In Prospect 151103 - Raising public awareness of development issues and promoting development education in the European Union - EU Europe

Date de clôture : 21 juin 2016  
APPEL À PROJET CLÔTURÉ

1 RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF DEVELOPMENT ISSUES AND PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

1.1 BACKGROUND

The Development Education and Awareness Raising (DEAR) programme aims to anchor awareness and understanding of global development in our societies. It highlights the universal responsibilities of all individuals, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)4, Local Authorities (LAs)5, governments and other development actors, to contribute to sustainable and inclusive development.

It supports the active engagement of the European public, through initiatives designed and led by CSOs and LAs, in global attempts to eradicate poverty, promote justice, human rights and democracy, social responsibility, gender equality and sustainable development strategies in partner countries6. It contributes to the enhancement of the public's critical understanding of the interdependent world, and of their roles and responsibilities in a globalised society. It can offer a timely support on sensitive global issues such as migration or gender equality.

The EU DEAR Action will contribute to the Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) by educating and engaging the public on development issues and raising awareness on how EU Member States and EU policies can have an impact on development outcomes in partner countries. It supports pan-European initiatives and encourages cooperation and the exchange of best practices.

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME AND PRIORITY ISSUES
The main objective of this Call for Proposals is to promote development education and raise public

awareness on development and cooperation policies.

The specific objective of this call for proposals is to provide support for and promote quality development education and awareness raising among the European public. The proposed projects must foster a growing awareness and critical understanding of the role, responsibility and lifestyles of the public in relation to an interdependent world. It should motivate their effective involvement in local and global Actions in support of the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. 

This Call contains four lots:
Lot 1: Global learning education and campaigning and advocacy projects led by a Civil Society

Organisation (CSO) or an association of CSOs, from EU member states.

•   Option 1 – Global learning education

•   Option 2 – Campaigning and advocacy

  The types of projects covered by this Lot are further detailed under "Types of Action" in section 2.1.4.

  Lot 2: Global Learning education and campaigning and advocacy projects led by a CSO or an association of CSOs from EU 13 member states

•   Option 1 - Global learning education

•   Option 2 - Campaigning and advocacy
  The types of projects covered by this Lot are further detailed under "Types of Action" in section 2.1.4.

  Lot 3: Financial support to third parties – led by a CSO or an association of CSOs from EU member states.

  The main purpose of this lot is financial support to third parties. The organisations selected under this lot will be responsible for operational and financial supervision of third party actions. They will provide accessible and flexible funding for third party projects contributing to the general and specific objectives of the Call for Proposals. The options remain the same as for the other lots.

•   Option 1 - Global learning education

•   Option 2 - Campaigning and advocacy
  The types of projects covered by this lot are further detailed in Annex X and "Types of Action" in section

  2.1.4.

  Lot 4: Global Learning education and campaigning and advocacy projects led by a Local Authority or Association of LAs, from EU member states.

 Option 1 - Global learning education Option 2 - Campaigning and advocacy

The types of projects covered by this lot are further detailed under "Types of Action" in section 2.1.4.

Applicants must clearly specify under which lot and option they are submitting the application in their project title. The focus of the Action must be on the objectives of the selected lot. However, an Action may contain elements from the other option.

Priorities

Proposals must address the following priorities. Proposals must clearly indicate and explain how they address the priorities. This will be assessed under point 1.2 of the Concept Note evaluation grid. A proposal which does not clearly address the priorities of the Action may be rejected on this sole basis.

1. Under lot 1, 2 and 3, proposals will contribute to the pursuit of one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)7 approved in September 2015 by the United Nations Member States. They should also facilitate the contribution of the European public to development work in line with the universality principle defined in the SDG's.

Under lot 4 proposals must address at least two priorities among the ones listed here below: 

• SDG-Goal 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 

•   SDG-Goal 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

•   SDG-Goal 13 - Take urgent Action to combat climate change

•   SDG-Goal 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide

  access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

•   Localising SDGs at City Level

AND, 

2. For all lots, proposals must focus on interdependencies between developing countries9 and the European Union, and seek to build public understanding of global public goods and challenges (such as sustainable energy, food security, human development, and sustainable agriculture,). A particular emphasis is expected on issues related to migration, climate change, and gender equality.

Expected results

• -  increased public awareness of global interdependencies between the European Union and developing countries;

• -  increased public awareness of the global agenda on development, including the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement10 and Habitat III.

• -  Increased public awareness of the role of EU development cooperation;

• -  changing attitudes and improved public understanding of issues and difficulties facing developing countries and their peoples, in particular migration;

• -  increased active engagement of the European public in major development debates and attempts to eradicate global poverty, promote justice, human rights, gender equality and sustainable ways of living;

• -  better integration of development issues into formal and non-formal education systems in EU Member States;

• -  higher level of engagement to promote coherence for development11;

• -  increased coordination, cohesion and coherence of development education on the European level and at EU Member State level;

• -  Increased engagement of LAs and associations of LAs in development education and awareness raising.

All Actions shall be based on an initiative of a CSO, an association of CSO, a LA or an Association of LAs from one of the Member States where the Action takes place. This CSO, association of CSO, LA or ALA shall be involved in all stages of the implementation of the Action. 

1.3 FINANCIAL ALLOCATION PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

The overall indicative amount made available for this CfP is specified in the Multi-Annual Action Programme (MAAP) 2015-201712, adopted in 2015. The amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 92,950,000. The total allocation for CSOs is EUR 75,050,000. The total allocation for LAs is EUR 17,900,000. "Please note that the overall indicative amount made available under this Call for Proposals, and as indicated in point 1.3 of these Guidelines, is a combination of EU general budget for CSO LA. 2017 Funds are pending further confirmation of 2017 budget availability."

Indicative allocations of funds by lot and budget year:

Lot 1 Global Learning Education and Campaigning and Advocacy led by a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) or an association of CSOs, from EU member states

Total available EUR 45,030,000
EUR 15,060,000 (from budget year 2016) EUR 29,970,000 (from budget year 2017)

Lot 2 Global Learning Education and Campaigning and Advocacy led by a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) or an association of CSO from EU 13 member states:

Total available EUR 15,010,000
EUR 5,020,000 (from budget year 2016) EUR 9,990,000 (from budget year 2017)

Lot 3 Financial Support to Third Parties:

Total available EUR 15,010,000
EUR 5,020,000 (from budget year 2016) EUR 9,990,000 (from budget year 2017)

Lot 4 Global Learning education and campaigning and advocacy projects led by a Local Authority or Association of LAs, from EU member states:

Total available EUR 17,900,000 (exclusively under Budget year 2017)

For lots 1, 2, 3, if the above-mentioned indicative amounts cannot be used due to insufficient quality or number of proposals received, the Contracting Authority could reallocate the remaining funds to another one of these lots. Since funds from lot 4 come from a different budget line, no reallocation is possible neither from lot 4 to the other lots, not from the other lots to lot 4.

The Contracting Authority reserves the right not to award all available funds. Likewise, this amount could be increased should more funds become available. 

Size of grants

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

Lot 1 (Education and awareness raising):

3,000,000 ,000,000

Lot 2 (EU13):

750,000 amount: EUR 7,000,000

Lot 3 (Financial support to third parties):

Lot 4 (LA):

3,000,000 ,000,000

1,000,000 7,000,000

Any grant requested under this Call for Proposals may not exceed the following maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the Action:

 Maximum percentage 90% of the total eligible costs of the Action for all lots (see also section 2.1.5).

The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the Action and the amount requested from the Contracting Authority) must be financed from sources other than the European Union Budget or the European Development Fund. 

2 RULES FOR THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS

These guidelines set out the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of the Actions financed under this call, in conformity with the Practical Guide (PRAG), which is applicable to the present call (available at http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/document.do?locale=en).

2.1 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to: (1) the actors:

•   The lead applicant, i.e. the entity submitting the application form (2.1.1),

•   if any, its co-applicant(s) (where it is not specified otherwise the lead applicant and its

  co-applicant(s) are hereinafter jointly referred as "applicant(s)") (2.1.1),

•   and, if any, affiliated entity(ies) to the lead applicant and/or to a co-applicant(s). (2.1.2);

•   The third parties (only for lot 3, see Annex X)

  (2) the Actions:

 Actions for which a grant may be awarded (2.1.5);

(3) the costs:
 types of cost that may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant (2.1.6). 

2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s)) 

Lead applicant
(1) Under lot 1, 2, 3, in order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

•   be a legal person and

•   be non-profit-making and

•   be a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) or an association of CSO and

•   be established in14 a Member State of the European Union and

•   be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the Action with the co-applicants

  and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

•   be able to demonstrate to have carried out activities in the field of development awareness raising and education for at least three years.

•   be established in an EU 1315 Member state (this applies only for lot 2) 

Under lot 4, in order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

•   be a legal person and

•   be a Local Authority (LA) from a Member State of the European Union, constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country or an association of LAs registered in a Member States of the EU and

•   be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the Action with the co-applicants and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

  

•   be able to demonstrate to have carried out activities in the field of development awareness raising

  and education for at least three years.

  NB: For all lots, associations which membership include both CSOs and LAs will be considered as either associations of CSOs or as associations of LAs, depending on their legal status and on whether the majority of their membership is CSO or LA.

  If awarded the grant contract, the lead applicant will become the beneficiary identified as the Coordinator in Annex E3h1 (Special Conditions). The Coordinator is the main interlocutor of the Contracting Authority. It represents and acts on behalf of any other co-beneficiary (if any) and coordinate the design and implementation of the Action.

(2) Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations listed in section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide;

In Annex A.2, section 5 (‘declaration by the lead applicant’), the lead applicant must declare that the lead applicant himself, the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies) are not in any of these situations.

The lead applicant must act with co-applicant(s) as specified hereafter.

Co-applicant(s)

For all lots, 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 sign the Mandate of the grant application form in Annex A.2., section 4. If awarded the Grant contract, the co-applicants will become beneficiaries in the Action (together with the Coordinator)

Under lot 1, 2, 3, the lead applicant must act together with a minimum of two co-applicants. The three of them must be established in three different EU Member States.

Under lot 1, 2, 3, co-applicants must satisfy the following eligibility criteria:

•   be legal persons and

•   be non-profit-making and

•   be a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), an association of CSO and

•   be established in a Member State of the European Union or of an eligible partner country or territory as defined in the OECD DAC list16

OR

•   be legal persons and

•   be a Local Authority (LA) or an association of LAs and 

• be Local Authorities or Associations of Local Authorities from a Member State of the European Union or from one of the eligible partner countries or territories as defined in the OECD DAC list17, constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country. 

Under lot 4 the lead applicant must act together with a minimum of five co-applicants:

•   At least two LAs from different EU Member States (municipalities having over 200,000 inhabitants). At least one of these must be from an EU 13 Member State if the lead applicant is not from an EU 13 Member State.

•   At least two small EU LAs (municipalities having a minimum of 30,000 inhabitants and max 200,000 inhabitants).

•   At least one co-applicant from an EU partner country18. Under lot 4, co-applicants must satisfy the following eligibility criteria:

•   be legal persons and

•   be a Local Authority (LA) or an association of LAs and

•   be Local Authorities or Associations of Local Authorities from a Member State of the European Union or from one of the eligible partner countries or territories as defined in the OECD DAC list19, constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country.

  OR

•   be legal persons and

•   be non-profit-making and

•   be a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), an association of CSO and

•   be established in a Member State of the European Union or of an eligible partner country or territory as defined in the OECD DAC list

2.1.2 Affiliated entities 

(i) Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:

1. 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:

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). 

(ii) 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. 

The structural link shall as a general rule be neither limited to the Action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation. This means that the link would exist independently of the award of the grant; it should exist before the call for proposals and remain valid after the end of the Action.

By way of exception, an entity may be considered as affiliated to an applicant even if it has a structural link specifically established for the sole purpose of the implementation of the Action in the case of so- called “sole applicants” or “sole beneficiaries”. A sole applicant or a sole beneficiary is a legal entity formed by several entities (a group of entities) which together comply with the criteria for being awarded the grant. For example, an association is formed by its members.

What is not an affiliated entity?
The following are not considered entities affiliated to an applicant:

• -  Entities that have entered into a (procurement) contract or subcontract with an applicant, act as concessionaires or delegates for public services for an applicant,

• -  Entities that receive financial support from an applicant,

• -  Entities that cooperate on a regular basis with an applicant on the basis of a memorandum of

  understanding or share some assets,

• -  Entities that have signed a consortium agreement under the grant contract (unless this consortium agreement leads to the creation of a "sole applicant" as described above).

How to verify the existence of the required link with an applicant?

The affiliation resulting from control may in particular be proved on the basis of the consolidated accounts of the group of entities the applicant and its proposed affiliates belong to.

The affiliation resulting from membership may in particular be proved on the basis of the statutes or equivalent act establishing the entity (network, federation, association) which the applicant constitutes or in which the applicant participates.

If the applicants are awarded a grant contract, their affiliated entity(ies) will not become beneficiary(ies) of the Action and signatory(ies) of the grant contract. However, they will participate in the design and in the implementation of the Action and the costs they incur (including those incurred for implementation contracts and financial support to third parties) may be accepted as eligible costs, provided they comply with all the relevant rules already applicable to the beneficiary(ies) under the grant contract. 

Affiliated entity(ies) must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant and the co-applicant(s). They must sign the affiliated entity(ies) statement in Annex A.2., section 5. 

2.1.3 Associates and Contractors 

The following entities are not applicants nor affiliated entities and do not have to sign the "mandate for co-applicant(s)" or "affiliated entities' statement":

 Associates

Other organisations or individuals may be involved in the Action. Such associates play a real role in the Action but may not receive funding from the grant, with the exception of per diem or travel costs. Associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to in section 2.1.1. Associates must be mentioned in Annex A.2., section 6 — ‘Associates participating in the Action’.

 Contractors

The beneficiaries and their affiliated entities are permitted to award contracts. Associates or affiliated entity(ies) cannot be also contractors in the project. Contractors are subject to the procurement rules set out in Annex IV to the standard grant contract.

 Redistribution of the grant

The grant beneficiaries may award financial support to third parties. These entities are neither affiliated entity(ies) nor associates nor contractors. However, they are subject to the nationality and origin rules set out in Annex IV to the standard grant contract. 

2.1.4 Third parties benefitting from financial support 

For lots 1, 2, and 4 please see financial support to third parties section in point 2.1.5 for eligibility conditions (points i to vii).

For LOT 3, see Annex X for third party eligibility criteria. 

2.1.5 Eligible Actions: Actions for which an application may be made 

Definition

An Action is composed of a set of activities.

Duration

The initial planned duration of an Action may not be lower than 12 months nor exceed 36 months.

Sectors or themes

See section of the present Guidelines (objectives of the programme and priority issues).

Location

Lot 1: Global Learning education and campaigning and advocacy projects led by a CSO or an association of CSO from EU member states

Actions must take place in a minimum of 10 EU Member States.
Lot 2: Global Learning education and campaigning and advocacy projects led by a CSO or an

association of CSO from EU 13 member states
Actions must take place in a minimum of 6 EU Member States. 

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