Decade of Roma Inclusion: Call for Grant Proposals

Deadline: 10 December 2012
Open to: Romani civil society organizations from: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain.
Grant: 25.000 – 35.000 EUR per applicant. Whole budget is 360.000 EUR

Description

The Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015 (Decade) is an unprecedented political commitment by European governments to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of Roma. The Decade is an international initiative that brings together governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, as well as Romani civil society, to accelerate progress toward improving the welfare of Roma and to review such progress in a transparent and quantifiable way. The Decade focuses on the priority areas of education, employment, health, and housing, and commits governments to take into account the other core issues of poverty, discrimination, and gender mainstreaming.

This call for proposals is intended to identify and provide grant support to a Decade Focal Point in each of the Decade participating countries.

Objectives

The overall objective of the grant is to stimulate more active participation of the Romani civil society from the Decade participating countries in the Decade and other policies relevant to Roma inclusion, particularly the EU Framework.

Specific objectives of the grant are:

To ensure participation of the Romani civil society from each of the Decade participating countries in the international processes of the Decade of Roma Inclusion and EU Framework through participating at relevant international events;
To encourage and provide for in-country dialogue between authorities and Romani communities on the implementation of the Decade;
To provide means for dissemination of information on the goals and objectives and other relevant information about the Decade to the Romani population, particularly Romani civil society, as well as to the wider public on national and international level;
To ensure active participation of the Romani civil society in the monitoring and implementation of the National Decade Action Plans, including through providing relevant information and expertise to the Decade partners.

Budget

Total amount made available for this call is 360.000 EUR. Proposed budget of each applicant should be in the range from 25.000 – 35.000 EUR. Budgetary contribution by the applicant or by other sources is not required, but is encouraged and will be considered an advantage in the selection procedure. The Decade Secretariat reserves the right to negotiate budget proposals in order to adhere to budgetary limitation of the call and not distribute the whole amount made available for the call.

Timeframe

Decade Focal Points in each of the Decade participating countries are selected through this call for proposals for the year 2013. Accordingly, planned activities have to be implemented in the period from 1 January – 31 December 2013. The distribution of the grant to the selected Decade Focal Points shall be in 4 tranches: advance of 30% paid upon concluding of contract (anticipated by 15 January 2013), first tranche of 30% paid upon submission of first interim report (anticipated by 31 May 2013), second tranche of 30% paid upon submission of second interim report (anticipated by 30 September 2013), and last tranche of 10% upon submission of final report (anticipated by 31 January 2014).

Eligibility

Romani civil society organizations from the following countries are eligible to apply to this call for proposals: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain. Romani civil society organizations from the aforementioned countries are those organizations that are officially registered according to the national law on civil society organizations and have membership, governing bodies and senior management of the organization composed of at least 50% of persons who openly declare their Roma ethnic origin and belonging.

Responsibilities

Selected country Decade Focal Points should ensure achievement of the objectives of this call for proposals through undertaking the following principle activities:

organizing and financing participation of a Romani civil society delegate at Decade, EU Framework and other relevant Roma inclusion international events
contributing to the international Decade information system
disseminating Decade and EU Framework related information on the national level
supporting international partners’ work on national level
conducting national advocacy
attending Decade Focal Points networking meetings

Selection criteria

Decade Focal Points will be selected from the applicants by selection committee on the basis of the following criteria:

eligibility
demonstrated experience in working on Roma issues, including capacity to organize and implement participatory processes
demonstrated network of collaborators and supporters among Roma civil society and other relevant actors
demonstrated advocacy capacity and experience
well-developed information dissemination system (including translation capacities)
proposed action
proposed budget

Application procedure

To apply send the following documents by email and post to the Decade Secretariat.

completed application form
completed budget form
copy of registration document issued by national registration body
copy of statute or similar establishing document required by national law
support letter of at least 5 (pro)Roma organizations

Listed documents should be sent to the following postal address: Decade of Roma Inclusion Secretariat Foundation, Terez krt 46, 4th floor, 1066 Budapest, Hungary; and to the following email address: tbuzetzky@decadesecretariat.org. The deadline for submitting applications is 10 December 2012. Shortlisted applicants may be contacted for additional information.

For more information, read the full call for proposals or visit the official website.