The European Commission has launched a EIDHR call for proposals to support civil society in its actions to support the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms worldwide.

The Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (EuropeAid) of the European Commission has published the 2016 Global Call for the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), which aims to support civil society in its actions to support the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms worldwide.

The Objective and actions of the Call

The competition is divided into five lots, each with specific characteristics (a project proposal can only relate to one lot):

Lot 1: support to women Human Rights Defenders and/or Human Rights Defenders working for women’s and girls’ rights where they are the most at risk

Actions must involve:

1. a) the implementation of UN Resolution 68/181 in order to:

• recognize and promote the role of women of all ages engaged in the defense of human rights, in particular by addressing the specific challenges, risks and threats that may affect them, in addition to those who generally invest Human Rights Defenders (for example: gender violence, discrimination, sexual harassment, stigmatisation, verbal abuse and attacks on reputation online and offline),
• protect women Human Rights Defenders from these specific challenges, risks and threats in the short, medium and long-term; and/or

1. b) the support and protection of Human Rights Defenders (both women and men) who are at risk because of their commitment to the promotion and protection of the full enjoyment of rights by women and girls.

Lot 2: support to civil society actions fighting against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Actions must have a holistic approach, including mandatorily all the following elements:

1. a) prevention of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, with particular emphasis on the ratification and effective implementation of the UN Convention against Torture (UNCAT);
2. b) accountability for torture and other ill treatment aiming at restoring the victims’ rights to remedy and reparation, and to tackle impunity by holding the torture perpetrators accountable;
3. c) support for rehabilitation of victims of torture that aims to reconstruct, in third countries, the lives of victims and their families and to restore their right to remedy and reparation.

Lot 3: support to the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

The actions of this lot are intended to support the development of capacities, knowledge and monitoring on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), Corporate Social Responsibility with regard to human rights and the advocacy for the drafting and implementation of National Action Plans by partner countries.

Lot 4: support to the rights of persons belonging to minorities and persons affected by caste-based discriminations

This lot is supporting actions for the promotion and implementation outside the EU of the 1992 UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, and relevant UN initiatives addressing caste-based discrimination

Lot 5: support to addressing impunity and to transitional justice

Actions may relate to one of the following specific objectives:

1. a) to promote transitional justice mechanisms and processes;
2. b) to promote the effective functioning of the International Criminal Court and the Rome Statute system.

Actions must be implemented in any country outside the EU. There are no established geographic priorities; however, in the choice of projects to be funded, the European Commission will seek to ensure a certain geographical balance.

Project proposals may be submitted by the proponent alone or in partnership with one or more co-applicants. Priority will be given to proposals submitted by local organisations as lead applicants in order to promote ownership and local leadership.

For actions covering more than one country, the participation of local applicants (as lead or co-applicants) in at least half of the countries where the action will take place will be considered as an added value.

Project proposal may be submitted by legal persons, entities without legal personality or a natural person, non-profit making and belonging to one of the following categories:

• civil society organizations, including non-profit NGOs and independent political foundations, community-based organisations and private-sector non-profit agencies, institutions and organisations and networks thereof at local, national, regional and international level;
• National Human Rights Institutions, Ombudspersons;
• non-profit-making universities.

Budget, duration of the project and deadline

The budget available for the call amounts to 31.034.000 euro: 25.820.000 euro for 2016 and 5.214.000 euro for 2017 (conditional to the adoption of the 2017 budget).

Funds meet the following breakdown:

• 650.000 euro for Lots 1, 3 and 5 each;
• 504.000 euro for Lot 2;
• 580.000 euro for Lot 4.

The EU contribution per project may cover from the minimum of 51% up to 95% of eligible costs of the project within the following limits:

• maximum 1.000.000 euro per project for Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4;
• maximum 1.550.000 euro per project for Lot 5.

The duration of activities is between 24 and 36 months. Applications must be written in English, French or Spanish.

Proposals must be submitted online via the PROSPECT system. To do so, partners must be registered in the PADOR system.

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.

The deadline for the submission of concept notes is 14 October 2016.

More information and official documents relating to the call are available at the following webpage.