Transition Small Scale Project to support Democracy & Human Rights (Armenia)
Deadline: 13-Oct-20
The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Yerevan announces new call for Transition Small Scale project proposals for 2021. The Transition Promotion Program is a democracy assistance financial instrument of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic established in 2005.
This program is aimed to support democracy and human rights, using the Czech Republic’s experience with the social transition and democratization of the country.
Focus Areas
Project proposals should focus on the following topics according to the Human rights and Transition Promotion Policy Concept of the Czech Republic:
Civil society – support of civil society including human rights defenders:
actively participates in mechanisms supporting civil society and human rights defenders, especially in the work of the respective UN Special Rapporteur; contributes to the drafting and adoption of broadly supported UN thematic resolutions, and promotes the full participation of civil society representatives in the work of international organizations;
supports the building of links between the political and program levels of the support for civil society, both through the agencies and bodies of the United Nations (OHCHR, UNDP, UNDEF, etc.) and through the regional instruments of the European Union (especially the EIDHR, and also the DCI, ENI, IPA, and the non-budgetary EDF);
supports the development of contacts with civil society in third countries as part of the European Union’s Common Foreign and Defence Policy; takes an active part in the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, including the further elaboration of the Shelter Cities initiative;
maintains bilateral contacts with civil society and human rights defenders in third countries, provides them with assistance and support including active monitoring of trials of human rights defenders; raises the cases of persecuted human rights defenders in bilateral contacts; identifies projects with a potential to strengthen civil society, and actively uses the Transition Promotion Programme to facilitate the implementation of these projects.
Information – support of freedom of speech, access to information, independence of the media:
supports the work of Special Procedures of the United Nations (namely the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression); contributes to the drafting and adoption of thematic resolutions of international organizations; speaks up against attempts to restrict the right to the freedom of expression or opinion e.g. in the context of religious intolerance (defamation of religion); and supports initiatives aimed at suppressing hate speech;
raises the cases of persecuted journalists in international organizations as well as in bilateral contacts; uses the network of Czech embassies to monitor cases of persecuted journalists and, if necessary, assists such journalists using appropriate tools such as the special Council of Europe platform;
in the regional context, supports the mandate and work of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media;
in the European Union, takes an active part in the implementation of the EU Human Rights Guidelines on Freedom of Expression Online and Offline;
e) in bilateral activities, uses the national Transition Promotion Programme to support projects focused on media freedom, pluralism and independence, on the training of journalists and on the inclusion of human rights issues in media content.
Participation – promotion of citizens’ involvement in the public decision-making process at all levels (local, regional, national):
remains the main sponsor of the United Nations resolution on equal political and public participation; actively cooperates on this issue with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; and organizes UN side events on equal political and public participation;
supports the election assistance and observation missions of the European Union, OSCE and other relevant international organizations; sends its nationals to these missions; and develops its multilateral and bilateral policies towards the countries concerned
in the light of the recommendations presented in the final reports of the missions;
uses the projects implemented under the national Transition Promotion Programme to encourage the interaction of central, regional and local governments with civil society actors, representatives of vulnerable groups and other stakeholders; this includes activating young people, engaging them in community and social activities and educating them for active citizenship, as well as encouraging the participation of women and excluded and disadvantaged groups in decision-making processes;
promotes the right of citizens to comment on draft legislation, as well as the freedom of information and the right to associate in representative associations, including non-governmental, employee and other organizations and political parties.
Legal state – support of democratic institutions’ development:
in the relevant international organizations and bodies, promotes the equality of all persons before the law, the principle of legal certainty, judicial independence and impartiality, the availability of judicial review and the right of all persons to a fair trial;
promotes full accountability for human rights violations at the national, regional and international levels as an integral part of the human rights protection system;
supports activities aimed at combating torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment perpetrated by repressive structures within as well as outside the judicial system; this includes support for the ratification of, accession to and compliance with the appropriate international instruments;
uses EU statements and declarations as well as bilateral contacts to speak up on cases of gross abuse of power, interference with judicial independence and impartiality, violation of the right to a fair trial and on cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and to demand remedial action;
uses the projects implemented under the national Transition Promotion Programme to support the building of human rights institutions, independent judiciary, security services and other bodies, including their oversight mechanisms as well as the human rights and rule of law training for their personnel.
Equality – support of equality and non-discrimination:
in international organizations, promotes equal opportunities for men and women, women’s economic empowerment and participation in public life; in debates within the United Nations, takes an active stance against violence inflicted on women and girls, including the use of sexual violence in armed conflicts. In this context, the Czech Republic supports the work of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN) and contributes to the implementation of the EU Guidelines on violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them;
speaks up against discrimination and supports the mainstreaming of equality issues in other policies; this includes the development of the EU guidelines on non-discrimination in external relations and the implementation of Union’s existing guidelines (EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion and belief; Guidelines to promote and protect the enjoyment of all human rights by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons);
in bilateral contacts, speaks up on serious cases of discrimination; promotes the protection of human rights associated with equality and non-discrimination (including the protection of religious minorities) using projects implemented under the national Transition Promotion Programme.
Human Rights in connection with employment and/or environment:
in the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other international organizations, draws attention to gross violations of labour standards; in the context of the European Union’s human rights dialogues with third countries, raises the issue of workers’ rights, calls for ratification and implementation of the relevant ILO conventions, and emphasizes the right of workers to freely organize in independent and free associations;
in international debates on ways to reduce the effects of human activity on the Earth’s climate, including in debates under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and in other fora, promotes the right of all people to live in a healthy environment and to have timely access to complete information on the state of the environment and natural resources;
in bilateral contacts, focuses on the above issues and uses the projects implemented under the national Transition Promotion Programme to promote the human rights approach to working conditions and the environment.
Evaluation Criteria
Formal requirements,
Human Rights relevance of the project to the needs/priorities of Armenia,
Cost-effectiveness and efficiency (incl. amount of co-financing),
Feasibility and sustainability of project results,
Effectiveness of project results, the logic of the project.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3hZBYRz