News, 9.6.2022

Announcement for the 2022 Call for Project Proposals

The Embassy of Finland in Cairo supports Egyptian civil society initiatives for development through the Funds for Local Cooperation (FLC).

Introduction

The Fund for Local Cooperation (FLC) is one of the Finnish development cooperation instruments and aims at supporting the civil society to participate in the development process of Egypt. The FLC has been operating in the Embassy since 2003 and we are happy to announce a new application round.

Projects supported through the FLC must serve Finland’s foreign and security policy objectives. As a development policy instrument, FLC projects must in particular support the goals set for Finland’s development policy: eradication of poverty by means of economically, socially and ecologically sustainable development. The implementation of Finnish development policy is guided by the 2016 Government Report on Development Policy. Our activities are based on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted within the UN in September 2015. The objective of the FLC is to complement other Finnish development efforts in the Finnish development policy's priority areas.(Link to another website.)

The 2022 Call for Project Proposals is looking for

Projects enhancing community level climate awareness and resilience through climate mitigation and adaptation actions by

Creating sustainable employment opportunities for women
Capacity building and skills development for women

Projects targeting sustainable private sector partnerships in marginalized areas are prioritized.

Applicants are encouraged to work with young people as well as vulnerable groups.

Who is eligible to apply?

The FLC is available for Egyptian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other local non-profit civil society actors, such as: science and technology communities, universities and other educational and research institutions, independent media, public bodies and cultural institutions (for example, museums, libraries and theatres), chambers of commerce and commercial associations, organisations engaged in the promotion of export and investment, businesses, cooperatives, interest groups of companies and employees, foundations or religious communities. Applying organizations need to submit proof of registration with the relevant Egyptian authorities in accordance with the existing legislation.

The FLC cannot be used for supporting activities of the national or local government and political parties, Finnish institutions or organizations, projects in which the beneficiary is a single person or private business, or projects serving purely religious or charity purposes.

However, the Embassy does encourage civil society organisations to work with the national and/or local government. In all cases, the civil society organisation selected for funding is the Embassy's contractual partner.

Support for research and cultural projects is restricted by a set of criteria applying to the use of development cooperation funds. According to the instructions of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), support for basic research cannot be counted as development aid (= ODA eligibility); to be eligible, a research project must clearly promote economic development and welfare or the building of the actors' capacity in the host country. Support related to culture is accepted as development aid in case the objective is to promote the host country's cultural development or the actors' capacity-building. Supported projects are expected to produce sustainable development impacts (for example, through development activities such as training, or strengthening of capacity). Therefore single cultural events, such as different types of performances or mere exchange of visits cannot be supported from FLCs.

FLC funding cannot be granted:

to Finnish non-governmental organisations (separate application through the unit in question)
for projects of friendship associations in Finland (separate application through the unit in question)
to Finnish government agencies or public bodies (separate application through the ICI instrument)
to Finnish municipalities (separate application through the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities)
to Finnish businesses
to the government, ministries or municipalities of the host country
to an unregistered association or organisation (however, taking into consideration the special circumstances in the host country)
to support the activities of a political party
for basic research
for single cultural events (that have no permanent impact)
for charity
for humanitarian aid
in the form of a grant, scholarship or assistance for the applicant’s personal use;
for purchasing land
to a fund
for building the capital of microcredit systems (however, development projects and training are possible)

What kind of projects can be funded?

The FLC seeks to promote the activities of local civil society for the implementation of projects with a clear aim. Projects carried out under FLC funding strengthen the civil society and its members in Egypt and support institutional and private-sector actors in projects with verifiable development impacts. Once-off events such as the organization of a conference are not supported through the FLC. Projects carried out under FLC funding must always be classified as development aid (including, for example, projects that support business partnerships) in accordance with the OECD/DAC ODA criteria.

Every proposal must take into consideration the Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) and be designed according to the Result-Based Management (RBM) principles. Guidance notes on HRBA and RBM can be downloaded at the end of this page.

Gender equality, reduction of inequality in society, and climate sustainability are cross cutting themes in the Finnish development policy strategy, and these themes should be addressed in the proposed project as a binding principle.

When to apply?

The deadline for submitting applications is

25 June 2022 at midnight (Cairo time).

One organization can submit maximum two project proposals.

Applications arriving late and applications not completed properly or missing required information will not be considered for funding.

How to apply?

This year the application process consists of a two-step selection procedure. In the first round, all applicants are asked to send a maximum two-page (2) project idea in English using the template for proposals found at the end of this page. The free-standing proposal should include the following information:

Short presentation of the project (project plan)
An indicative budget
How the project is related to the priority areas of the call for proposals
Planned results at outcome and output levels
Description of the project management, monitoring and reporting
Name, official registration number of your association, contact details and a signature of the authorized representative of the organization.

Together with the proposal, organizations must submit three additional documents:

Scanned copy of the official registration certificate of the organization in the original language. If the organization has an official translation of the registration certificate available, it can be submitted in addition to the original registration certificate.
Proof of an existing bank account in name of the applying organization in the original language.
Brochure of the organization and/or a link to the organization's website.

Applications will be evaluated according to their compliance with the objectives of Finland's development policy and the FLC priorities of the Embassy, as well as the quality and feasibility of the project plan.

A limited number of selected project proposals will be contacted and asked to provide a more in-depth project plan and a budget. The proposals for the second round will receive a package of guiding documents to accompany the application.

The attached “LCF Guidelines for Applicants 2022-round 1” provides practical information on applying for FLC projects and it is advised to consult it and other documents in the attachment section before applying.

All documents should be sent by e-mail to [email protected] . Incomplete applications will not be processed.