The European Union Civil Society in Development Program to Lebanon

Deadline: 4 August 2014

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon is accepting grant applications from eligible entities for the Civil Society in Development Program under the Neighborhood Civil Society Facility.

The Neighborhood Civil Society Facility is the operational response to the global and regional EU approach outlined in 2011 EC Communication “Agenda for Change ” which acknowledge civil society’s role in reform and democratic change in the region. Its major aim is to strengthen and promote the role of civil society organizations.

The major objective of this particular call is to stimulate and strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations to enhance their participation in sustainable development through multi-stakeholders involvement.

Priorities

1. Initiatives supporting concrete innovative capacity building initiatives
2. Initiatives enhancing socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable groups  and  vulnerable communities
3. Initiatives promoting active participation of the civil society in policy making processes to ensure transparency and accountability in different areas such as- fighting corruption, good governance, public accountability and transparency at local level.

Grant request can be made in between €150,000 and €250,000 which can be 50%-90% of the total eligible costs of the action. The initial planned duration of an action must be at least 12 months and at most 24 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be legal persons in non-profit making organization.
• Applying organization must be established in Lebanon or EU Member State. This obligation does not apply to international organizations.
• Applicants must be specific types of organizations such as- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), public sector operators, local authorities, international (inter-governmental) organizations as defined by Article 43 of the Implementing Rules to the EC Financial Regulation.
• In the case of a Lebanese NGO, be constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in Lebanon for at least two years at the time of the submission of an application and registered with the Ministry of Interior and/or Ministry of Youth and Sports.
• In the case of an NGO from a Member State of the European Union, be registered for at least three years prior to the deadline for submission of project proposals in accordance with the legislation in force in their respective country.
• If the applicant in a  non-state actor from a Member State of the European Union and/or an international organization, a partnership with one or several Lebanese actors is obligatory.
• Applicants must 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.
• Proposed actions must take place in Lebanon.
• Priority is given to applications where co-applicants are Local Authorities and/or grass-roots and remote organizations. Applications considering participatory approaches and ensuring knowledge and skills transfer are prioritized.

For more information, please visit Civil Society in Action and download relevant documents for further reading.