Guidelines For Grant Applicants

Contracting Authority: European Commission
Support to Civil Society and Local Authorities in Partner Countries
Support to Civil Society and Local Authorities to contribute to local

development in Sierra Leone
Guidelines for grant applicants
Budget line(s):
BGUE-B2024-14.020120-C1-INTPA
BGUE-B2024-14.020220-C8-INTPA
Reference: EuropeAid/179684/DD/ACT/SL
Deadline for submission1 of concept notes:
30/04/2024 at 19:00 (Brussels date and time)

(in order to convert to local time click here2)
1
Online submission via PROSPECT is mandatory for this call for proposals (see Section 2.2.2). In PROSPECT all
dates and times are expressed in Brussels time. Applicants should note that the IT support is open Monday to Friday
from 08:30 to 18:30 Brussels time (except during European Commission public holidays in Belgium as published in the
Official Journal). Applicants should take note of the weekly maintenance hours mentioned in the PROSPECT user
manual.
2
An example of a time converter tool available online: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
EuropeAid/179684/DD/ACT/SL Page 1 of 35
NOTICE
This is a restricted call for proposals. In the first instance, only concept notes (Annex A.1 – Grant application
form - Concept note) must be submitted for evaluation. Thereafter, lead applicants who have been pre-
selected will be invited to submit a full application (Annex A.2 – Grant application form – Full application).
After the evaluation of the full applications, an eligibility check will be performed for those which have been
provisionally selected. Eligibility will be checked on the basis of the supporting documents requested by the
contracting authority and the signed ‘declaration by the lead applicant’ sent together with the full application.
To apply to this call for proposals organisations must register in PADOR and submit their application
in PROSPECT (see section 2.2.2 of the guidelines). The aim of PROSPECT is to increase the efficiency of
the management of the call for proposals and to offer a better service to civil society organisations through a
new panel of functionalities such as the on-line submission and the possibility to follow up online the status
of their application.
Preparation: Information session 26 March 2024 and user manuals.
To help applicants familiarise themselves with the system before the online submission, an online
information session will be organised on 26 March 2024 at 11:30 Brussels time (only virtual).
Should you be interested in this session, please send an email by 21 March 2024 to delegation-sierra-
leone-cfp@eeas.europa.eu indicating: name, surname, nationality and email address of the persons who
are going to participate as well as their organisation (max. two participants per organisation). No costs
incurred by the applicants for attending this information session are reimbursable.
All organisations may find more information regarding PROSPECT in the user's manual and the e-learning
videos. You may also contact our technical support team via the online support form in PROSPECT3.
The functional mailbox specifically dedicated to this call shall be used exclusively for sending clarification
requests within the deadlines set in paragraph 2.2 of these guidelines, no other functional mailbox will be
used. The Contracting Authority reserves the right to close this mail box without prior notice once this call
for proposals is closed and not to reply to requests which do not fall under one of the afore-mentioned
category.
Concept notes or full applications submitted via this mailbox and any other mailbox will not be considered.
Even though the verification of eligibility is foreseen to be carried out only for the provisionally selected
applicants at the end of the procedure, the Evaluation Committee may decide to verify this point at any
previous step of the procedure. Consequently, any proposal found to be non-compliant with all the
mandatory conditions set in these guidelines can be automatically rejected on that sole basis, at any stage of
the procedure and without any prior notice or clarification request. Applicants are therefore strongly advised
to fill in scrupulously the "Check List for Concept Note" (Part A of the grant application form) and the
"Checklist for the Full Application form" (Part B of the grant application form). Any missing supporting
document or any incoherence between the declarations and the supporting documents may lead to the
rejection of the proposal on that sole basis.
Please note that all information encoded in PROSPECT must be exhaustive and in line with the
content of the concept note / full application. The administrative check will be performed taking into
consideration only the information available in PROSPECT in sections: 1 – ‘Contact’, 2 – ‘Project’, 3
– ‘Co- applicants’, 4 - Documents. Please make sure that there are no inconsistencies between the
information in PROSPECT and the content of the concept note / full application.
Complaints about administrative rejections related to this kind of inconsistencies will not be
considered and will not lead to a modification of the decision.
3
If PROSPECT is unavailable, the IT support can also be reached via email: INTPA-SUPPORT-
SERVICES@ec.europa.eu
Table of contents
1. SUPPORT TO CIVIL SOCIETY AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO CONTRIBUTE TO LOCAL

DEVELOPMENT IN SIERRA LEONE 4
1.1. Background ........................................................................................................................................... 4

1.2. Objectives of the programme and priority issues ................................................................................. 5
1.3. Financial allocation provided by the contracting authority ................................................................ 10
2. RULES FOR THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS 11
2.1. Eligibility criteria................................................................................................................................ 11

2.1.1. Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s)) ............................................................... 11
2.1.2. Associates and contractors ......................................................................................................................... 14
2.1.3. Eligible actions: actions for which an application may be made................................................................ 15
2.1.4. Eligibility of costs: costs that can be included ........................................................................................... 18
2.2. How to apply and the procedures to follow ........................................................................................ 22
2.2.1. Concept note content .................................................................................................................................. 22
2.2.2. Where and how to send concept notes ....................................................................................................... 23
2.2.3. Deadline for submission of concept notes .................................................................................................. 23
2.2.4. Further information about concept notes .................................................................................................... 23
2.2.5. Full applications ......................................................................................................................................... 24
2.2.6. Where and how to send full applications ................................................................................................... 26
2.2.7. Deadline for submission of full applications .............................................................................................. 26
2.2.8. Further information about full applications ................................................................................................ 27
2.3. Evaluation and selection of applications ............................................................................................ 27
2.4. Submission of supporting documents ................................................................................................. 32
2.5. Notification of the Contracting Authority’s decision ......................................................................... 32
2.5.1. Content of the decision ............................................................................................................................... 32
2.5.2. Indicative timetable .................................................................................................................................... 33
2.6. Conditions for implementation after the contracting authority’s decision to award a grant ............... 34
3. LIST OF ANNEXES 35
1. SUPPORT TO CIVIL SOCIETY AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO CONTRIBUTE TO
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT IN SIERRA LEONE
1.1. BACKGROUND
This call for proposals is funded by the European Union, by mean of two thematic programmes under the
Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe (NDICI): i) the
CSO Thematic Programme 2021-2027, and ii) the European Commission Implementing Decision on the
financing of the Multiannual Action Plan in favour of the Republic of Sierra Leone for 2023-2025.
In line with the European Commission Communications “The Roots of Democracy and Sustainable
Development: Europe's Engagement with Civil Society in External Relations”4 and “Empowering Local
Authorities in partner countries for enhanced governance and more effective development outcomes” 5 and
their related Council Conclusions, this call for proposals seeks to empower Civil Society Organisations and
Local Authorities for enhanced governance and more effective development outcomes in Sierra Leone.
An empowered civil society is a crucial component of any democratic system. Civil society organizations
(CSOs) give voice to the marginalised segments of society, advocate for social change and empower local
communities to elaborate programs that help them achieve their objectives, thus facilitating a greater
inclusion of the needs of citizens in policy and decision-making. They also stimulate enhanced transparency,
accountability and effectiveness from public institutions by monitoring their policies and holding them
accountable for their commitments. The EU’s commitment to civil society is embedded in the European
Consensus on Development, ‘Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future’, which aligns EU policies and actions to
the objectives of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and stresses that good
governance, democracy and rule of law are vital to sustainable development. It also acknowledges the
multiple roles that CSOs play in this context “as promoters of democracy, defenders of rights holders and of
the rule of law, social justice and human rights” and seeks to “promote civil society space and strengthen the
capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), so as to enhance their voice in the development process and
enrich the dialogue on political, social and economic issues”.
Priorities under this call for proposals reflect those identified by the European Union Delegation and EU
Member States active in Sierra Leone under the joint EU Roadmap for Engagement with Civil Society in
Sierra Leone for the Period 2021 to 20236. This strategic document recognises the relevance and
opportunity to strengthen CSOs participation in socio-economic development and policy making in Sierra
Leone and reaffirms EU commitment towards the achievement of three priorities: 1) promoting an enabling
national policy and regulatory environment for CSOs 2) supporting enhanced participation of Civil Society,
youth groups, faith-based organisations, women and disability organisations in local and national-level
governance; and 3) supporting institutional, organisational and networking capacity of Sierra Leonean CSOs.
In line with the European Commission Communication “Empowering Local Authorities in partner countries
for enhanced governance and more effective development outcomes”, EU approach promotes enhanced
political, administrative and fiscal autonomy of Local Authorities through decentralisation reforms, capacity
and institutional development. EU broad support to decentralisation focuses on the establishment of a
conducive legal and policy environment for decentralisation and on institutional and capacity development,
in order for Local Authorities to enjoy a certain degree of autonomy to fulfil their functions as mandated by
law.
This programme reaffirms the importance of Local Authorities, in achieving development objectives and
seeks to support their empowerment for good governance and improved development outcomes, through
promotion of decentralisation reforms, capacity and institutional development.
4
COM/2012/0492 final https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A52012DC0492
5
COM/2013/0280 final https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2013:0280:FIN:EN:PDF
6
https://capacity4dev.europa.eu/library/eu-roadmap-engagement-civil-society-sierra-leone-period-2021-2023_en
1.2. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME AND PRIORITY ISSUES
The global objective of this call for proposals is:
Empowering Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities for enhanced governance and more effective
development outcomes.
The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
1. Strengthening Civil Society Organisations, and notably youth organizations and organisations
focusing on youth economic empowerment and political participation.
2. Increasing Youth participation7 in governance, accountability and public policy processes.
3. Promoting young people's economic empowerment and contribution towards a more inclusive and
sustainable growth.
4. Empowering Local Authorities for enhanced governance and more effective development outcomes
All actions (under Lot 1 and Lot2) must address at least two of the call's specific objectives.
All actions under Lot 2 must address specific objective 4.
The priorities of this call for proposals are:
Proposals are expected to integrate the following priorities as much as possible:
This call for proposal is specifically designed to support multi-actor approaches and inclusive
partnerships for development aimed at poverty eradication and sustainable development, recognizing
the need for, and the value of, multiple stakeholders' contributions. This call aims at helping CSO and LA
responding to populations needs and participating in inclusive policy-making at different levels. Actions
shall focus on the reinforcement of CSOs and LAs as autonomous actors and, while respecting their
diversity, shall promote the coherence and complementarity of their actions and leverage their synergies.
To this end, this call for proposal encourages innovative/sustainable forms of CSOs and LAs interactions in
local public policy-making, as well as the co-provision and co-production of good local governance and
development outcomes.
Priorities under Lot 1: Support to Civil Society Organisations
In alignment with the EU Roadmap for Engagement with Civil Society in Sierra Leone for the period 2021
to 20238 proposals under Lot 1 are expected to integrate the following priorities as much as possible
i. CSOs Capacity building. Actions under this call shall strengthen institutional, organisational and
networking capacity of Sierra Leonean CSOs (here incl. their networks and/or coalitions) through a
comprehensive approach to capacity building.
ii. Promote an enabling policy and regulatory environment for CSOs. Actions may support CSOs
engagement and advocacy to promote a conducive policy, legal and regulatory framework for civil
7
Participation in the democratic life of any community is about more than voting or standing for election: it is about
having the right, the means, the capacity, the space, the opportunity and, where necessary, the support to participate in
and influence decisions and engage in actions and activities so as to contribute to building a better society". The
preamble of the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life (21 May
2003).
8
https://capacity4dev.europa.eu/library/eu-roadmap-engagement-civil-society-sierra-leone-period-2021-2023_en
society (including media and human rights defenders) and youth. Activities may include support to
policy dialogue, consultative processes and NGOs coalition building.
iii. Enhance participation of Civil Society, youth groups, faith-based organisations, in local and
national-level governance;
iv. Young people9 aged 15 to 35 shall be the primary target group for proposals under this lot with a
particular focus on disadvantaged youth, young women and youth living in slums/informal
settlements within cities and/or rural areas lacking adequate services. Particular attention should be
given to gender and disability mainstreaming.
v. Economic youth empowerment. Actions are expected to provide young people with skills,
resources, and opportunities to access/establish sustainable livelihoods. This can be achieved through
various type of interventions such as vocational training, access to finance, literacy (including digital
literacy), mentorship, entrepreneurship, apprenticeship and internship programs.
Priorities under Lot 2: Support to Local Authorities
Adhering to the principle of subsidiarity, EU promotes the role of Local Authorities as policy and decision-
makers, in favour of transparent and accountable policy- making and effective service delivery at the local
level. This call for proposals aims at providing financial, institutional and capacity development
opportunities to Local Authorities for them to enjoy a certain degree of autonomy to fulfil their functions as
mandated by law.
Proposals under Lot 2 are expected to integrate the following priorities as much as possible
i. Support the implementation of local development plans, for improved development outcomes
and enhanced service delivery to the citizens. Particular attention shall be given to enhanced
provision of public services to rural communities and/or promotion of sustainable urbanisation
in the cities.
ii. Capacity development of Local Authorities: In order to enhance Local Authorities’ ability to
contribute to good governance and consequently to achieve development goals at local level, local
elected officials and administrative staff have to overcome capacity constraints, such as managing
and mobilising public sector resources, leadership skills, public financial management, revenue
raising and expenditure, transparency, participation and interaction with other actors. Particular
attention shall be given to institutional capacity development in the area of local tax revenue
mobilisation and development planning, inclusive service delivery and sound public financial
management of Local Authorities. The approach shall entail the promotion of Local Authorities
capacity development within the sectors in which they operate, particularly through e.g. the
inclusion/promotion of more adequate central-local authorities linkages, the involvement of schools
of administration, Associations of Local Authorities, twinning programmes and horizontal
cooperation among Local Authorities consisting for example in big municipalities offering technical
assistance to smaller ones, twinning programmes.
iii. Local Authorities revenue mobilisation: Increase fiscal capacities of Local Authorities, is a
prerequisite for developing infrastructure and improving service delivery and overall quality of life.
Interventions that support effective implementation of fiscal decentralisation policy and local tax
revenue mobilisation by Local Authorities are encouraged, notably those that enhance
administrative ability to plan, manage and register land rights and interests, (cadastres and urban
property registers) as these are proven effective to increase the fiscal capacities of Local Authorities;
iv. Promotion of a territorial approach to local development (TALD)10. Tailored to territorial

characteristics and needs, the territorial approach to development is characterised as a dynamic
bottom-up and long-term process based on a multi-actor and multi-sector approach, in which
9
https://www.youthpolicy.org/national/Sierra_Leone_2003_National_Youth_Policy.pdf
10
https://capacity4dev.europa.eu/articles/what-territorial-approach-local-development_en
different local institutions and actors work together to define priorities, and plan and implement
development strategies. Through the guidance of Local Authorities and the mobilisation of
additional private and community capacities and resources, the territorial approach to
development has the potential to trigger a change in the quality of citizens’ life and wellbeing,
ensuring a balance between socio-economic growth, equity and environmental quality and increasing
the resilience of the most vulnerable.
Cross-cutting priorities for Lot 1 and Lot 2:
i. Youth inclusion and participation: The European Union recognises youth as key actors of
development and an integral part of the solution to promote peace and security and sustainable
development. Despite this, young people are often excluded from policy and decision-making
processes on issues that affect them and their future. EU funded cooperation programmes/projects
seek to support youth socio-economic empowerment, inclusion in political process and decision
making, as well as the capacities of youth-led organisations or CSO representing the youth to take
action in participatory development and policy dialogue, in a gender sensitive and responsive way.
The European Youth Strategy 2019-202711 and the Youth Action Plan in EU external action for
2022-202712 lays out the framework for EU youth policy cooperation and can serve as a source to
empower young people and include them in policy dialogue and democratic life.
Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities are important actors in development that may play
a critical role in promoting youth engagement and involving, and/or representing, youth and youth
interests in key policy processes. Actions are encouraged to support youth networks and coalitions,
and where relevant support the establishment of youth advisory structures/groups that may support
youth-focused policy planning, youth inclusion in local councils development planning processes,
programme development and implementation. This shall integrate relevant accompanying capacity-
building/networking activities.
ii. Youth socio-economic empowerment: Providing skills, access to finance and livelihood
opportunities are also key developmental challenges this call seeks to address. CSOs and LAs shall
promote young people’s economic rights, access to good quality jobs and/or sustainable livelihood
opportunities.
iii. Sectorial focus: This call is open to proposals in any sector of interest to the applicants. Local
Authorities shall operate within the devolved functions mandated by the law. Multi-sectorial
actions are eligible. Amongst the others, actions in the sectors of tourism, culture, national
heritage and creative industries, are welcome in the light of the recognised potential they represent
in term of national and local economic growth as well as employment opportunities, notably for the
youth.
iv. Activities in support to recreational programmes, sport, creative arts, as well as promotion of
digital solutions creating a more cohesive and connected society, enhancing social and inter-
generational solidarity and active citizenship are encouraged under this call for proposals.
Furthermore, all actions shall take into account the overarching crosscutting priorities of EU
development cooperation:
Actions shall promote sustainable strategies to end discrimination and break down the barriers that exclude
various groups from access to public services, resources and opportunities, with the view to promote social
inclusion, territorial cohesion and environmental protection. In urban settings particular attention shall be
given to the needs of citizens living in unauthorised settlements without adequate services and facilities,
impoverished quality of life, criminality and social dysfunction;
Gender equality and women empowerment: Gender equality constitutes a fundamental human right and a
common value of the Government of Sierra Leone and the European Union. As enshrined under the EU
11
https://youth.europa.eu/strategy_en
12
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_22_5882
Gender Action Plan III13 the design of the actions under this call for proposal should give particular attention
to mainstreaming gender equality and women empowerment 14 in project design and implementation to
ensure a reinforced role of women’s as actors of change. Gender equality is an integral part of HRBA,
encompassing the promotion, protection and fulfilment of all human rights (political, economic and social).
Each selected proposal will have to report against relevant sex-disaggregated indicators mentioned in the EU
Gender Action Plan III and Core indicators for design and monitoring of EU-funded interventions15 16
Rights of Persons with Disabilities: As per the EU Strategy of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(2021-2030), the EU supports the inclusion of the Rights and special needs of Persons with Disabilities in all
cooperation interventions. Actions under this programme are expected to include persons with disabilities
amongst the target beneficiaries, responding to their special needs, and ensuring promotion rights is included
in the programme, as well as in local development process and service delivery. Empowering persons with
disabilities, the organizations specifically representing, and/or targeting, the rights of people with disabilities
is encouraged.
Rights-based approach: The European Consensus on Development commits the EU and its Member States
to implementing a rights-based approach (RBA) 17 to development, encompassing all Human Rights as well
as EU’s commitment to promote and protect human rights and democracy as enshrined in the Joint
Communication and EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy for 2020-2024. Actions must
therefore incorporate the five working principles of the RBA approach: applying all human rights for all;
meaningful and inclusive participation and access to decision-making; non-discrimination and equality;
accountability and rule of law for all; transparency and access to information supported by disaggregated
data.
Specific requirements applicable to this call (all Lots):
1. Proposals should be based on local initiatives, and genuine involvement of Sierra Leone CSOs
and LAs should be ensured at all stages of project design and implementation. Non-Sierra Leonean
entities acting as lead applicants should demonstrate their experience in the country and added
value as well as show that their action responds to a local demand and to locally identified needs
and includes support to local partners (e.g. through mentoring, peer support, joint advocacy and
direct financial support).
2. Internship opportunities for youth: all actions shall provide internship opportunities for university
students (Sierra Leonean residents) as a way to foster youth inclusion in organisational planning and
decision-making, and promote relevant professional learning opportunities for the youth.
3. Applicants should propose a robust monitoring system that enables tracking of indicators and
monitoring the achievement of expected results and outcomes, communication of data to decision
makers, and that can inform the steering of the intervention (see section 2.1 - implementation
approach of the application template).
Kindly note that applications are required to integrate and use European Union OPSYS18
corporate indicators as much as possible, in order to contribute to the aggregation at programme
level. The links below refer to the EU indicators that can be used when preparing logical frameworks
of proposals, mainly:
13
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020SC0284&from=EN
14
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/wikis/pages/viewpage.action?spaceKey=PCM&title=Resource+page%3A+Gender+
Equality+and+Non-discrimination
15
https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/results-and-indicators
16
https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/core-indicators-design-and-monitoring-eu-funded-interventions
17
https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=50108948
18
This system, known, as "OPSYS” is a set combination of interactive IT tools and systems currently used by the
European Commission. It will cover the whole project cycle: from programming to final evaluation, all through its
contracting and implementation phases.
i) Global Europe Results Framework (GERF) indicators (Annex 6 of the GERF document, in
particular EU RF 13, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 39) and
ii) Results chain indicators for Partnerships for Human Development, Peace and Governance, and
Gender equality19.
Added-value elements:
The following will be considered as added-value elements (and reflected in evaluation criterion 1.4 of the
concept note):
For all lots:
i. Proposals that enhance the coherence and complementarity of CSOs and LAs actions and
leverage their synergies and propose innovative/sustainable forms of CSOs and LAs interactions in
local public policy-making, as well as the co-provision and co-production of good local governance
and development outcomes;
ii. Youth focused interventions with high prospect of job creation and youth economic empowerment;
iii. Targeting of vulnerable and marginalised groups of society, in particular (non-exhaustive list)
women, girls, people with disabilities and (in urban settings) citizens living in unauthorised
settlements without adequate services and facilities;
iv. Dissemination of knowledge, and use of evidence for advocacy and action;
v. Definition of a baseline and robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism (see evaluation grid).
For lot 1:
i. Proposals that promote the establishment or strengthening of youth advisory group(s)20 in view
to support youth-focused national/local as well as EU policy development, monitoring and
implementation. Action shall integrate relevant accompanying capacity-building/networking
activities, monitoring and consultative processes. Kindly note that Terms of Reference and a
proposed list of members for the establishment of youth advisory board, shall be discussed and
agreed with the EU Delegation during the Inception Period.
ii. Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) is a tool, which can be used to foster joint action, and
support the widest possible range of actors, particularly grass-roots organisations, and community
based organisations. Proposals must meet the eligibility criteria set under 2.3.1 and identify how
applicants intend to award FSTP (notably the estimated amount, specific objectives, eligibility and
criteria of identification and selection of beneficiaries)
For lot 2:
i. Support the effective implementation of multi-stakeholder cooperation frameworks at national

and local level established by law (e.g. District/chiefdom level development and budget review
committees established under the NGO and Local Government legal and regulatory frameworks) and
promote adequate central-local authorities’ linkages and cooperation;
ii. The promotion of horizontal cooperation/twinning among Local Authorities (within Sierra Leone
and/or abroad), and/or twinning, partnership with schools of administration and/or universities to
build institutional capacity;
19
https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/results-and-indicators
20
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_5884
iii. The promotion of public-private partnerships and of association of private sector operators for
additional resources and sustainable solutions to pro-poor local development needs;
iv. Proposals that promote effective fiscal decentralisation policy implementation and local taxes
revenue mobilisation;
A non-exhaustive list of possible activities can be found in section 2.1.3 of these guidelines.
1.3. FINANCIAL ALLOCATION PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 6.939.500.
The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
Indicative allocation of funds by lot:
Lot 1: EUR 2.939.500
Lot 2: EUR 4.000.000
If the allocation indicated for a specific lot cannot be used due to insufficient quality or number of proposals
received, the contracting authority reserves the right to reallocate the remaining funds to (an) other lot.
Size of grants:
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum
amounts:
Lot 1:
 minimum amount: EUR 250.000
 maximum amount: EUR 1.000.000
Lot 2:
 minimum amount: EUR 250.000
 maximum amount: EUR 500.000
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum
percentages of total eligible costs of the action:
 Minimum percentage: 50% of the total eligible costs of the action.
 Maximum percentage: 80% of the total eligible costs of the action (see also Section 2.1.4).
 Maximum percentage: 95% of the total eligible costs of the action (see also Section 2.1.4.) in case
of applicant(s) (and affiliated entity(ies) where applicable)21 established in any of the locations laid
down in Section 2.1.322.
The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the action 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 Fund23.
21
Only applicable in case of a mono-beneficiary grant or a multi-beneficiary grant where all members of the partnership
(lead applicant, co-applicants and affiliated entities) are established in Sierra Leone
22
As evidenced by the organisation’s statutes, which should demonstrate that it has been established by an instrument
governed by the national law of the country concerned. For avoidance of doubt, international organisations, where
eligible, are not entitled to claim the different maximum co-financing rate.
2. RULES FOR THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS
These guidelines set out the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of the actions financed
under this call, in conformity with the practical guide, which is applicable to the present call (available on the
internet at this address https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/display/ExactExternalWiki/ePRAG ).24
2.1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:
(1) the actors (2.1.1.):
 The ‘lead applicant’, i.e. the entity submitting the application form;
 if any, its co-applicant(s) (where it is not specified otherwise the lead applicant and its co-
applicant(s) are hereinafter jointly referred as ‘applicant(s)’);
 and, if any, affiliated entity(ies) to the lead applicant and/or to a co-applicant(s);
(2) the actions (2.1.3.):
• actions for which a grant may be awarded;
(3) the costs (2.1.4.):
 types of cost that may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant.
2.1.1. Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s))
Lead applicant
Lot 1:
(1) In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
 be a legal person and
 be non-profit-making and
 be a Civil Society Organisation and/or their associations25, and
 be established in26 Sierra Leone or in a Member State of the European Union and
23
Where a grant is financed by the European Development Fund, any mention of European Union financing must be
understood as referring to European Development Fund financing.
24
Note that a lead applicant (i.e. a coordinator) whose pillars have been positively assessed by the European
Commission and who is awarded a grant will not sign the standard grant contract published with these guidelines but a
contribution agreement based on the contribution agreement template. All references in these guidelines and other
documents related to this call to the standard grant contract shall in this case be understood as referring to the relevant
provisions of the contribution agreement template.
25
Definition as per NDICI-GLOBAL Europe, Article 46: Civil society organisations embrace a wide range of actors
with multiple roles and mandates which includes all non-State, not-for-profit independent and non-violent structures,
through which people organise the pursuit of shared objectives and ideals, whether political, cultural, religious,
environmental, social or economic. Operating from local, national, regional and international levels, they comprise
urban and rural, formal and informal organisations.
 be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-
applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary and
 Eligible lead applicants established in a country other than that of Sierra Leone must act
together with at least one co-applicant that is a Sierra Leonean organisation and
 The lead applicant must act with at least one co-applicant as specified hereafter
 Either the lead applicant or a co-applicant must have proven work experience of at least three
(3) years (over the last seven (7) years) in the District(s) targeted by the proposal.
Lot 2:
(1) In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
 be a legal person and
 be non-profit-making and
 be Local Authority or Association of Local Authorities from Sierra Leone and
 be established27 in Sierra Leone and
 be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-
applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
All Lots:
(2) Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of
the situations listed in Section 2.6.10.1 of the practical guide;
Lead applicants, co-applicants, affiliated entities and, in case of legal entities, persons who have powers
of representation, decision-making or control over the lead applicant, the co-applicants and the affiliated
entities are informed that, should they be in one of the situations of early detection or exclusion
according to Section 2.6.10.1 of the practical guide, personal details (name, given name if natural
person, address, legal form and name and given name of the persons with powers of representation,
decision-making or control, if legal person) may be registered in the early detection and exclusion
system, and communicated to the persons and entities concerned in relation to the award or the
execution of a grant contract. In this respect, provisionally selected lead applicants, co-applicants and
affiliated entities or those placed in the reserve list are obliged to declare that they are not in one of the
exclusion situations through a signed declaration on honour (PRAG Annex A14). For grants of
EUR 15 000 or less, no declaration on honour is required. See section 2.4.
In Annex A.1 Section 2 and Annex A.2 Section 5 (‘declaration(s) by the lead applicant’), the lead
applicant must declare that the lead applicant himself, the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies) are
not in any of these situations.
26
To be determined on the basis of the organisation’s statutes, which should demonstrate that it has been established by
an instrument governed by the national law of the country concerned and that its head office is located in an eligible
country. In this respect, any legal entity whose statutes have been established in another country cannot be considered
an eligible local organisation, even if the statutes are registered locally or a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ has been
concluded.
27
To be determined on the basis of the organisation’s statutes, which should demonstrate that it has been established by
an instrument governed by the national law of the country concerned and that its head office is located in an eligible
country. In this respect, any legal entity whose statutes have been established in another country cannot be considered
an eligible local organisation, even if the statutes are registered locally or a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ has been
concluded.
If awarded the grant contract, the lead applicant will become the beneficiary identified as the
coordinator in Annex G (special conditions). The coordinator is the sole interlocutor of the contracting
authority. It represents and acts on behalf of any other co-beneficiary (if any) and coordinate the design
and implementation of the action.
Co-applicant(s)
Co-applicants (if any) participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are
eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
Co-applicants (if any) must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
Co-applicants must sign the mandate in Annex A.2 Section 5.
If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together
with the coordinator)
(3) In addition, please note that contracts cannot be awarded to or signed with applicants included in the lists
of EU restrictive measures (see Section 2.4. of the PRAG).
Affiliated entities
The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-
applicant(s):
Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in
particular a legal or capital link.
This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
(i) Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated
financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:

- Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier
subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant
(granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of
control;
- Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may
be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
- Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
(ii) Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which
the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g.
network, federation, association,…) as the proposed affiliated entities.
The structural link shall as a general rule be neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose
of its implementation. This means that the link would exist independently of the award of the grant; it should
exist before the call for proposals and remain valid after the end of the action.
By way of exception, an entity may be considered as affiliated to an applicant even if it has a structural link
specifically established for the sole purpose of the implementation of the action in the case of so-called ‘sole
applicants’ or ‘sole beneficiaries’. A sole applicant or a sole beneficiary is a legal entity formed by several
entities (a group of entities) which together comply with the criteria for being awarded the grant. For
example, an association is formed by its members.
What is not an affiliated entity?
The following are not considered entities affiliated to an applicant:
- Entities that have entered into a (procurement) contract or subcontract with an applicant, act as
concessionaires or delegatees for public services for an applicant,
- Entities that receive financial support from the applicant,
- Entities that cooperate on a regular basis with an applicant on the basis of a memorandum of
understanding or share some assets,
- Entities that have signed a consortium agreement under the grant contract (unless this consortium
agreement leads to the creation of a ‘sole applicant’ as described above).
How to verify the existence of the required link with an applicant?
The affiliation resulting from control may in particular be proved on the basis of the consolidated accounts of
the group of entities the applicant and its proposed affiliates belong to.
The affiliation resulting from membership may in particular be proved on the basis of the statutes or
equivalent act establishing the entity (network, federation, association) which the applicant constitutes or in
which the applicant participates.
If the applicants are awarded a grant contract, their affiliated entity(ies) will not become beneficiary(ies) of
the action and signatory(ies) of the grant contract. However, they will participate in the design and in the
implementation of the action and the costs they incur (including those incurred for implementation contracts
and financial support to third parties and subcontractors) may be accepted as eligible costs, provided they
comply with all the relevant rules already applicable to the beneficiary(ies) under the grant contract.
Affiliated entity(ies) must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant and the co-applicant(s).
They must sign the affiliated entity(ies) statement in Annex A.2 Section 5.
In addition to the categories referred to in Section 2.1.1, the following are however also eligible:
Local Authority(ies) or Association(s) of Local Authorities, academia and CSOs networks established
outside Sierra Leone, if their engagement in the action enables horizontal decentralised cooperation
between local governments or strategic organisational and institutional capacity development of Sierra
Leonean entities, AND aims at supporting sustainable local development in Sierra Leone.
2.1.2. Associates and contractors
The following entities are not applicants nor affiliated entities and do not have to sign the ‘mandate for co-
applicant(s)’ or ‘affiliated entities' statement:
 Associates
Other organisations or individuals may be involved in the action. Such associates play a real role in the
action but may not receive funding from the grant, with the exception of per diem or travel costs. Associates
do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to in Section 2.1.1. Associates must be mentioned in
Annex A.2 Section 4 — ‘Associates participating in the action’.
 Contractors
The beneficiaries and their affiliated entities are permitted to award contracts. Associates or affiliated
entity(ies) cannot be also contractors in the project. Contractors are subject to the procurement rules set out
in Annex IV to the standard grant contract.
2.1.3. Eligible actions: actions for which an application may be made
Definition:
An action is composed of a set of activities.
Duration
The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 18 months nor exceed 36 months.
Sectors or themes
This call is open to proposals in any sector of interest to the applicant(s). Actions by Local Authorities
shall be in compliancy with the authority, mandate and devolved functions provided for in the national legal
framework (Local Government Act 2022).
Multi-sectorial actions are also eligible.
Location
Actions must take place in Sierra Leone.
Types of action
Actions must address at least two of the call's specific objectives to be eligible for funding and shall integrate
the priorities described in Section 1.2 of the present Guidelines as much as possible.
Actions should be coherent and must demonstrate clear objectives, target groups, and tangible
outputs/outcomes with relevant indicators.
The project justification must be based on recent reliable information, broad-based consultation and
participation of project target groups and other stakeholders. Applicants are requested to identify in
quantitative terms direct and final beneficiaries of the action.
The following types of action are ineligible:
 actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops,
seminars, conferences and congresses;
 actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses;
 actions which discriminate against individuals or groups of people on grounds of their gender, sexual
orientation, religious beliefs or lack of them, or their ethnic origin; actions supporting political
parties.
Types of activity (non exhaustive list) eligible to this call
 Direct implementation by applicant/co-applicant(s) their affiliates and associates;
 Financial Support to Third Parties;
 Procurement of services, works, supply contracts to build the necessary capacity and support
achievement of the identified specific objectives and priorities (incl. the costs for mobilising
expertise to improve the quality of the logical framework (e.g. accuracy of baselines, monitoring
systems, etc.), both at the beginning and during the implementation of the Action;
 Procurement of technical assistance and specialised expertise, twinning(s) and horizontal partnership
with other entities (e.g. public administration, devolved functions, local authorities, associations of
Local Authorities, CSOs, CSOs networks and academia), to promote peer learning and strengthen
CSOs and/or LAs organisational and institutional capacity;
 Strategic engagement private sector operators to pursue sustainable development solutions;
 Decentralised cooperation between EU and Sierra Leonean Local Authorities to support the
implementation of development actions, through peer-to-peer learning, transfer of know-how and
enhancement of local actors’ participation in the public space at local level;
 Support to CSOs and LAs coordination, networking and coalition building as well as multi-
stakeholders partnerships and consultative processes;
 Facilitation of consultative processes, notably to promote policy, legal and regulatory reviews;
adequate central-local level coordination/collaboration; inclusive national and local policy planning
and monitoring, development/review of local district development plans, budgeting, fiscal
decentralisation and local tax revenue management, transparency social accountability; bottom up
public policy-making processes inclusive of target beneficiaries interest groups, community &
grassroots organisations, organisations representative of youth, women, persons with disabilities,
 Advocacy and monitoring of public policy and its implementation, especially as it relates to the
delivery of key services to vulnerable groups specifically youths and other vulnerable groups;
 Evidence-based research and advocacy, surveys; budget tracking; public service delivery score-
cards;
 Public awareness and edutainment campaigns;
 Strategic communication and media campaigns;
 Support to digitalisation, including mobile penetration, software-applications’ development, digital

literacy, digital safety, the safe use of social media (especially for youth, children, parents and
professionals working with youth and children);
 Support to local organisations in the areas of independent budget analysis, monitoring of policies and
laws; capacity building, research and knowledge dissemination and improvement in CSO networks;
 Support LA’s to design action plans and projects improving service delivery, PFM and local tax
mobilisation;
 Feasibility Studies, technical assistance, supervisory services which can support the design,
construction and maintenance of sustainable infrastructures;
 Activities that promote an enabling environment for public private partnerships as well as pro-poor
private sector engagement that can support effective and sustainable service delivery at local level
(e.g. Incubators / entrepreneurship fairs/ workshops/trainings/technical assistance);
 Activities that enhance employment opportunities, economic empowerment, access to finance,

(project incubators, vocational training, coaching, internships, procurement of start-up kits);
 Results oriented monitoring and reporting, knowledge management and dissemination.
Financial support to third parties28
Applicants may propose financial support to third parties.
For lot 1, applicants may propose financial support to third parties in order to help achieving the objectives
of the action.
28
These third parties are neither affiliated entity(ies) nor associates nor contractors.
The maximum amount of financial support per third party is EUR 60 000 except where achieving the
objectives of the actions would otherwise be impossible or overly difficult, in which case this threshold can
be exceeded. A threshold below EUR 60 000 can be set if appropriate.
In compliance with the present guidelines and notably of any conditions or restrictions in this Section, the
lead applicant should define mandatorily in Section 2.1.1 of Annex A.2 (Grant application form – Full
application):
(i) the overall objectives, the specific objective(s) and the outputs29 (i.e. the results) to be achieved
with the financial support;
(ii) the different types of activities eligible for financial support, on the basis of a fixed list;
(iii) the types of persons or categories of persons which may receive financial support;
(iv) the criteria for selecting these entities and giving the financial support;
(v) the criteria for determining the exact amount of financial support for each third entity, and
(vi) the maximum amount which may be given.
In all events, the mandatory conditions set above for giving financial support (points (i) to (vi)) have to be
strictly defined in the grant contract as to avoid any exercise of discretion.
 The financial support to third parties shall target youth and women-led groups/CBOs or
organisations.
 Financial support may take the form of short-term project-based support or longer-term strategic,
institutional building, core support;
 Financial support to third parties may only take the form of project-based support accompanied by
capacity building and/or mentoring.
Visibility
The applicants must take all necessary steps to publicise the fact that the European Union has financed or co-
financed the action. Unless the European Commission agrees otherwise, actions that are wholly or partially
funded by the European Union must ensure the visibility of EU financing by displaying the EU emblem in
accordance with the guidelines set out in the Operational guidelines for recipients of EU funding, published
by the European Commission. If applicable, communication activities may be undertaken to raise the
awareness of specific or general audiences of the reasons for the action and the EU support for the action in
the country or region concerned, as well as the results and the impact of this support.
All measures and activities relating to visibility and, if applicable, communication, must comply with the
latest Communication and Visibility Requirements for EU-funded external action, laid down and published
by the European Commission Communication and Visibility Requirements for EU External Actions |
International Partnerships (europa.eu).
Number of applications and grants per applicants / affiliated entities
The lead applicant may not submit more than one (1) application(s) under this call for proposals.
The lead applicant may not be awarded more than one (1) grant(s) under this call for proposals.
The lead applicant may not be a co-applicant or an affiliated entity in another application at the same time.
29
As per OECD DAC definition, the term ‘results’ includes: ‘impact’ (overall objective), ‘outcome(s)’ (specific
objective(s) and ‘output(s)’.
Under Lot 1:
A co-applicant/affiliated entity may not be the co-applicant or affiliated entity in more than one (1)
application(s) per lot under this call for proposals.
A co-applicant/affiliated entity may not be awarded more than one (1) grant per lot under this call for
proposals.
Under Lot 2:
A co-applicant/affiliated entity may be the co-applicant or affiliated entity in more than one (1) application(s)
per lot under this call for proposals.
A co-applicant/affiliated entity may be awarded more than one (1) grant per lot under this call for proposals.
2.1.4. Eligibility of costs: costs that can be included
Union contribution under this call for proposals take the following form(s):
- Reimbursement of eligible costs that may be based on any or a combination of the following forms:
(i) actual costs incurred by the beneficiary(ies) and affiliated entity(ies);
(ii) one or more simplified cost options (see below).
Only ‘eligible costs’ can be covered by a grant. The categories of costs that are eligible and non-eligible are
indicated below. The budget is both a cost estimate and an overall ceiling for ‘eligible costs’.
Simplified cost options may take the form of:
 unit costs: covering all or certain specific categories of eligible costs which are clearly identified in
advance by reference to an amount per unit.
 lump sums: covering in global terms all or certain specific categories of eligible costs which are
clearly identified in advance.
 flat-rate financing: covering specific categories of eligible costs which are clearly identified in
advance by applying a percentage fixed ex ante.
Simplified costs options (SCOs) which can be proposed are the following:
"output or result based SCOs": they include costs linked to outputs, results, activities, deliverables in the
framework of a specific project (for example the determination of a lump sum for the organization of a
conference, or for the realisation of a determined output/activity). Where possible and appropriate, lump
sums or unit costs shall be determined in such a way to allow their payment upon achievement of concrete
outputs and/or results. This type of SCO can be proposed by the beneficiary (no threshold is applicable) at
proposal's stage (in Annex A.2 – Grant application form – Full application). In case the evaluation committee
is not satisfied with the quality of the justification provided, reimbursement on the basis of actually incurred
costs is always possible.
Refer to Annex K for the details of the procedure to be followed depending on the type and amount of the costs
to be declared as SCO. Applicants proposing this form of reimbursement, must clearly indicate in worksheet
no.1 of Annex B, each heading/item of eligible costs concerned by this type of financing, i.e. add the reference
in capital letters to ‘UNIT COST’, ‘LUMPSUM’ in the Unit column (see example in Annex K).
Additionally in Annex B, in the second column of worksheet no.2, ‘Justification of the estimated costs’ per
each of the corresponding budget item or heading applicants must:
 describe the information and methods used to establish the amounts of unit costs and/or lump sums,
to which costs they refer, etc for output or result based SCO;
 clearly explain the formulas for calculation of the final eligible amount for output or result based
SCO.
In case of output or result based SCOs the evaluation committee decides whether to accept the proposed
amounts or rates on the basis of the provisional budget submitted by the applicants, by analysing factual data
of grants carried out by the applicants or of similar actions. In case the evaluation committee is not satisfied
with the quality of the justification provided reimbursement on the basis of actually incurred costs is always
possible.
No threshold is set ex ante for the total amount of financing that can be authorised by the contracting
authority on the basis of simplified cost options.
Recommendations to award a grant are always subject to the condition that the checks preceding the signing
of the grant contract do not reveal problems requiring changes to the budget (such as arithmetical errors,
inaccuracies, unrealistic costs and ineligible costs). The checks may give rise to requests for clarification and
may lead the contracting authority to impose modifications or reductions to address such mistakes or
inaccuracies. It is not possible to increase the grant or the percentage of EU co-financing as a result of these
corrections.
It is therefore in the applicants' interest to provide a realistic and cost-effective budget.
The grant may take the form of a single lump-sum covering the entire eligible costs of an action or a work
programme.
Single lump sums may be determined on the basis of the estimated budget, which should comply with the
principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Compliance with these principles shall be verified
ex ante at the time of evaluation of the grant application.
When authorising single lump sums the authorising officer responsible shall comply with the conditions
applicable to output or result based SCOs.
When using this form of financing, the description of the action shall include detailed information on the
essential conditions triggering the payment, including, where applicable, the achievement of outputs and/or
results.
Eligible direct costs
To be eligible under this call for proposals, costs must comply with the provisions of Article 14 of the
general conditions to the standard grant contract (see Annex G of the guidelines).
Contingency reserve
The budget may include a contingency reserve not exceeding 5 % of the estimated direct eligible costs. It can
only be used with the prior written authorisation of the contracting authority.
Eligible indirect costs
The indirect costs incurred in carrying out the action may be eligible for flat-rate funding, but the total must
not exceed 7 % of the estimated total eligible direct costs. Indirect costs are eligible provided that they do not
include costs assigned to another budget heading in the standard grant contract. The lead applicant may be
asked to justify the percentage requested before the grant contract is signed. However, once the flat rate has
been fixed in the special conditions of the grant contract, no supporting documents need to be provided.
If any of the applicants or affiliated entity(ies) is in receipt of an operating grant financed by the EU, it may
not claim indirect costs on its incurred costs within the proposed budget for the action.
Contributions in kind
Contributions in kind mean the provision of goods or services to beneficiaries or affiliated entities free of
charge by a third party. As contributions in kind do not involve any expenditure for beneficiaries or affiliated
entities, they are not eligible costs (except for personnel costs for the work carried out by volunteers under an
action or operating grant if so authorised).
Contributions in kind may not be treated as co-financing. However, if the description of the action as
proposed includes contributions in kind, the contributions have to be made.
Other co-financing shall be based on estimates provided by the applicant.
Ineligible costs
The following costs are not eligible:
 debts and debt service charges (interest);
 provisions for losses or potential future liabilities;
 costs declared by the beneficiary(ies) and financed by another action or work programme receiving a
European Union (including through EDF) grant;
 purchases of land or buildings, except where necessary for the direct implementation of the action, in
which case ownership must be transferred in accordance with Article 7.5 of the general conditions of
the standard grant contract, at the latest at the end of the action;
 currency exchange losses;
 in kind contributions (except for volunteers' work);
 bonuses included in costs of staff;
 negative interest charged by banks or other financial institutions;
 Credit to third parties;
 Salary costs of the personnel of national and local administrations.
Ethics clauses and Code of Conduct
a) Absence of conflict of interest
The applicant must not be affected by any conflict of interest and must have no equivalent relation in that
respect with other applicants or parties involved in the actions. Any attempt by an applicant to obtain
confidential information, enter into unlawful agreements with competitors or influence the evaluation
committee or the contracting authority during the process of examining, clarifying, evaluating and comparing
applications will lead to the rejection of its application and may result in administrative penalties according
to the Financial Regulation in force.
b) Respect for human rights as well as environmental legislation and core labour standards
The applicant and its staff must comply with human rights. In particular and in accordance with the
applicable act, applicants who have been awarded contracts must comply with the environmental legislation
including multilateral environmental agreements, and with the core labour standards as applicable and as
defined in the relevant International Labour Organisation conventions (such as the conventions on freedom
of association and collective bargaining; elimination of forced and compulsory labour; abolition of child
labour).
Zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment:
The European Commission applies a policy of 'zero tolerance' in relation to all wrongful conduct which has
an impact on the professional credibility of the applicant.
Physical abuse or punishment, or threats of physical abuse, sexual abuse or exploitation, harassment and
verbal abuse, as well as other forms of intimidation shall be prohibited.
Applicants (and affiliated entities) other than (i) natural persons (ii) pillar-assessed entities and (iii)
governments and other public bodies whose application has been pre-selected or placed in a reserve list, shall
assess their internal policy against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEA-H) through a self-
evaluation questionnaire (Annex L). For grants of EUR 60 000 or less no self-evaluation is required. Such
self-evaluation questionnaire is not part of the evaluation of the full application by the contracting authority,
but is an administrative requirement. See section 2.5.6 of the PRAG.
c) Anti-corruption and anti-bribery
The applicant shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations and codes relating to anti-bribery and
anti-corruption. The contracting authority reserves the right to suspend or cancel project financing if corrupt
practices of any kind are discovered at any stage of the award process or during the execution of a contract
and if the contracting authority fails to take all appropriate measures to remedy the situation. For the
purposes of this provision, ‘corrupt practices’ are the offer of a bribe, gift, gratuity or commission to any
person as an inducement or reward for performing or refraining from any act relating to the award of a
contract or execution of a contract already concluded with the contracting authority.
d) Unusual commercial expenses
Applications will be rejected or contracts terminated if it emerges that the award or execution of a contract
has given rise to unusual commercial expenses. Such unusual commercial expenses are commissions not
mentioned in the main contract or not stemming from a properly concluded contract referring to the main
contract, commissions not paid in return for any actual and legitimate service, commissions remitted to a tax
haven, commissions paid to a payee who is not clearly identified or commissions paid to a company which
has every appearance of being a front company.
Grant beneficiaries found to have paid unusual commercial expenses on projects funded by the European
Union are liable, depending on the seriousness of the facts observed, to have their contracts terminated or to
be permanently excluded from receiving EU/EDF funds.
e) Breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud
The contracting authority reserves the right to suspend or cancel the procedure, where the award procedure
proves to have been subject to substantial breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud. If substantial breach
of obligations, irregularities or fraud are discovered after the award of the contract, the contracting authority
may refrain from concluding the contract.
2.2. HOW TO APPLY AND THE PROCEDURES TO FOLLOW
To apply for this call for proposals the lead applicants need to:
I. Provide information about the organisations involved in the action. To this end, lead applicants, co-
applicants and affiliated entities must register in PADOR. Lead applicants must register at the concept
note step. Co-applicants and affiliated entities must register at the full application step; lead applicants
must make sure that their PADOR profile is up to date. Please note that the registration of this data in
PADOR is obligatory for this call for proposals:
PADOR is an on-line database in which organisations register and update information concerning their
entity. Organisations registered in PADOR get a unique ID (EuropeAid ID) which they must mention in
their application. PADOR is accessible via the website: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/pador
If it is impossible to register online in PADOR for technical reasons, lead applicants, co-applicants
and/or affiliated entity(ies) must complete the ‘PADOR registration form30 attached to these guidelines.
This form must be sent together with the full application, by the submission deadline (see section
2.2.5).
II. Provide information about the action in the documents listed under sections 2.2.2 (Where and how to send
concept notes) and 2.2.5 (Full applications). Please note that online submission via PROSPECT is
obligatory for this call.
It is strongly recommended to register in PADOR well in advance and not to wait until the last
minute before the deadline to submit your application in PROSPECT.
Before starting using PADOR and PROSPECT, please read the user guides available on the website. All
technical questions related the use of these systems should be addressed to the IT helpdesk at INTPA-
SUPPORT-SERVICES@ec.europa.eu via the online support form in PROSPECT.
2.2.1. Concept note content
Applications must be submitted in accordance with the concept note instructions in the grant application
form annexed to these guidelines (Annex A). Lead applicants should then keep strictly to the format of the
concept note and fill in the paragraphs and pages in order.
Applicants must apply in English.
Please note that:
1. In the concept note, lead applicants must only provide an estimate of the requested EU contribution as
well as an indicative percentage of that contribution in relation to the eligible costs of the action. A
detailed budget is to be submitted only by the lead applicants invited to submit a full application in the
second phase. 2. The elements outlined in the concept note may not be modified in the full application,
except for the changes described below:
 The EU contribution may not vary from the initial estimate by more than 20 %. Lead applicants
are free to adapt the percentage of co-financing required within the minimum and maximum
amount and percentages of co-financing, as laid down in these guidelines in Section 1.3.
 The lead applicant may add, remove or replace one or more co-applicant(s) or affiliated entity
(ies) only in duly justified cases.
30
Which corresponds to Annex F – PADOR off-line form (PRAG annex e13).
 The lead applicant may adjust the duration of the action if unforeseen circumstances outside the
scope of the applicants have taken place following the submission of the concept note and
require such adaptation (risk of action not being carried out). In such cases, the duration must
remain within the limits imposed by the guidelines for applicants. Own contributions by the
applicants can be replaced by other donors' contributions at any time.
An explanation/justification of the relevant replacements/adjustments shall be included in Annex A.2 –

Instructions for drafting the Full Application, section 2.1.1, point viii. Should the
explanation/justification not be accepted by the evaluation committee, the proposal may be rejected on
that sole basis.
Only the concept note form will be evaluated. It is therefore of utmost importance that this document
contains ALL relevant information concerning the action. No additional annexes should be sent.
Please complete the concept note carefully and as clearly as possible so that it can be assessed properly.
Any error or major discrepancy related to the concept note instructions may lead to the rejection of the
concept note.
Clarifications will only be requested when information provided is not sufficient to conduct an objective
assessment.
2.2.2. Where and how to send concept notes
The concept note together with the declaration by the lead applicant (Annex A.1 section 2) must be
submitted online via PROSPECT https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/prospect following the instructions given
in the PROSPECT user manual.
Upon submission of a concept note online, the lead applicant will receive an automatic confirmation of
receipt in its PROSPECT profile.
Please note that incomplete concept notes may be rejected. Lead applicants are advised to verify that their
concept note is complete by using the checklist for concept note (Annex A.1, Instructions).
2.2.3. Deadline for submission of concept notes
The deadline for the submission of concept notes is 30/04/2024 at 19:00 (Brussels date and time). In order to
convert this deadline to local time you can use any online time converter tool that takes into account
timezones and winter/summer time changes (example available here) The lead applicant is strongly
advised not to wait until the last day to submit its concept note, since heavy Internet traffic or a fault with
the Internet connection (including electricity failure, etc.) could lead to difficulties in submission. The
contracting authority cannot be held responsible for any delay due to such afore-mentioned difficulties.
Any concept note submitted after the deadline will be rejected.
2.2.4. Further information about concept notes
An information session on this call for proposals will be held on 26 March 2024 at 11:30am, Online/Virtual.
Questions may be sent by e-mail no later than 21 days before the deadline for the submission of concept
notes to the address(es) below, indicating clearly the reference of the call for proposals:
E-mail address: delegation-sierra-leone-cfp@eeas.europa.eu
The contracting authority has no obligation to provide clarifications to questions received after this date.
Replies will be given no later than 11 days before the deadline for submission of concept notes.
To ensure equal treatment of applicants, the contracting authority cannot give a prior opinion on the
eligibility of lead applicants, co-applicants, affiliated entity(ies), an action or specific activities.
No individual replies will be given to questions. All questions and answers as well as other important notices
to applicants during the course of the evaluation procedure will be published on the website where the call
was published: website of DG International Partnerships https://ec.europa.eu/international-
partnerships/home_fr or Funding & Tender opportunities (F&T Portal) https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-
tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home and the EU Delegations’ websites
http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/sierra_leone/index_en.htm as the need arises. It is therefore advisable to
consult the abovementioned website(s) regularly in order to be informed of the questions and answers
published.
All questions related to registration in PADOR or the online submission via PROSPECT should be addressed
to the IT helpdesk at INTPA-SUPPORT-SERVICES@ec.europa.eu via the online support form in
PROSPECT: Please note that the working languages of the IT support are English French and Spanish.
Therefore users are invited to send their questions in English, French or Spanish should they wish to benefit
from an optimum response time.
Please note that the contracting authority may decide to cancel the call for proposals procedure at any stage
according to the conditions set out in Section 6.5.9 of the PRAG.
2.2.5. Full applications
Lead applicants invited to submit a full application following pre-selection of their concept note must do so
using the grant application form annexed to these guidelines (Annex A.2 – Grant application form – Full
application). Lead applicants should then keep strictly to the format of the grant application form and fill in
the paragraphs and pages in order.
The elements outlined in the concept note may not be modified in the full application, except for the changes
described below:
 The EU contribution may not vary from the initial estimate by more than 20 %. Lead applicants are
free to adapt the percentage of co-financing required within the minimum and maximum amount and
percentages of co-financing, as laid down in these guidelines in Section 1.3.
 The lead applicant may add, remove or replace one or more co-applicant(s) or affiliated entity(ies)
only in duly justified cases.
 The lead applicant may adjust the duration of the action if unforeseen circumstances outside the
scope of the applicants have taken place following the submission of the concept note and require
such adaptation (risk of action not being carried out). In such cases, the duration must remain within
the limits imposed by the guidelines for applicants.
An explanation/justification of the relevant replacements/adjustments shall be included in Annex A.2 –

Instructions for drafting the Full Application, section 2.1.1, point viii. Should the
explanation/justification not be accepted by the evaluation committee, the proposal may be rejected on
that sole basis.
Lead applicants must submit their full applications in the same language as their concept notes.
Please complete the full application form carefully and as clearly as possible so that it can be assessed
properly.
Any error related to the points listed in the checklist (Annex A.2, Instructions) or any major inconsistency in
the full application (e.g. if the amounts in the budget worksheets are inconsistent) may lead to the rejection
of the application.
Clarifications will only be requested when information provided is unclear and thus prevents the contracting
authority from conducting an objective assessment.
Please note that only the full application form and the published annexes which have to be filled in (budget,
logical framework) will be transmitted to the evaluators (and assessors, if used). It is therefore of utmost
importance that these documents contain ALL the relevant information concerning the action.
If it is impossible to register online in PADOR for technical reasons, the lead applicant has to submit with
the full application the completed PADOR form (Annex F) for the lead applicant, each (if any) co-
applicants and each (if any) affiliated entities31.
Please note that the following documents32 shall be uploaded in PADOR by the full application deadline or
submitted together with the PADOR registration form with the full application form:
1. The statutes or articles of association of the lead applicant, (if any) of each co-applicant and (if any)
of each affiliated entity . Where the contracting authority has recognised the lead applicant’s, or the
co-applicant(s)’s, or their affiliated entity(ies)’s eligibility for another call for proposals under the
same budget line within 2 years before the deadline for receipt of applications, it should be
submitted, instead of the statutes or articles of association, a copy of the document proving their
eligibility in a former call (e.g. a copy of the special conditions of a grant contract received during
the reference period), unless a change in legal status has occurred in the meantime. This obligation
does not apply to international organisations which have signed a framework agreement with the
European Commission.
2. Legal entity form (see Annex D of these guidelines) duly completed and signed by each of the
applicants (i.e. by the lead applicant and by each co-applicant, if any), accompanied by the justifying
documents requested there. If the applicants have already signed a contract with the contracting
authority, instead of the legal entity form and supporting documents, the legal entity number may be
provided, unless a change in legal status occurred in the meantime.
3. A financial identification form of the lead applicant (not from co-applicant(s)) conforming to the
model attached as Annex E of these guidelines, certified by the bank to which the payments will be
made. This bank should be located in the country where the lead applicant is established. If the lead
applicant has already submitted a financial identification form in the past for a contract where the
European Commission was in charge of the payments and intends to use the same bank account, a
copy of the previous financial identification form may be provided instead.
In addition, for the purpose of the evaluation of the financial capacity, the following documents should be
submitted33:
4. For action grants exceeding EUR 750 000 and for operating grants exceeding EUR 100 000, the lead
applicant must provide an audit report produced by an approved external auditor where it is
available, and always in cases where a statutory audit is required by EU or national law. That report
shall certify the accounts for up to the last 3 financial years available.
In all other cases, the lead applicant shall provide a self-declaration signed by its authorised
representative certifying the validity of its accounts for up to the last 3 financial years available.
This requirement shall apply only to the first application made by an applicant to the contracting
authority in any one financial year.
The external audit report as well as the self-declaration certifying the validity of the accounts are not
required from the co-applicant(s) or affiliated entities (if any).
31
Natural persons who apply for a grant (if so allowed in the guidelines for applicants) do not have to provide an
organisation data form. In this case, the information included in the grant application form is sufficient.
33
No supporting documents will be requested for applications for a grant not exceeding EUR 60 000.
5. A copy of the lead applicant’s latest accounts (the profit and loss account and the balance sheet for
the last financial year for which the accounts have been closed) 34. A copy of the latest account is
neither required from the co-applicant(s) (if any) nor from affiliated entity(ies) (if any).
The requested supporting documents (uploaded in PADOR or sent together with the PADOR offline form)
must be supplied in the form of originals, photocopies or scanned versions (i.e. showing legible stamps,
signatures and dates) of the said originals. Originals should be kept on file for controls.
Where such documents are not in one of the official languages of the European Union or in the language of
the country where the action is implemented, a translation into English of the relevant parts of these
documents proving the lead applicant's and, where applicable, co-applicants' and affiliated entity(ies)'
eligibility, must be attached for the purpose of analysing the application.
Where these documents are in an official language of the European Union other than English, it is strongly
recommended, in order to facilitate the evaluation, to provide a translation of the relevant parts of the
documents, proving the lead applicant's and, where applicable, co-applicants' and affiliated entity(ies)'
eligibility, into English.
Applicants have to take into consideration the time necessary to obtain official documents from national
competent authorities and to translate such documents in the authorised languages while registering their
data in PADOR.
If the abovementioned supporting documents are not provided by the deadline for the submission of the full
application, the application may be rejected.
No additional annexes should be sent.
2.2.6. Where and how to send full applications
Full applications (i.e. the full application form, PADOR registration form (where applicable), the budget, the
logical framework, and the declaration by the lead applicant) must be submitted online via PROSPECT
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/prospect following the instructions given in the PROSPECT users’ manual.
Upon submission of the full application online, the lead applicants will receive an automatic confirmation of
receipt in their PROSPECT profile.
Please note that incomplete applications may be rejected. Lead applicants are advised to verify that their
application is complete using the checklist (Annex A.2, Instructions).
2.2.7. Deadline for submission of full applications
The deadline for the submission of full applications will be indicated in the letter sent to the lead applicants
whose application has been pre-selected. This letter will appear online automatically in the PROSPECT
profile of the lead applicant. Lead applicants are strongly advised not to wait until the last day to submit
their full applications, since heavy Internet traffic or a fault with the Internet connection (including
electricity failure, etc.) could lead to difficulties in submission. The Contacting Authority cannot be held
responsible for any delay due to such afore-mentioned difficulties.
Any application submitted after the deadline will be rejected.
34
This obligation does not apply to natural persons who have received a scholarship or that are in most need of direct
support, nor to public bodies and to international organisations. It does not apply either when the accounts are in
practice the same documents as the external audit report already provided pursuant to Section 2.2.5, point 1.
2.2.8. Further information about full applications
Questions may be sent by e-mail no later than 21 days before the deadline for the submission of full
applications to the addresses listed below, indicating clearly the reference of the call for proposals:
E-mail address: delegation-sierra-leone-cfp@eeas.europa.eu
The contracting authority has no obligation to provide clarifications to questions received after this date.
Replies will be given no later than 11 days before the deadline for the submission of full applications.
To ensure equal treatment of applicants, the contracting authority cannot give a prior opinion on the
eligibility of lead applicants, co-applicants, affiliated entity(ies), or an action.
No individual replies will be given to questions. All questions and answers as well as other important notices
to applicants during the course of the evaluation procedure, will be published on the website of DG
International Partnerships: https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/home_fr and the EU Delegations’
website http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/sierra_leone/index_en.htm as appropriate, as the need arises. It is
therefore advisable to consult the abovementioned website regularly in order to be informed of the questions
and answers published.
All questions related to registration in PADOR or the online submission via PROSPECT should be addressed
to the IT helpdesk at INTPA-SUPPORT-SERVICES@ec.europa.eu via the online support form in
PROSPECT. Please note that the working languages of the IT support are English French and Spanish.
Therefore users are invited to send their questions in English, French or Spanish should they wish to benefit
from an optimum response time.
2.3. EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF APPLICATIONS

Applications will be examined and evaluated by the contracting authority with the possible assistance of
external assessors. All applications will be assessed according to the following steps and criteria.
If the examination of the application reveals that the proposed action does not meet the eligibility criteria
stated in Section 2.1, the application will be rejected on this sole basis.
(1) STEP 1: [OPENING &]35ADMINISTRATIVE CHECKS AND CONCEPT NOTE

EVALUATION
During the opening and administrative check the following will be assessed:
 If the deadline has been met. Otherwise, the application will be automatically rejected.
 If the concept note satisfies all the criteria specified in the checklist in Annex A.1, Instructions of the
grant application form. This includes also an assessment of the eligibility of the action. If any of the
requested information is missing or is incorrect, the application may be rejected on that sole basis
and the application will not be evaluated further.
The concept notes that pass this check will be evaluated on the relevance and design of the proposed action.
35
To be carried out only in the exceptional case of submission by post, private courier service or by hand-delivery (see
section 2.2.2)
The concept notes will receive an overall score out of 50 using the breakdown in the evaluation grid below.
The evaluation will also check on compliance with the instructions on how to complete the concept note,
which can be found in Annex A.1.
The evaluation criteria are divided into headings and subheadings. Each subheading will be given a score
between 1 and 5 as follows: 1 = very poor; 2 = poor; 3 = adequate; 4 = good; 5 = very good.
Evaluation Grid (step 1)
Maximum
Section
Score
1. Relevance of the action 20
1.1. How relevant is the proposal to the objectives and priorities of the call for proposals and to 5
the specific themes/sectors/areas or any other specific requirement stated in the guidelines
for applicants? Are the expected results of the action aligned with the priorities defined in
the guidelines for applicants (section 1.2)?
1.2. How relevant is the proposal to the particular needs and constraints of the target 5
country(ies), region(s) and/or relevant sectors (including synergy with other development
initiatives and avoidance of duplication)?
1.3. How clearly defined and strategically chosen are those involved (final beneficiaries, target 5
groups)? Have their needs (as rights holders and/or duty bearers) and constraints been
clearly defined and does the proposal address them appropriately?
1.4. Does the proposal contain particular added-value elements (e.g. innovation, best practices) 5
? [and the other additional elements indicated under 1.2. of the guidelines for applicants]
2. Design of the action 30
2.1. How coherent is the overall design of the action? Does the proposal indicate the expected 5x2**
results to be achieved by the action? Does the intervention logic explain the rationale to achieve
the expected results?
2.2. Does the design reflect a robust analysis of the problems involved, and the capacities of the 5
relevant stakeholders?
2.3. Does the design take into account external factors (risks and assumptions)? 5
2.4. Are the activities feasible and consistent in relation to the expected results (including 5
timeframe)? Are results (output, outcome and impact) realistic?
2.5. To which extent does the proposal integrate relevant cross-cutting elements such as 5
environmental/climate change issues, promotion of gender equality and equal opportunities,
needs of disabled people, rights of minorities and rights of indigenous peoples, youth,
combating HIV/AIDS (if there is a strong prevalence in the target country/region)?
Maximum total score 50
**: this score is multiplied by 2 because of its importance
Note: A score of 5 (very good) will only be allocated if the proposal specifically addresses more than the
required minimum number of priorities as indicated in Section 1.2 (objectives of the programme) of these
guidelines.
Once all concept notes have been assessed, a list will be drawn up with the proposed actions ranked
according to their total score.
Firstly, only the concept notes with a score of at least 30 will be considered for pre-selection.
Secondly, the number of concept notes will be reduced, taking account of the ranking, to the number of
concept notes whose total aggregate amount of requested contributions is equal to at least 200% of the
available budget for this call for proposals. The amount of requested contributions of each concept note will
be based on the indicative financial envelopes for each lot, where relevant.
Lead applicants will receive a letter indicating the reference number of their application and the respective
results. This letter will automatically appear online in the PROSPECT profile of the lead applicant.[Lead
applicants who, in exceptional cases (see section 2.2), had to submit their application by post, private courier
service or hand-delivery will receive the letter by email or by post if no e-mail address was provided.
The pre-selected lead applicants will subsequently be invited to submit full applications.
(2) STEP 2: EVALUATION OF THE FULL APPLICATION

Firstly, the following will be assessed:
 If the submission deadline has been met. Otherwise, the application will automatically be rejected.
 If the full application satisfies all the criteria specified in the checklist (Annex A.2, Instructions).
This includes also an assessment of the eligibility of the action. If any of the requested information
is missing or is incorrect, the application may be rejected on that sole basis and the application will
not be evaluated further.
The full applications that pass this check will be further evaluated on their quality, including the proposed
budget and capacity of the applicants and affiliated entity(ies). They will be evaluated using the evaluation
criteria in the evaluation grid below. There are two types of evaluation criteria: selection and award criteria.
The selection criteria help to evaluate the applicant(s)'s and affiliated entity(ies)'s operational capacity and
the lead applicant's financial capacity and are used to verify that they:
 have stable and sufficient sources of finance to maintain their activity throughout the proposed
action and, where appropriate, to participate in its funding (this only applies to lead applicants);
 have the management capacity, professional competencies and qualifications required to successfully
complete the proposed action. This applies to applicants and any affiliated entity(ies).
For the purpose of the evaluation of the financial capacity, lead applicants must ensure that the relevant
information and documents (i.e. accounts of the latest financial year and external audit report, where
applicable) are up to date either in their PADOR profile or when submitting the requested documents with
PADOR registration form. If the information and documents requested are outdated and do not allow for a
proper evaluation of the financial capacity, the application may be rejected.
The award criteria help to evaluate the quality of the applications in relation to the objectives and priorities
set forth in the guidelines, and to award grants to projects which maximise the overall effectiveness of the
call for proposals. They help to select applications which the contracting authority can be confident will
comply with its objectives and priorities. They cover the relevance of the action, its consistency with the
objectives of the call for proposals, quality, expected impact, sustainability and cost-effectiveness.
Scoring:
The evaluation grid is divided into Sections and subsections. Each subsection will be given a score between
1 and 5 as follows: 1 = very poor; 2 = poor; 3 = adequate; 4 = good; 5 = very good.
Evaluation grid (step 2)
Maximum
Section
Score
1. Financial and operational capacity 20
1.1. Do the applicants and, if applicable, their affiliated entity(ies) have sufficient in-house 5
experience of project management?
1.2. Do the applicants and, if applicable, their affiliated entity(ies) have sufficient technical 5
in-house expertise (especially knowledge of the issues to be addressed)?
1.3. Do the applicants and, if applicable, their affiliated entity(ies) have sufficient 5
management in-house capacity (including staff, equipment and ability to handle the
budget for the action)?
1.4. Does the lead applicant have stable and sufficient sources of finance? 5
2. Relevance of the action 20
2.1. How relevant is the proposal to the objectives and priorities of the call for proposals and
to the specific themes/sectors/areas or any other specific requirement stated in the guidelines
5
for applicants? Are the expected results of the action aligned with the priorities defined in the
guidelines for applicants (section 1.2)?
2.2. How relevant is the proposal to the particular needs and constraints of the target
country(ies), region(s) and/or relevant sectors (including synergy with other development 5
initiatives and avoidance of duplication)?
2.3. How clearly defined and strategically chosen are those involved (final beneficiaries,
target groups)? Have their needs (as rights holders and/or duty bearers) and constraints been 5
clearly defined and does the proposal address them appropriately?
2.4. Does the proposal contain particular added-value elements (e.g. innovation, best
practices) ? [and the other additional elements indicated under 1.2. of the guidelines for 5
applicants]
3. Design of the action 15
3.1. How coherent is the design of the action? Does the proposal indicate the expected results 5
to be achieved by the action? Does the intervention logic explain the rationale to achieve
the expected results? Are the activities proposed appropriate, practical, and consistent
with the envisaged outputs and outcome(s)?
3.2. Does the proposal/Logical Framework include credible baseline, targets and sources of 5
verification? If not, is a baseline study foreseen (and is the study budgeted appropriately
in the proposal)?
3.3. Does the design reflect a robust analysis of the problems involved, and the capacities of 5
the relevant stakeholders?
4. Implementation approach 15
4.1. Is the action plan for implementing the action clear and feasible? Is the timeline realistic? 5
4.2. Does the proposal include an effective and efficient monitoring system? Is there an 5
evaluation planned (previous, during or/and at the end of the implementation)?
4.3. Is the co-applicant(s)'s and affiliated entity(ies)'s level of involvement and participation 5
in the action satisfactory?
5. Sustainability of the action 15
5.1. Is the action likely to have a tangible impact on its target groups? 5
5.2. Is the action likely to have multiplier effects, including scope for replication, extension 5
capitalisation on experience and knowledge sharing?
5.3. Are the expected results of the proposed action sustainable?- Financially (e.g. financing 5
of follow-up activities, sources of revenue for covering all future operating and
maintenance costs)- Institutionally (will structures allow the results of the action to be
sustained at the end of the action? Will there be local ‘ownership’ of the results of the
action?)- At policy level (where applicable) (what will be the structural impact of the
action — e.g. improved legislation, codes of conduct, methods) - Environmentally (if
applicable) (will the action have a negative/positive environmental impact?)
6. Budget and cost-effectiveness of the action 15
6.1. Are the activities appropriately reflected in the budget? 5
6.2. Is the ratio between the estimated costs and the expected results satisfactory? 5x2**
Maximum total score 100
**: this score is multiplied by 2 because of its importance
If the total score for Section 1 (financial and operational capacity) is less than 12 points, the application will
be rejected. If the score for at least one of the subsections under Section 1 is 1, the application will also be
rejected.
If the lead applicant applies without co-applicants or affiliated entities the score for point 4.3 shall be 5
unless the involvement of co-applicants or affiliated entities is mandatory according to these guidelines for
applicants.
Provisional selection
After the evaluation, a table will be drawn up listing the applications ranked according to their score. The
highest scoring applications will be provisionally selected until the available budget for this call for
proposals is reached. In addition, a reserve list will be drawn up following the same criteria. This list will be
used if more funds become available during the validity period of the reserve list.
(3) STEP 3: VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY OF THE APPLICANTS AND

AFFILIATED ENTITY(IES)
The eligibility verification will be performed on the basis of the supporting documents requested by the
contracting authority (see Section 2.4). It will by default only be performed for the applications that have
been provisionally selected according to their score and within the available budget for this call for
proposals.
 The declaration by the lead applicant (Section 5 of Annex A.2) will be cross-checked with the
supporting documents provided by the lead applicant. Any missing supporting document or any
incoherence between the declaration by the lead applicant and the supporting documents may lead to
the rejection of the application on that sole basis.
 The eligibility of applicants and the affiliated entity(ies) will be verified according to the criteria set
out in Section 2.1.1.
Any rejected application will be replaced by the next best placed application on the reserve list that falls
within the available budget for this call for proposals.
2.4. SUBMISSION OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
The lead applicant shall submit the documents listed in section 2.2.5.
In addition, a lead applicant whose application has been provisionally selected or placed on the reserve list
will be informed in writing by the contracting authority. It will be requested to supply the following
documents via PROSPECT:
1. Declaration on honour: the lead applicant as well as all co-applicants and affiliated entities shall fill in
and sign the declaration on honour certifying that they are not in one of the exclusion situations (see
Section 2.6.10.1 of the PRAG) where the amount of the grant exceeds EUR 15 000. Please note that
the declaration on honour should be submitted via PROSPECT.
2. Self-evaluation questionnaire on SEA-H: the lead applicant as well as all co-applicants and affiliated
entities shall fill in the self-evaluation questionnaire assessing the organisation’s internal policy and
procedure against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEA-H) (Annex L) where the amount of
grant exceeds EUR 60 000 (see Section 2.5.6 of the PRAG)36. Please note that the self-evaluation
questionnaire on SEA-H should be submitted via PADOR.
If it is impossible for the lead applicants to supply the abovementioned documents via PROSPECT or
PADOR for technical reasons, they must submit the requested supporting documents in a sealed envelope by
registered mail, private courier service or by hand-delivery to the postal address described in sections 2.2.2
and 2.2.6 and according to the instructions therein.
After verifying the supporting documents, the evaluation committee will make a final recommendation to the
contracting authority, which will decide on the award of grants.
NB: In the eventuality that the contracting authority is not satisfied with the strength, solidity, and
guarantee offered by the structural link between one of the applicants and its affiliated entity, it can
require the submission of the missing documents allowing for its conversion into co-applicant. If all
the missing documents for co-applicants are submitted, and provided all necessary eligibility criteria
are fulfilled, the above mentioned entity becomes a co-applicant for all purposes. The lead applicant
has to submit the application form revised accordingly.
2.5. NOTIFICATION OF THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY’S DECISION
2.5.1. Content of the decision
The lead applicants will be informed in writing of the Contracting Authority’s decision concerning their
application and, if rejected, the reasons for the negative decision. This letter will be sent by e-mail and will
appear online automatically in the PROSPECT profile of the user who submitted the application. Lead
applicants who, in exceptional cases (see section 2.2), had to submit their application by post, private courier
or hand-delivery, will be informed by email or by post if they did not provide any e-mail address. Therefore,
please check regularly your PROSPECT profile, taking into account the indicative timetable below. Please
note that the lead applicant is the intermediary for all communications between applicants and the
contracting authority during the procedure.
An applicant believing that it has been harmed by an error or irregularity during the award process may
lodge a complaint. See further Section 2.12 of the practical guide.
36
Applicants, co-applicants and affiliated entities who are (i) natural persons (ii) pillar-assessed entities and (iii)
governments and other public bodies do not have to submit the self-evaluation questionnaire.
Applicants and, if they are legal entities, persons who have powers of representation, decision-making or
control over them, are informed that, should they be in one of the situations of early detection or exclusion,
their personal details (name, given name if natural person, address, legal form and name and given name of
the persons with powers of representation, decision-making or control, if legal person) may be registered in
the early detection and exclusion system, and communicated to the persons and entities concerned in relation
to the award or the execution of a grant contract. For more information, you may consult the privacy
statement available on http://ec.europa.eu/budget/explained/management/protecting/protect_en.cfm
2.5.2. Indicative timetable
DATE TIME
1. Information meeting (if any) 26 March 2024 11:30 Brussels time
2. Deadline for requesting any clarifications 09 April 2024 19:00 Brussels time
from the contracting authority
3. Last date on which clarifications are issued 19 April 2024 n.a

by the contracting authority
4. Deadline for submission of concept notes 30 April 2024 19:00 Brussels time
5. Information to lead applicants on [opening,] End May 2024 n.a

administrative checks and concept note
evaluation (Step 1)
6. Invitations to submit full applications 11 June 2024 n.a
7. Deadline for submission of full applications 26 July 2024 (TBC by 19:00 Brussels time
notification letter to the
lead applicants)
8. Information to lead applicants on the Mid-September 2024 n.a

evaluation of the full applications (Step 2)
9. Notification of award (after the eligibility End-September 2024 n.a

check) (Step 3)
10. Contract signature Lot 1: by November 2024 n.a
Lot 2: by February 2025
All times are in the time zone of the country of the contracting authority.
This indicative timetable refers to provisional dates (except for dates 2, 3, and 4) and may be updated by the
contracting authority during the procedure. In such cases, the updated timetable will be published on the web
site where the call was published: website of DG International Partnerships
https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/home_fr or Funding & Tender opportunities (F&T Portal)
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home
and the EU Delegations’ websites http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/sierra_leone/index_en.htm.
2.6. CONDITIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION AFTER THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY’S DECISION TO
AWARD A GRANT
Following the decision to award a grant, the beneficiary(ies) will be offered a contract based on the standard
grant contract (see Annex G of these guidelines). By signing the application form (Annex A of these
guidelines), the applicants agree, if awarded a grant, to accept the contractual conditions of the standard grant
contract. Where the coordinator is an organisation whose pillars have been positively assessed, it will sign a
contribution agreement based on the contribution agreement template. In this case, references to provisions
of the standard grant contract and its annexes shall not apply. References in these guidelines to the grant
contract shall be understood as references to the relevant provisions of the contribution agreement.
Implementation contracts
Where implementation of the action requires the beneficiary(ies) and its affiliated entity(ies) (if any) to
award procurement contracts, those contracts must be awarded in accordance with Annex IV to the standard
grant contract.
In this context, a distinction should be made between awarding implementation contracts and subcontracting
parts of the action described in the proposal, i.e. the description of the action annexed to the grant contract,
such subcontracting being subject to additional restrictions (see the general terms and conditions in the
model grant contract ).
Awarding implementation contracts: implementation contracts relate to the acquisition by beneficiaries of

routine services and/or necessary goods and equipment as part of their project management; they do not
cover any outsourcing of tasks forming part of the action that are described in the proposal, i.e. in the
description of the action annexed to the grant contract .
Subcontracting: Subcontracting is the implementation, by a third party with which one or more beneficiaries
have concluded a procurement contract, of specific tasks forming part of the action as described in annex to
the grant contract (see also the general terms and conditions in the model grant contract).
3. LIST OF ANNEXES
DOCUMENTS TO BE COMPLETED
Annex A: Grant application form (Word format)

A.1 – Concept note
A.2 – Full application form
Annex B: Budget (Excel format)
Annex C: Logical framework (Excel format)
Annex D: Legal entity sheet
Annex E: Financial identification form
Annex F: PADOR registration form
DOCUMENTS FOR INFORMATION37
Annex G: Standard grant contract

- Annex II: general conditions
- Annex IV: contract award rules
- Annex V: standard request for payment
- Annex VI: model narrative and financial report
-Annex VII: model report of factual findings and terms of reference for an expenditure verification of
an EU financed grant contract for external action
-Annex VIII: model financial guarantee]
-Annex IX: standard template for transfer of ownership of assets
Annex H: Declaration on Honour

Annex I: Daily allowance rates (per diem), available at the following address: https://international-
partnerships.ec.europa.eu/funding/guidelines/managing-project/diem-rates_en
Annex J: Information on the tax regime applicable to grant contracts signed under the call.
Annex K: Guidelines for assessing simplified cost options.
Annex L: Self-evaluation questionnaire on SEA-H
Useful links:
Project Cycle Management Guidelines

https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/funding/managing-project_en
The implementation of grant contracts
A Users' Guide
https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=48169235
Financial Toolkit
https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/financial-management-toolkit_en
Please note: the toolkit is not part of the grant contract and has no legal value. It merely provides general
guidance and may in some details differ from the signed grant contract. In order to ensure compliance with
their contractual obligations beneficiaries should not exclusively rely on the toolkit but always consult their
individual contract documents.
***
37
These documents should also be published by the contracting authority.

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Contracting Authority: European Commission

Support to Civil Society and Local Authorities in Partner Countries

Support to Civil Society and Local Authorities to contribute to local

30/04/2024 at 19:00 (Brussels date and time)

1. SUPPORT TO CIVIL SOCIETY AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO CONTRIBUTE TO LOCAL

1.1. Background ........................................................................................................................................... 4

2.1. Eligibility criteria................................................................................................................................ 11

The global objective of this call for proposals is:

The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:

2. Increasing Youth participation7 in governance, accountability and public policy processes.

All actions under Lot 2 must address specific objective 4.

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

Proposals are expected to integrate the following priorities as much as possible:

Priorities under Lot 1: Support to Civil Society Organisations

Priorities under Lot 2: Support to Local Authorities

iv. Promotion of a territorial approach to local development (TALD)10. Tailored to territorial

Cross-cutting priorities for Lot 1 and Lot 2:

For all lots:

i. Support the effective implementation of multi-stakeholder cooperation frameworks at national

1.3. FINANCIAL ALLOCATION PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

Indicative allocation of funds by lot:

Lot 1: EUR 2.939.500

Lot 2: EUR 4.000.000

 Minimum percentage: 50% of the total eligible costs of the action.

2.1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

(1) the actors (2.1.1.):

 and, if any, affiliated entity(ies) to the lead applicant and/or to a co-applicant(s);

(2) the actions (2.1.3.):

• actions for which a grant may be awarded;

(3) the costs (2.1.4.):

2.1.1. Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s))

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

 be a legal person and

 be a Civil Society Organisation and/or their associations25, and

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

 be a legal person and

 be Local Authority or Association of Local Authorities from Sierra Leone and

 be established27 in Sierra Leone and

Co-applicants must sign the mandate in Annex A.2 Section 5.

Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:

The following are not considered entities affiliated to an applicant:

How to verify the existence of the required link with an applicant?

2.1.2. Associates and contractors

An action is composed of a set of activities.

Multi-sectorial actions are also eligible.

Actions must take place in Sierra Leone.

The following types of action are ineligible:

Types of activity (non exhaustive list) eligible to this call

 Direct implementation by applicant/co-applicant(s) their affiliates and associates;

 Financial Support to Third Parties;

 Public awareness and edutainment campaigns;

 Strategic communication and media campaigns;

 Support to digitalisation, including mobile penetration, software-applications’ development, digital

 Activities that enhance employment opportunities, economic empowerment, access to finance,

 Results oriented monitoring and reporting, knowledge management and dissemination.

Financial support to third parties28

Applicants may propose financial support to third parties.

(vi) the maximum amount which may be given.