Call for Sub-Grant Application from CSO Coalitions (Networks) for the development, advocacy and monitoring of Public Policies

“Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” Project

Call for Sub-Grant Application from CSO Coalitions (Networks) for the development, advocacy and monitoring of Public Policies

About the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” Project

The “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project (hereafter: Project) is implemented by a consortium of the following civil society organisations: “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO (the lead organisation), “International Centre for Human Development” Public Organisation “SME Cooperation Association” NGO, Union of Communities of Armenia, “Armenian Centre for Democratic Education-CIVITAS” NGO, and Agora Central Europe o.p.s (an NGO from the Czech Republic). The Project aims at reinforcing civil society voice and dialogue with the government.

The Project was launched on 15 December 2016. It is implemented with the financial support of the European Union (EU) for a duration of 34 months. The overall objective of the Action is to enhance the influence of CSOs on the public policy process, and the specific objectives are to strengthen the ability of CSOs to build coalitions and focus on constructive and strategic policy engagement with local and central government partners.

The Aim of the Project Sub-Granting Component

The activities carried out in the scope of the Project prove that many problems exist in a number of public spheres. Joint efforts and participation of the CSO sector, sustainable dialogue with the Government and local self-government bodies (hereafter LSGs) and evidence-based public policy drafting, development and their advocacy, as well as implementation of monitoring on the application of policies, are needed for solving these problems and achieving results. These actions can be carried out by both well-established and existing CSO coalitions, as well as the newly established ones, and individual CSOs.

It is expected to allocate 2 types of sub-grants to CSOs and CSO coalitions (networks) in the scope of the Project. Sub-grants to CSO coalitions (networks) will be provided in two stages:

The launch of sub-grants allocated to CSO coalitions (networks) is announced at this stage of the Project. The objectives are, as follows:

Overall Objective:

Build and/or strengthen CSO coalitions (networks) in 9 target areas of the project – the RA sectors of justice, education, business, agriculture, energy, public finance management, human rights, economy and the social sector, ensuring their development and increased impact on public policy development, advocacy and public participation in these processes in the above-mentioned sectors.

Specific Objectives:

Taking into account the 9 target sectors of the Project and the list of issues in the attached annex, identify two key problem of public importance in one of the target sectors and implementation of drafting, development, advocacy and conducting monitoring of public policies, cooperating with sectoral ministries and other stakeholders ensuring CSOs participation in these processes.

Undertake public policy and budget monitoring around key issue(s) in their sector of activity and submit conclusions and recommendations to the relevant public agencies, LSGs and pursue the implementation of those recommendations.

It should be taken into account that identifying key issues in the 9 target sectors of the project and drafting and development of sectoral public policies on them, must be carried out also through the following mechanisms:

– Organisation of at least one community meeting in the Town Hall format in each Project target sector, aiming at identifying (discussing) at least one key issue of public importance, and organisation of an expert workshop in the Chatham House format, aiming at discussing scenarios of solving at least one key issue of public importance, choosing the most real and realistic scenario of all, in cooperation with Project consortium member “International Centre of Human Development” NGO: The organization of the Town Hall format meeting, as well as the financing and organization of the Chatham House format workshop will be implemented by the “International Centre of Human Development” NGO.

– Forming a sectoral CSO-Government working group in each of the Project target sectors and development of a sectoral public policy, in cooperation with Project consortium members “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO, “SME Cooperation Association” NGO, Union of Communities of Armenia, “Armenian Center for Democratic Education-CIVITAS” NGO and Agora Central Europe o.p.s (an NGO from the Czech Republic).

The second phase of sub-grants to CSO Coalitions (Networks) will be announced in the 6th month of the first phase. The second phase of the sub-grants is non-competitive: sub-grants will be awarded to the CSO Coalitions (Networks) recognized winners in the first phase, whose programs in process will be evaluated as effective by the Project specialists and will provide current results (outcomes) planned by the project. For the purpose of providing sub-grant in the second stage, the Project team will evaluate the progress of the 1st to 6th months of the winning programs in the first round.

The second stage of sub-grants to CSO Coalitions (Networks) will be launched in the 8th month of the implementation of the first stage of sub-grants.

The objective of the second stage of sub-grants to CSO Coalitions (Networks) is to strengthen and develop the internal capacity of coalitions (networks). More detailed information will be provided before the start of the second stage.

Beneficiaries:

In accordance with the goals of this sub-grant project, consortia composed of at least four CSOs can apply with a sub-grant project proposal, aiming at building and strengthening new coalitions (networks), as well as strengthening through the existing coalitions (networks). CSO members of the consortium must have the legal status of a non-commercial and non-state organisation, as well as state registration in the manner prescribed by the law. At least one CSO member of the consortium must have participated in and completed the certified educational programme conducted by the American University of Armenia for CSO capacity building in the scope of the Project. The list of the CSOs that have completed the training can be found here.

The relations between the consortium members, the main applicant and the partner organisations, as well as the division of duties and authorities, must be defined in the sub-grant project application, to which the commitment letters from all partner organisations also need to be attached.

A CSO can be involved as the main applicant in only one consortium. It can also be involved in two consortia as a partner organisation. However, it can win only once.

The following project proposals will be encouraged:

Project proposals submitted by CSO consortia led by women and young people.
Project proposals with innovative approaches and solutions.
Project proposals submitted by the regional Consortiums (registered in the region and conducting activities in the region) with participation of one of more regional CSOs

Budget

At the first stage of sub-grants to CSO Coalitions, the Project will support up to 9 CSO consortia, providing one sub-grant of AMD 25,000,000 (twenty-five million) in each of the 9 targeted areas of the project.

In the second stage of sub-grants provided to CSO Coalitions (Networks), the Project will support up to 9 CSO consortia winners in the first stage, providing each of them with additional financial support up to AMD 8,500,000 (eight million five hundred thousand).

NB 1.

In the second stage, sub-grants will be awarded to the CSO Coalitions (Networks), the winners in the first round, whose programs will be evaluated by the Project Team as effective and provide current results (outcomes) planned by the project.

It is required that the applicants make a financial investment in the project covering the 10% funding required. The proposals that fail to meet this investment requirement will not be considered.

The expenses made before the official date of sub-grant allocation, as well as those not related to the sub-grant, will not be accepted.

The total of changes made by the sub-grantee in the expense lines of the budget must not exceed 10 per cent (10%) of the total budget. The responsible person at the Armenian Lawyers’ Association (ALA) must be informed about it in advance in written form to give written consent. Changes related to exceeding the ten per cent (10%) of the total budget or sub-grant objectives must be made through written changes in the sub-grant contract approved by both parties. The budget allocation regulations are stipulated in chapter 5 of ALA’s Grants Policy.

Order of Submission of Sub-Grant Applications

All the interested CSO consortia, that meet the requirements of this call, are invited to participate in this competition by completing the form attached to this call.

If the main applicant leading the winning sub-grant project and/or partner organisations of the consortium programme haven’t participated in the CSO certified programme aimed at the development of CSOs’ capacities conducted by the American University of Armenia in the scope of the Project, they need to agree to mandatory participation in the five-day certified advanced CSO capacity building programme before the launch of the project, which will be held on 21 – 25 May, 2018.

The winning applicants (the entire composition of the consortium applied for the Project sub-grant) must agree to mandatory participation in a one-day discussion with the Project representatives in order to receive expert advice, including financial advice on the process of sub-grant implementation.

NB 2.

No sub-grant contract will be signed with the consortia whose member CSOs have refused to participate in the above-mentioned training and discussion.

The following documents should be attached to this sub-grant application:

The copies of the statutes of CSO members of the applicant consortium;
The copies of state registration certificates of the CSO members of the applicant consortium, including those of all the supplementary sheets;
Brief description of each applicant organisation (maximum one page);
The copy of the taxpayer registration number of the leading organisation;
A reference from the bank proving the existence of the leading organisation’s bank account;
The power of attorney given by a CSO leader to the Project Manager (if the Project Manager is not a CSO leader);
The CVs of the main project team members;
Commitment letters on the joint project implementation from consortium member CSOs;
The copies of the internal legal acts of the coalition (if available) (e.g., document on the formation of the coalition; rules of procedure; structure; strategic and sustainability plans, monitoring plan, as well as other documents);
The copy of the certificate received from the American University of Armenia for the completion of the CSO certified training on CSO capacity building conducted by the AUA (if available).

All the documents are required to be submitted in the Armenian language. If necessary, the Sub-Granting Commission might demand that the applicants submit additional documents or the scanned versions of those already submitted in person.

Terms

The sub-grant project duration shall be 12 (twelve) months.

Other requirements

The sub-grant project proposal, annexes and documents attached must be signed by the head of the leading organisation of the project consortium and be stamped with the seal of that CSO.

The application shall be enclosed in a closed envelope signed by the head of the leading organisation of the sub-grant project consortium and stamped with the seal of that CSO. Further, it shall be sent at the following e-mail address: [email protected], with the subject titled “Sub-Grant Application for CSO Coalition (Network)”.

Attention: applications submitted in person will not be considered.

The deadline for submission of applications is 30 April 2018, 6 PM.

Prior to the application submission deadline info-sessions will be organised to present the objectives and sectors of the sub-grant projects, which will include Q&A sessions as well. The info-sessions will be organised according to the following schedule:

11 April, 2018, at 10:00 am, 1 A. Manukyan str. suite 72, Kapan City, (Office of the Syunik Regional Branch of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association).
12 April 2018, at 12:00 pm, Isahakyan str., Building of kindergarten # 3, Ararat City (Ararat Infotun).
12 April 2018, at 17:00 pm, 15 Alaverdyan str., suite 1, Vayk City (Vayk Infotun)
13 April 2018, at 15:30 pm, 7 Ankakhutyan str., suite 14, Goris City (Office of Goris Women’s Development Resource Center Foundation).
13 April 2018, at 11:00 am, 1 Italian str., Yerevan (“Picasso” Hall of Best Western Congress Hotel).
17 April 2018, at 11:00 am, 79 Ghorghanyan str., Gyumri City (Office of “Logos” Human Rights NGO).
17 April 2018, at 15:00 pm, 14 Nzhdeh str., 4th floor, suite 410, Vanadzor city (Conference Hall of the NGO Center (Complex of Social Services)).
18 April 2018, at 11:00 am, 68a Shahumyan str., Armavir City (Office of “Armavir Development Center” Socio-Economic NGO)
20 April 2018, at 11:30 am, 56 Boshnaghyan str., suite 7, Gavar City (Office of the Gavar Regional Branch of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association)

If necessary, info-sessions will be held in other cities as well. Additional information on the info-sessions will be provided through the Project website at www.ccd.armla.am.

The application and attached documents will not be returned to the applicant, regardless of the fact whether the application was accepted or not. Only one package of documents is required to be submitted.

All the issues related to sub-grants are solved in accordance with ALA’s grant policy.

The decisions on the allocation of the sub-grants of the first stage will be made by 18 May 2018. Information on the winners will be published on the Project website at www.ccd.armla.am.

Sub-grant contracts will be signed with the winning applicants on 30 May 2018.

Implementation of the Grant programs shall begin on 1 June, 2018.

In case of having questions you can contact Artak Saribekyan, the Chairman of the Grants Commission of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, at the number +37410 540199 or the e-mail address [email protected].

NB 3.

The terms and conditions set out in the announcement may, if necessary, be changed. In case of any changes, the information will be published on the Project website at www.ccd.armla.am.

Attention:

The applications submitted after the deadline and/or missing all the required information or failing to meet the Project requirements, will not be considered.

Documents accompanying this call: