overall spirit of the upcoming SEP, the specific objective for this lot is to contribute to building the sense of security in communities through confidence-building measures and dialogue, by engaging CSOs to promote constructive forms of engagement.
  • The geographic scope for this lot in Pakistan is Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/FATA and Azad Kashmir (AJK).
• Lot 3 – IcSP– Preventing Violent Extremism in South Asia:
  • South Asia has recently experienced rises in extremism, which takes various forms with transnational, local, political, ethnical or religious issues oftentimes as underlying drivers for conflict and violence. In a shrinking space for civil society across the region, there is a need for supporting CSOs to enhance their capacity and impact.
  • The specific objective of this multi-country action is to explore PVE through the lens of the diversity offered by the countries in the region and go beyond focusing on a single form of extremism. The anticipated result is a multi-country PVE action that strengthens CSOs and enhances their impact. The action(s) should cover at least two countries from the following list: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives (activities in other relevant countries of the region are also possible, provided the aforementioned minimum geographical requirement is met).
• Lot 4 – PI – Knowledge Exchange on issues of importance to the EU-India Strategic Partnership:
  • One of the main priority areas for engagement with CSOs in India until 2020 is the exchange of knowledge and ideas on issues of particular importance for the EU-India Strategic Partnership, particularly in the North-East States of India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura. An approach to deliver on this priority is through continuing engagement with CSOs on promotion of peace, inclusiveness, sustainable development, human rights, and security.
  • The specific objective for this PI lot is to enhance the outreach and practical cooperation between the civil society organisations (CSOs) in India and the European Union through promotion of common values and principles, particularly on thematic issues of key relevance to the EU-India Strategic Partnership, such as promotion of peace and peaceful co-existence, human security, inclusiveness, human rights -including minority rights, women’s empowerment, gender-based violence, the rule of law, environmentprotection, depletion of natural resources, sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, challenges related to migration and mobility, and cultural cooperation.

Size of Grants

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

• Lot 1 Preventing Violent Extremism in India:
  • Minimum amount: EUR 400,000 per grant
  • Maximum amount: EUR 500,000 per grant
• Lot 2 Confidence building measures / Dialogue in Pakistan:
  • Minimum amount: EUR 400,000 per grant
  • Maximum amount: EUR 500,000 per grant
• Lot 3 Preventing Violent Extremism, Multi-country:
  • Minimum amount: EUR 400,000 per grant
  • Maximum amount: EUR 500,000 per grant
• Lot 4 Knowledge Exchange on issues of importance to the EU-India Strategic Partnership:
  • Minimum amount: EUR 500,000 per grant
  • Maximum amount: EUR 550,000 per grant

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 directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary;
    • for Lot 1,2 and 3, be a civil society actor as defined in Article 1.3 of the IcSP Regulation No 230/2014 and
    • for Lot 4 only:
      • be established in India or a Member State of the EU and other eligible countries according to CIR article 9. Eligible applicants with a nationality other than that of India must act together with at least one Indian organisation acting as a co-applicant;
      • all Indian applicants –whether main applicant or co-applicant(s)- must comply fully with Indian legislation/s for non-profit organisations, including registration and reporting requirements under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010. In case the main applicant is an Indian organisation with one or several co-applicant(s) based outside India, the applicant needs to ensure that it can transfer funds outside India to organisations abroad;
    • For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. Unless sector-specific eligibility rules provide otherwise , if the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, applicants will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible to participate) or will be required to leave the project on the basis of General Conditions of the grant agreement.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • 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.
• Affiliated entity(ies)
  • 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, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU 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.

How to Apply

• The application procedure consists of two phases:
  • Concept notes
  • Full applications
• The concept note together with the declaration by the lead applicant must be submitted at the address given on the website.

For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2XUxKBo and download the guidelines