Standing together: EU COVID-19 Solidarity Programme for the Eastern Partnership
Call for Proposals to Supply Equipment to Counter Effects of the COVID-19 in Closed Institutions
*Update: Deadline for submission of full applications is November 29, 2020.
The Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC) has launched a regional “COVID-19 Solidarity Programme 2020-2022” with the financial support of the European Union and in partnership with People in Need and AFEW International. NHC cooperates with Human Rights in Mental Health (Federation Global Initiative in Psychiatry, FGIP) to deliver activities of the Programme. This programme will support civil society organisations (CSOs) to respond to the immediate and longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Eastern Partnership countries. The programme is part of a bigger set of activities carried out by a consortium led by People in Need. The overall aim is to enhance the capacities of CSOs to effectively respond to short- and medium-term challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, and to influence longer-term policy reforms that support vulnerable groups and those disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
NHC and FGIP seek to provide sub-grants to CSOs to convey necessary equipment for the closed institutions, namely prisons and mental health institutions.
Grant amount and duration
NHC and GIP will support CSO’s up to 5000 EUR for each grant. An average number of two applications per country can be granted depending on the quality of the applications and respective situation in the country.
Proposed project duration should be no more than 6 months.
NHC and FGIP reserve the right to suggest applicants to adapt or merge proposals.
This call for proposals is soliciting proposals for grants to address these issues in the 2020-2021 period.
*Note: for information in Russian please see links below.
Objectives
The Call responds demonstrably to needs of people in institutional settings (e.g. social care homes, psychiatric hospitals etc.). NHC and FGIP seek to provide grants to CSOs on immediate material needs in closed institutions arising from COVID-19 related measures, such as PPE and IT/communication equipment. These may include, but not limited to:
- Purchase of equipment such as transparent room dividers, transparent screens, bactericide lamps, infrared thermometers for meeting and service rooms
- Purchase of IT equipment to be able to facilitate communication between residents/patients with the outside world, either for contact with relatives, friends and/or carers or to access the internet and social media;
- Purchase of COVID-19 personal protection materials (masks, gloves, sanitizers, soap) for organizational use;
- Purchase of other sanitary equipment and materials (autoclave, Sanitizer dispensers) for general use in closed institutions;
Depending on the purpose, PPE and IT/communication equipment should be distributed to these institutions. IT/communication equipment should be purchased for use by the target institution(s); PPE may also be used by the CSOs themselves itself in their work with the closed institutions. The responsible CSO should provide document on purchase and proof of provision of the materials to the closed institutions. The sub-grantees should also provide proof (with signed statement and photos) of proper use of the equipment in the designated institutions.
Proposals can be country-wide or limited to certain regions; they can be focused on one category of closed institutions (I.e. only penitentiary or only mental health) or on all of them.
Target countries
Proposed projects should target closed institutions in the following countries:
- Armenia
- Georgia
- Moldova
- Ukraine
Eligibility
This call for proposals is open to non-profit-making civil society organisations or consortia of non-profit-making civil society organizations with the status of a legal person, established in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova or Ukraine. In case of consortia, the main applicant will be responsible for the overall implementation of the action.
All organizations should have a formalized relationship with respective governmental bodies that provides access to closed institutions and the applicant needs to prove it has a record of working with these institutions.
Applications should provide evidence of the following:
- Registration status as a non-profit organisation registered under national legislation
- At least four years’ experience delivering activities in line with the proposed project
- Experience with managing budgets of similar size
- Public administration institutions, state agencies, local or regional authorities, political parties or organisations affiliated with political parties are not eligible for this call.
CSOs that applied and/or were awarded for the first Call for Proposal within the scope of this project (to monitor the effect of COVID-19 prevention and treatment measures on the conditions of people confined to closed institutions (both penitentiary and mental health)) are eligible to apply.
Application Process
Applicants must submit the following:
- Annex 1 – Application Form
- Annex 2 – Budget
- Registration certificate of the organization (original with an English or Russian translation)
- Statute of the organisation (if possible in English or Russian)
- Evidence of track record in similar projects
- CVs of the project team
- If the proposal is submitted by a consortium: an outline of the cooperation process and the division of tasks between individual members in the application form (annex 1).
Applications can be submitted in English or Russian. All submitted applications must be signed by the head of the applicant organisation, scanned and sent electronically.
The application package should be submitted to: LVeldt@nhc.nl.
Deadline for submission of full applications is November 29, 2020. Incomplete or late applications will not be accepted.
Additional information
You may also submit your proposal related questions until November 25, 2020 via email: LVeldt@nhc.nl.
Questions will be responded to within 5 working days.
You will receive feedback to your proposals no later than December 23, 2020 via email.
More details about the call for proposals (English and Russian)
