Deadline: 16 July 2018

The European Union (EU) is seeking proposals for a program entitled “Supporting Human Rights Defenders when they are most at risk”.

Objectives

• Professionalisation of the protection mechanism: This should include the following elements:
  • Build up capacity for processing cases through the establishment of a case management system.
  • Provide the HRD Committee with adequate support through the establishment of a secretariat.
  • Streamlining the decentralised structures of the protection mechanism, for example, through the establishment of provincial HRD networks.
  • Develop and record procedures for safe communication as well as the processing of cases at provincial and central level.
• Establishment of a basket fund to support coordinated action on the protection of HRDs in Afghanistan:This should include the following elements:
  • Ensure the basket fund is actively used as a coordination mechanism by all the stakeholders involved in the protection of HRDs in Afghanistan and to pool funds for actions on the protection of HRDs in Afghanistan.
  • Establish clear procedures for disbursement of funds and adequate financial control mechanisms to ensure financial sustainability.
• Gradual development of real support measures both before and after the threat against the life of an HRD occurs: This should include the following elements:
  • Prioritization of actions that can be developed and implemented within a short time frame.
  • Developing concepts and detailed budgeting for measures that are beyond the financial means of this call, but could be taken up under upcoming initiatives or with the basket fund under the second objective.

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between EUR 950.000 and EUR 1.000.000.

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 established in a Member State of the European Union or Afghanistan or in any eligible countries as per the relevant provisions of the EU Common Implementing Regulation (CIR) 236/2014 for at least three years
    • 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
    • belong to one of the following categories as defined per article 11 of the CIR (EU) No 236/2014:
      • civil society organisations, including non-governmental non-profit organisations and independent political foundations, community based organisations, and private sector non-profit agencies, institutions and organisations, and networks thereof at local, national, regional and international level;
      • public sector non-profit agencies, institutions and organisations and networks at local, national, regional, and international level;
      • international and regional inter-governmental organisations.
  • Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations
• 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.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant.
• 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, 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 applicant may hence be:
        • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by an applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by an 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 Europeaid and download the guidelines.