Tips to apply to the European Commission Call: CSO for a Better, Inclusive and Resilient Education in Nepal

The European Commission is calling for applications for the program “Civil Society Organizations (CSO) for a better, inclusive and resilient education in Nepal”. Concept notes for this call can be submitted until the 18 June 2020. The total amount made available is EUR 1,450,000, the size of grants should be between EUR 500,000 and 750,000.

What can be funded with this grant?

The objective of this call is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all in the context of recovery of the COVID-19 crisis in the education sector.

The specific objectives are:

1) To promote meaningful and structured participation of CSOs on governance issues about basic education at the local level (ward and Palika), including accountability and transparency, and in particular in terms of strategies for continuity of service delivery to most vulnerable populations;

2) To promote inclusive access to quality education, with particular attention to girls, children with disabilities, out of school children, indigenous people and other marginalized and hard to reach groups, in light of the interruption of service delivery caused by the crisis;

3) To promote schools as vectors of civic education, civic-minded participation and protection of the most vulnerable, in particular, that of women, youth and marginalized populations, to be more active and effective members of society; and

4) To contribute to the improvement of organizational capacities in planning, implementation, monitoring, disaster preparedness, and evaluation at the local and school level.

Cross-cutting themes which must be addressed are the following:

• Gender Equality
• Protecting the rights of people with disabilities and other marginalized groups
• Use a rights-based approach
• Use a risk-informed programming methodology
• replicability and extension

The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 48 months.

Also Read: 10 Steps to Drafting a Winning Concept Note for the European Commission

Who can apply for this grant?

The lead applicants for this grant need to be a legal person officially registered at least three years before the call is launched. They also need to be non-profit-making and civil society organizations. Lead applicants also have to be established in Nepal, in a Member State of the European Union, or in any country eligible under the Financing Instrument for development cooperation for the period 2014-2020. Furthermore, they have to be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicants and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary; and be allowed to implement activities in accordance with the Nepalese legal provisions.

How to apply?

To apply to this grant, applicants are invited to submit concept notes until 18 June 2020. All applicants must be registered in PADOR and concept notes must be sent through PROSPECT. For further details please see the guidelines.

Best of luck!