Second Open Call for Proposals under the NGO Fund Romania 

EEA grants 2009 – 2014

Second Round

1. General information and objectives of the NGO Fund in Romania

Support to civil society is one of the key priorities of the EEA grants 2009-2014, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as stated in the Memorandum of Understanding with Romania on the implementation of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2009 – 2014.

Civil Society Development Foundation together with its partners Romanian Environmental Partnership Foundation and Resource Center for Roma Communities is the Fund Operator in Romania, being entrusted to implement the Non-Governmental Organisations Programme.

The overall objective of the NGO Fund in Romania is “Strengthened civil society development and enhanced contribution to social justice, democracy and sustainable development” and shall contribute to the overall objectives of the EEA Financial Mechanism to reduce economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area and to strengthen bilateral relations between Romania and the donor states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The Programme will contribute to improving governance in Romania by encouraging citizens’ active participation, NGOs effective and extensive involvement in policy debates and specific measures such as those looking at corruption and rule of law. 

Over one third of the re-granting allocation covers the core areas of concern related to democracy, human rights, good governance and transparency, participatory democracy, combating racism and xenophobia, anti-discrimination, social inequalities, poverty and exclusion (including in rural areas), gender equality, gender-based violence. In line with the Memorandum of Understanding for Romania, the Programme shall address the specific needs of minority groups with a special focus on Roma by fighting social exclusion and promoting community engagement that generates solutions to community problems. More than 20% of the Programme allocation is dedicated to the provision of welfare and basic services to vulnerable groups and an important financial allocation is also foreseen for protection of the environment and climate change. Over 10% of the funds are allocated for projects addressing children and youth.

 A dedicated financial allocation was set aside for activities countering hate speech as they represent a special focus of the Programme.

Bilateral relations with donor states are encouraged within the NGO programme to facilitate networking and collaboration with donor states entities, outreach and exchange of knowledge.

2. Programme Components

The allocation of resources is established on five components, as follows:

Detailed information related to the allocations for Sub-Components and types of grants supported are presented in the specific Component description documents.

Please note that within each Component reallocations between their respective Sub-Components and between each types of grants will be possible, based on the results of the evaluation process. Also, funds allocated for Round 1 that remain unspent (if the case) will be automatically reallocated to the 2^nd Round, thereby increasing the total allocation indicated above for each component.

We recommend potential applicants to verify the list of projects contracted in the first round in order to avoid overlapping and ensure complementarity of initiatives (where the case).

3. Outcomes, horizontal concerns and cross-cutting issues of the Programme

The projects that will be financed within this programme shall contribute to one or more of the following outcomes:

• Active citizenship fostered
• Increased involvement of NGOs in policy and decision-making processes with local, regional and national governments
• Cross-sectoral partnerships developed, particularly with government organisations at local, regional and/or national level
• Democratic values, including human rights, promoted
• Advocacy and watchdog role developed
• Developed networks and coalitions of NGOs working in partnership
• Strengthened capacity of NGOs and an enabling environment for the sector promoted
• Increased contribution to sustainable development achieved
• Provision of welfare and basic services to defined target groups increased
• Empowerment of vulnerable groups

The project proposals are encouraged to tackle the following horizontal concerns of the Programme: hate speech, extremism and hate crime, racism and xenophobia, homophobia, anti-Semitism, tolerance and multicultural understanding, Roma, sexual harassment, violence against women and trafficking.

All Projects supported under the Programme have to abide by the principles of:

• Good governance
• Sustainable development (social, economic and environment perspectives)
• Gender equality

4. Eligible applicants and partners

Eligible applicants are exclusively non-governmental and non-profit organizations, with a legal status and the headquarters in Romania, organized and managed according to the Romanian enforced laws regarding the non-governmental organizations, respectively association, foundation, federation constituted according to the provisions of GO 26/2000 or the Law 21/1924 regarding associations and foundations, with subsequent modifications and completions. Eligible applicants have to be independent of local, regional and central government, public entities, political parties and commercial organisations.

Partnership will not be mandatory but will be recommended, in particular with partners from donor states. Projects can be implemented in partnership with entities from: Romania, donor states (Norway Iceland, Liechtenstein), beneficiary states (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain), countries outside the European Economic Area that have a common border with Romania (Ukraine, Moldova or Serbia).

In case the project is implemented in partnership with one or more of these entities, a partnership agreement is mandatory.

Eligible partners are non-governmental organisations, public or private entities, commercial or non-commercial. Public entities could be local and central public authorities, public institutions/agencies, decentralised governmental services at a local level, territorial entities, universities etc. It is mandatory that all partners have legal personality.

Also, inter-governmental organisations could be partners if they are actively involved in, and effectively contribute to the implementation of a project.

All applicants and partners shall comply with democratic values and human rights.

Only partners NGOs meeting the same eligibility conditions as for the applicants and partners public entities and/or local, regional and central government are entitled to access the grants.

The specific information on eligibility of applicants and partners, as well as eligibility of activities and costs will be presented in the respective Guidelines for applicants for each Component.

5. Application procedure and deadlines applicable

Application formats as well as Guidelines for Applicants and other annexes for the present Call for proposals will be available online on the dedicated webpage of the Programme: www.fondong.fdsc.ro.

For all Components, the application procedure consists of filling the Application form and uploading its annexes exclusively through an online application system. Originals of documents will be requested only for project proposals recommended for financing after the selection process.

An applicant organisation may submit a maximum number of 2 project proposals under the second round, out of which only 1 proposal for Large grants. Organisations that contracted and/or are in the precontracting phase with 2 or more projects under the first round (cumulative on all Components) may submit maximum 1 project proposal under the second round.

The maximum number of project proposals submitted by an organisation refers to all Components that are launched within the second round. The number of projects contracted by an organisation under the first round will be calculated, as well, taking into account all Components launched under the first round.

The application form shall be filled in online, using Romanian language. Applicants will have at least two months to develop their applications.

Please note that specific information and more details on the application procedure and deadlines will be available in the respective Guidelines for Applicants for each Component.

The Guidelines for Applicants will include more information on the evaluation process, selection criteria, evaluation grid, monitoring of projects, reporting and payments.

6. Additional information    

Guidelines for applicants and its specific annexes for this Call for proposals will be available online on the dedicated webpage of the Programme: www.fondong.fdsc.ro.

All potential applicants must periodically check the Programme website in order to stay updated with regard of any information related to this Call for Proposals or to the financing Programme. Questions related to this Call for Proposals may be addressed by potential applicants by e-mail, phone or by fax no later than 5 working days prior to the deadline for submitting applications. Answers will be given at the latest with 3 working days prior to the deadline for submitting applications.

Specific information related to where these questions could be addressed is available in the respective text for open call for each Component.

Questions that may be relevant to other applicants, together with the answers, will be published on the Programme website.

First Open Call for Proposals under the NGO Fund Romania 

EEA Financial Mechanism 2009 – 2014

First Round

1.     General information and objectives of the NGO Fund in Romania

Support to civil society is one of the key priorities of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2009-2014, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as stated in the Memorandum of Understanding with Romania on the implementation of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2009 – 2014.

Civil Society Development Foundation together with its partners Romanian Environmental Partnership Foundation and Resource Center for Roma Communities is the Fund Operator in Romania, being entrusted to implement the Non-Governmental Organisations Programme.

The overall objective of the NGO Fund in Romania is “Strengthened civil society development and enhanced contribution to social justice, democracy and sustainable development” and shall contribute to the overall objectives of the EEA Financial Mechanism to reduce economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area and to strengthen bilateral relations between Romania and the donor states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The Programme will contribute to improving governance in Romania by encouraging citizens’ active participation, NGOs effective and extensive involvement in policy debates and specific measures such as those looking at corruption and rule of law. 

Over one third of the re-granting allocation covers the core areas of concern related to democracy, human rights, good governance and transparency, participatory democracy, combating racism and xenophobia, anti-discrimination, social inequalities, poverty and exclusion (including in rural areas), gender equality, gender-based violence. In line with the Memorandum of Understanding for Romania, the Programme shall address the specific needs of minority groups with a special focus on Roma by fighting social exclusion and promoting community engagement that generates solutions to community problems. More than 20% of the Programme allocation is dedicated to the provision of welfare and basic services to vulnerable groups and an important financial allocation is also foreseen for protection of the environment and climate change. Over 10% of the funds are allocated for projects addressing children and youth.

 A dedicated financial allocation was set aside for activities countering hate speech as they represent a special focus of the Programme. The other horizontal concerns addressed by the Programme are extremism and hate crime, racism and xenophobia, homophobia, anti-Semitism, tolerance and multicultural understanding, Roma, sexual harassment, violence against women and trafficking.  

Bilateral relations with donor states are encouraged within the NGO programme to facilitate networking and collaboration with donor states entities, outreach and exchange of knowledge.

2.     Programme Components

The allocation of resources is established on five components, as follows:

Detailed information related to the allocations for Sub-Components and types of grants supported are presented in the specific Component description documents.

Please note that within each Component reallocations between their respective Sub-Components and between each types of grants will be possible, based on the results of the evaluation process.

3.     Outcomes, horizontal concerns and cross-cutting issues of the Programme

The projects that will be financed within this programme shall contribute to one or more of the following outcomes:

-       Active citizenship fostered

-    Increased involvement of NGOs in policy and decision-making processes with local, regional and national governments

-    Cross-sectoral partnerships developed, particularly with government organisations at local, regional and/or national level

-       Democratic values, including human rights, promoted

-       Advocacy and watchdog role developed

-       Developed networks and coalitions of NGOs working in partnership

-       Strengthened capacity of NGOs and an enabling environment for the sector promoted

-       Increased contribution to sustainable development achieved

-       Provision of welfare and basic services to defined target groups increased

-       Empowerment of vulnerable groups

The project proposals are encouraged to tackle the following horizontal concerns of the Programme: hate speech, extremism and hate crime, racism and xenophobia, homophobia, anti-Semitism, tolerance and multicultural understanding, Roma, sexual harassment, violence against women and trafficking.

All Projects supported under the Programme have to abide by the principles of:

·         Good governance

·         Sustainable development (social, economic and environment perspectives)

·         Gender equality

4.     Eligible applicants and partners

Eligible applicants are non-governmental and non-profit organizations, with a legal status and the headquarters in Romania, organized and managed according to the Romanian enforced laws regarding the non-governmental organizations, respectively association, foundation, federation constituted according to the provisions of GO 26/2000 or the Law 21/1924 regarding associations and foundations, with subsequent modifications and completions.

Partnership will not be mandatory but will be recommended, in particular with partners from donor states. Projects can be implemented in partnership with entities from: Romania, donor states (Norway Iceland, Liechtenstein), beneficiary states (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain), countries outside the European Economic Area that have a common border with Romania (Ukraine, Moldova or Serbia).

In case the project is implemented in partnership with one or more of these entities, a partnership agreement is mandatory.

Eligible partners are non-governmental organisations, public or private entities, commercial or non-commercial. Public entities could be local and central public authorities, public institutions/agencies, decentralised governmental services at a local level, territorial entities, universities etc. It is mandatory that all partners have legal personality.

Also, inter-governmental organisations could be partners if they are actively involved in, and effectively contribute to the implementation of a project.

Non eligible applicants and partners are political parties and religious institutions (religious denominations, religious associations  established in accordance with Law 489/2006 on the Freedom of Religion and the General Status of Denominations), social partners (trade unions and employers associations) or profit-distributing cooperatives.

All applicants and partners shall comply with democratic values and human rights.

Applicants are encouraged to make use of Funds for Bilateral Relations thus enabling them to find the proper partner from donor states for their project and to jointly develop the application.

The specific information on eligibility of applicants and partners, as well as eligibility of activities and costs will be presented in the respective Guidelines for applicants for each Component.

5.     Application procedure and deadlines applicable

The application dossier shall be submitted in 3 hard copies (1 original and 2 copies), in Romanian language together with an electronic copy (for example CD) comprising all application documents. Application formats as well as Guidelines for Applicants and other annexes for the present Call for proposals will be available online on the dedicated webpage of the Programme: http://fondong.fdsc.ro.

Application dossier shall be submitted in a sealed envelope by registered mail, private courier service or by hand-delivery at the respective addresses specified for each Component/Sub-Component.  In case of SOCIAL JUSTICE Component the application procedure consists in two stages: letter of intent and full application. The letter of intent will be submitted using an online application system.

An additional step required to all applicants - except those under SOCIAL JUSTICE Component - is to fill in an online form containing general identification data related to the applications using the following link: http://fondong.fdsc.ro/formular.php.

All forms shall be filled in using Romanian language.

Applicants will have two months to develop their applications, except for SOCIAL JUSTICE Component where applicants will have 30 days for submitting the letter of intent and, in case they are shortlisted, a 45 days-period will be allowed for developing their full application.

Please note that specific information and more details on the application procedure and deadlines will be available in the respective Guidelines for Applicants for each Component.

The Guidelines for Applicants will also include information on the evaluation process, selection criteria, evaluation grid, monitoring of projects, reporting and payments.