Challenging Inequalities Programme - Call for Proposals!

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CALLING ALL DEDICATED CHANGE-MAKERS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN!

Deadline for proposal submissions: 13 March 2024 (23:59 CET)

This call is closed now.

If you are a grass root community-based organisation within the countries of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine or Tunisia that has a passion and a willingness to pioneer solutions to address inequalities within local communities, actively engage with community members to meet their needs, incorporate community input into the planning process, and champion the cause of social inclusion, then this announcement is tailored specifically for you!

This programme funded by Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, AECID, is centred on fostering more inclusive local civil societies as agents for development and empowering active community-based entities, like yours! We place a focus on promoting social cohesion and addressing inequalities, with a particular focus on youth, gender equality, green transition, environment and water and employment and creation of opportunities.

WHAT WILL YOUR COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANISATION GAIN?
•Tailored technical assistance, composed of online and in-person training workshops customized to cater to the specific needs and unique characteristics of each participating organisation within the programme. Through this tailored approach, organisations will maximize their potential, foster growth, and achieve their goals with precision, all while benefiting from a rich and collaborative learning experience that adapts seamlessly to their individual requirements.
•Financial support up to 10.000 euro for Community-Based Actions, there is no obligation for co-financing or in-kind contributions; our support is wholeheartedly provided.
•Joining a network with a number of CBOs from eight different countries, establishing strong ties and sharing a profound dedication to addressing inequalities and promoting the ideals of social inclusion and cohesion.
•International recognition for Community-Based Actions that generate the most impactful transformations and spark the most significant change as they will be prominently showcased on various platforms associated with the Anna Lindh Foundation.

IT'S NOT JUST A COMMITMENT; IT'S A JOURNEY OF GROWTH AND CHANGE!

WHO CAN APPLY?
Organisations submitting their application through this call must be:
• Registered as legal entities and working at the following countries: Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine
• Active for the past two years
• Applicant organisations must have good track record of community engagement, advocacy and social cohesion and dialogue
• Able to develop a proposal for a community-based action to be implemented at the local level

YOUR MISSION: TO EMPOWER YOUR COMMUNITY AND BE AN AGENT FOR TRANSFORMATION!

JOIN THE CHANGE AND PLEDGE TO:

Engage in information and training sessions, demonstrate your enthusiasm for learning. Attend and actively participate in enlightening sessions designed to enhance your skills and knowledge.
Design and implement inspirational Community-Based Actions, take an active role in bringing your innovative ideas to life by getting involved and taking charge. Step up as a leader and make real, positive changes within your communities.
Lead the way in the knowledge revolution and play a crucial role in shaping the future of social inclusion with your invaluable contributions. Become an essential component of a dynamic knowledge-sharing system that sparks the learning process, driving this programme forward.

PROGRAMME FOCUS

4 PROGRAMME PHASES

1. Selection

This phase will identify grass root Community based Organisations (CBOs) from the 8 countries to benefit from the intervention and capacity building around the concepts of social inclusion and fight against inequalities.

Community based Organisations (CBOs) are invited to submit outlines proposals, adhering to the priorities detailed above.
Out of the submissions received, the best (up to 50) proposals will be pre-selected to participate in an induction online session that will dive into the key aspects of project development. Following this session, these pre-selected organisations will have the opportunity to refine and enhance their outline proposals.
Upon an initial evaluation of these draft proposals, a group of 32 CBOs will be shortlisted to attend a comprehensive online training programme, which will be distributed over time to reach two full days of dedication.
Following this training, CBOs will be tasked with submitting their final community-based proposals. A careful final screening process will then determine which of them will advance to the next phase, securing funding for implementation.

2. Empowerment and action planning

During this dynamic phase, our selected CBOs will:

Boost their capacity: Experience an enriched training programme that explore deeper into development goals, strategies for social inclusion, and the fight against discrimination and intolerance. We prioritize active involvement of both youth and women, ensuring their substantial participation.
Exchange knowledge in Spain: Receive an enriching face-to-face training opportunity in Spain and engage in in-depth discussions about the components of the winning proposals, with a keen focus on practical execution and methods for measuring impact and networking with peer beneficiary organisations.

This phase is all about empowerment, knowledge, and taking tangible steps toward making a difference in your community. Get ready to unlock your organisation 's full potential!

3. Community based actions implementation

This phase aims at empowering the selected CBOs through guidance, technical assistance, and networking to implement the actions at the local level and share experiences at the regional level.

Financial support: Receive of up to 10.000 euro of financial support to bring your vision to life through the implementation of the proposed community-based actions.
The CBOs will benefit from ongoing technical assistance during the implementation phase of the community-based actions.

The technical assistance is a strategic and tailored support system aimed at enhancing the grass root organisation 's capabilities, effectiveness, and impact in pursuing its mission and serving its community. It encompasses a wide range of services and expertise provided by experienced professionals in areas such as programme development, capacity building, governance, and resource mobilization. This assistance begins with a thorough needs assessment to identify the grass root CBO's specific challenges and gaps, enabling the development of a customized plan to address these issues effectively.

This empowers the organisation to manage its programmes efficiently, engage in effective implementation, and maintain strong technical performance.

The CBOs will attend an online mid-term guidance seminar with a purpose of making a proactive analysis of the community-based actions to jointly overcome potential difficulties and sharing lessons learnt and promote networking.

4. Drawing Conclusions and harnessing knowledge

This phase capitalises on the knowledge generated throughout the different phases of the programme and the community-based actions and gathers the methodologies applied, the good practices identified, lessons learned and conclusions. Here's a closer look at what this phase details:

Face-to-Face Seminar in Spain: To facilitate sharing of experiences and insights, representatives from the 32 CBOs will come together for a stimulating projects' conclusion seminar. This gathering aims to discuss the challenges encountered and the innovative solutions that were devised. Moreover, it provides a platform for conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the overall impact of the intervention and the experiences of other organisation s in the same field.
Developing a practical guide that effectively captures the knowledge and impact of the Community based Actions implementation and processes. The guide will be developed through systematically gathering insights, data, and experiences from the implementing CBOs, assessing the process's outcomes, and distilling this information into a user-friendly format, to serve as a valuable reference tool, enabling related stakeholders understand the key findings, actionable recommendations, learn from successes and challenges, and make informed decisions moving forward.

SELECTION CRITERIA

1. Pre-selection of the best –up to 50- community-based outlines proposals against the eligibility criteria indicated above, and a set of pre-established criteria such as:

Organisation background
Context and problem analysis
Proposed activities and social inclusion approach
Target beneficiaries and potential partnerships

Applications which are incomplete and those not promoting social cohesion or addressing inequalities related to the priorities of the programme detailed above will be discarded.

2. Pre-selection of the best 32 community-based drafts proposals submitted after attending the online orientation session against the following criteria:

In-depth analysis of the main problem that will be addressed
Impact of the proposed action on the community
Methodology on community engagement
Tools in planning, implementation and evaluation

3. Selection of the best 16 final community-based proposals submitted after attending the two days online training, against the following criteria:

Alignment with social inclusion priorities of the program
Clearly defining the target population and communities
Innovation, creativity and sustainability
Clear implementation plan: realistic goals, objectives and timelines
Technical and financial feasibility: well defined budget and a realistic assessment of resources
Monitoring and evaluation plan that assess the progress and impact
Tools and mechanisms to capture and document the impact and the learning outcome generated

HOW TO APPLY?

Interested organisations can submit their community based outline proposals in Arabic, English or French via the available online form only before March 13, 2024 23.59 Central European Time, CET.

Only complete applications, meeting the eligibility criteria and submitted before the deadline will be considered. Artificial intelligence, AI-generated proposals will be automatically rejected.

Please note that it is not possible to save the application as a draft or to make any changes after submitting it. At the close of the call, the most recently submitted version of the application will be processed. The same organisation cannot submit more than one proposal under this call.

Due to the high volume of expected applications, responses to individual requests will not be provided.

Only pre-screened candidates will be contacted.

In case of technical problems or questions related to the call, please send questions to mail.

This call is closed now.

APPLY NOW

MEET OUR PARTNER
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, AECID, is a state agency, responsible for the promotion, programming, operational coordination, management and execution of public policies of Spanish cooperation for sustainable development, humanitarian action and education for sustainable development and global citizenship. AECID, together with its partners, works in more than 30 countries through its network of Spanish Cooperation Offices.