Program Name: Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma Countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia
Application deadline: 12 PM Thursday, May 22, 2008 (Budapest local time, GMT+1, Daylight Saving Time in effect). Introduction Structural Funds and other EU financial resources (hereafter, collectively EU Funds) are an extremely important source of funding national governments can use toward the inclusion of Roma in societies of Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and South Eastern Europe (SEE). The Open Society Institute aims to maintain its flagship role in connecting the objectives of the Decade of Roma Inclusion to the machinery of various EU Funds. To these ends, the OSI initiative, Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma, addresses existing obstacles by complementing EU and national facilities and instruments available in several Decade countries. This initiative contains multiple interventions. With this call, OSI initiates the implementation of the first of these: the Project Generation Facility (PGF). Through PGF, OSI will enable partner organizations (hereafter National Partners), selected through this tender, in their work to assist potential beneficiaries of projects for the Roma communities. This assistance includes: generating project ideas; drafting projects; and receiving of financial assistance from EU Funds. The initiative holds that the most effective way of assisting Roma and those working to reverse the exclusion of Roma communities reach EU Funds is by leveling the field. Leveling the field involves supporting quality project design, project promotion, and expertise for these actors to be competitive with other potential beneficiaries of EU Funds. The PGF is designed and shall be managed in a way that ensures that assistance is consistent with OSI values and strategy for Roma Inclusion, which are: * Participation and Roma human resources’ development: Adopting a participatory * approach, by involving Roma communities in project design and implementation and * Roma employees throughout project phases; * Integration: Integrating Roma and non-Roma in generally, as well as in specific areas of * public service delivery (housing, education, health care) and employment; * Anti-discrimination: Taking care to avoid all forms of unjustified discrimination and * requirements, conditions, or criteria, which might lead to the exclusion or arbitrary * treatment of Roma and other vulnerable groups. At the same time, OSI reiterates its * strong support for affirmative actions meant to reduce the existing socio-economic gap * among Roma and the majority populations; * Desegregation: Working toward eliminating the isolation between Roma and non-Roma, * by facilitating access to major social, political and economic institutions such as local * governance, employment, housing, education and health for Roma communities; * Capacity Development: Supporting the ability of Roma and non Roma to identify * problems of Roma Inclusion and articulate solutions in an EU-financed development * framework; and * Sustainability: Encouraging affordable and achievable solutions, which do not require * constant subsidies and which could win the support of majority populations. Eligibility and Terminology Proposals can be submitted by individual organizations or consortia of organizations. Only a private organization (hereafter Private Organization or PO) is eligible to submit an individual proposal or be a leader of a consortium of applying organizations. In addition to POs, public bodies may participate in a consortium if their added value can be demonstrated. Proposals from individual organizations other than POs or from private individuals shall not be considered. Applicants selected to become National Partners will implement the PGF. For the purposes of PGF terminology, the term National Partner shall be applied to successful PGF applicants, be they individual organizations and consortia of organizations. In the case of consortia, the lead applying PO shall be referred to as Lead Organization, while other consortia members shall be referred to as Implementing Organizations. Organizations applying for EU Funds with the assistance of PGF shall be referred to as Beneficiaries. An ideal National Partner of PGF is a PO (or a consortium led by a PO) with long-standing experience in Roma Inclusion issues and EU funded projects. Additional information on the attributes of the ideal candidate is described in the evaluation criteria. Summary of PGF Operation The PGF targets five target countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. In each of these countries, National Partners will implement the PGF. National Partners will work with potential Beneficiaries to design project ideas (the term Project throughout this document should be understood to mean the activity supported by EU Funds). National partners will then select project ideas and, with Beneficiaries, work to turn the ideas into actual project applications for EU Funds. Actual project design services will be provided by an organization, hereafter referred to as Service Provider; this role may be filled by either the Lead Organization, one of the Implementing Organizations, or external consultants engaged by the National Partner. Assistance for project development will be based on the Terms of Reference prepared by National Partners in cooperation with PGF Beneficiaries. The operation process of the PGF is summarized in the six following steps: 1. Communication and promotion of the PGF towards national governments and potential Beneficiaries 2. Generation of specific project ideas by National Partners and Beneficiaries 3. Selection of projects for further PGF support 4. Supporting Beneficiaries of PGF with project development, up to and including the creation of the final form of the project application for EU Funds. 5. Monitoring the process of project development assistance (quality control of project generation services) 6. Monitoring and assistance concerning project implementation. Available Budget OSI envisions the total allocation of EUR 2.5 million for the five target countries for the period of 24 months. The estimated budget ceiling (EUR) for the 2 years period for each country is as follows: Bulgaria: 450,000. Czech Republic: 350,000. Hungary: 400,000. Romania: 900,000. Slovakia: 400,000. All figures are indicative. Furthermore, OSI reserves the right not to award grants for the entire budget amount for a given country or for the intervention as a whole. Timetable The deadline of the Call for submitting proposals is 12 PM Thursday, May 22, 2008 (Budapest local time, GMT+1, Daylight Saving Time in effect). OSI expects to notify applicants of the result of evaluation by June 18, 2008 and for the work to commence in individual countries in July 2008 Guidance for Preparing Proposals For more details on the content of the Call, see the Terms of Reference. Applicants are expected to present their own approach to the issue, demonstrate their knowledge of the subject and the creative ways in which they might approach it, however within the limits set by this Call. Application Forms Go to Related Files (sidebar) 1. PGF Tender (.pdf) Section 1: Applicant Instructions Section 2: Terms of Reference Section 3: Application Forms 2. Budget forms (.xls) 3. Consortium Agreement Template (.doc) Point of Contact Timea Toth, Program Officer: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------ *** sustineti [romania_eu_list] prin 2% din impozitul pe 2006 - detalii la http://www.doilasuta.ro *** Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romania_eu_list/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romania_eu_list/join (Yahoo! 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