The Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC), on behalf of the Southeast Europe Leadership for Development and Integrity (SELDI), is launching the regional Call for Proposals for the SELDI Small Grants Programme “Financial Support for Grassroots and Youth CSOs with Outreach to Citizens” (Reference no. 10-46/1-2024). The Call for Proposals falls within the scope of the Project “Civil Society for Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Southeast Europe: Capacity Building for Evidence-Based Advocacy, Policy Impact and Citizen Engagement (SELDI.net)”, financed by the European Union.

The deadline for submission of concept notes is 1 August 2024, 16.00 CET.

The Concept Notes and Applications for this call shall be submitted electronically. It is two-steps application, that is, submission of concept notes in the first phase and full applications in the second phase.

For the purpose of applying on the Call, Applicants need to create user profile on the platform: https://grants.mk/applicant/en/

Upon user profile creation, applicants need to search and apply for the specific call SELDI Small Grants Programme “Financial support for grassroots and youth CSOs with outreach to citizens”, Reference No. 10-46/1-2024.

Organisations that will act as co-applicants will also need to register on the platform.

Applicants must apply in English.

Objectives of the programme and priority issues

The SELDI Small Grants Programme seeks to strengthen the contribution of civil society organisations from the target countries to anticorruption efforts and their inclusion in the SELDI policy advocacy and impact cycle, by financially prioritizing CSOs, including grassroots and youth, active against corruption.

The Overall objective of this call for proposals is to provide support to local CSOs in pursuing the EU and regional anti-corruption agenda in the target countries, and in line with issues identified by the SELDI Regional Anti-Corruption Report (RAR), SELDI Policy Documents and latest Enlargement package reports for the target countries.

Specific Objective of this Call for Proposals: Engaging CSOs and citizens in the SELDI action and providing synergies across the region by enhancing CSOs professional capacities and skills to fight corruption and hold leaders and institutions accountable through evidence-based advocacy and engagement, to measure and expose corruption and state capture, and to formulate policy outputs.

Financial allocation provided by the contracting authority

Indicative allocated amount for the Small Grants Programme: EUR 292,500.

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts, and represent a SELDI contribution falling between the following minimum and maximum percentages of the total eligible costs of the project:

Minimum grant amount: EUR 7,000; Maximum grant amount: EUR 10,000.

Minimum SELDI contribution: 70% of total eligible costs of the project; Maximum SELDI contribution 90% of the total eligible costs of the project.

The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the project and the amount requested from the contracting authority) must be financed from sources other than the general budget of the Union or the European Development Fund.

Eligibility of applicants (lead applicant and co-applicant)

In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

• Be non-profit making,
• Be a Civil Society Organisation in line with the different legal requirements for registration in the target countries,
• Have legal personality and be active in the area of rule of law, anti-corruption, transparency and good governance,
• Be established and active in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia),
• Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the project with the co-applicant (if any) not acting as an intermediary.

The lead applicant may act with maximum one co-applicant. The Lead Applicant and the Co-Applicant shall implement activities in the countries of their establishment and activity respectively. Co-applicant must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.

Grassroots and youth organizations are explicitly encouraged to apply.

Information Session

Online Information session for this call for proposals will be held on 28 June 2024 at 11.00 CET on ZOOM (LINK for the information session). Organisations, interested in attending the information session, can register their participation at this LINK.

Questions may be sent by e-mail no later than 9 July 2024 on seldigrants@mcms.mk, indicating clearly the reference of the call for proposals (10-46/1-2024).