Call for Proposals - Fund for Local Cooperation, Embassy of Finland in Addis Abeba 2025-2026
The Embassy of Finland in Addis Abeba hereby invites Ethiopian civil society organizations and private sector companies to submit proposals to apply for funding from the Fund for Local Cooperation (FLC). FLC is a development cooperation instrument managed by the Embassy in Addis Abeba. The fund provides grants to well-defined projects in selected priority areas of Finland in Ethiopia. The support is intended for project-based support only. Through this call for proposals, the Embassy seeks to support three distinct but complimentary themes: 1) Women's economic empowerment and technology-based entrepreneurship, 2) Peace and security and democratic development 3) Rights of women and girls, youth, people with disabilities, and vulnerable groups of the community.
Background to this Call for Proposals
The Fund for Local Cooperation is governed by Finnish legislation and policies, particularly the Act on Discretionary Government Grants (688/2001) and the FLC Internal instructions (6/2014) of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Finland.
Finland pursues development policies and co-operation that yields sustainable results, with a positive impact on the development of societies and on people’s lives. The respect and promotion of human rights is a key principle guiding Finland’s development policy and co-operation.
Call objectives
The Embassy of Finland in Addis Abeba hereby invites Ethiopian civil society organizations and private sector companies to submit proposals on projects with a focus on the above-mentioned themes. All applicants are expected to indicate clearly one of the three objectives of the call for proposal in their application:
1) Women's economic empowerment and technology-based entrepreneurship
The Embassy is looking forward for innovative project proposals that aim at inspiring women entrepreneurship for economic empowerment and contributing to Ethiopia's digital transformation.
The Embassy will select 2 - 3 projects with the maximum funding of 120 000 EUR for objective 1.
2) Peace and Security and democratic development.
The Embassy of Finland is looking forward for innovative project proposals that aim at promoting peace and security and democratic development in Ethiopia. Peace and Security may include action for peace mediation as one form of peaceful conflict resolution and prevention. Permanent solutions to violent conflicts can only be achieved by addressing the underlying political, economic and social problems.
The Embassy shall select 2-4 project proposals with the maximum funding
of 200 000 EUR for objective 2.
3) Rights of women and girls, youth, people with disabilities, and vulnerable groups of the community
The Embassy of Finland is looking forward for innovative project proposals that aim at gender equality and the rights of people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups of the community.
The Embassy will select 2 - 3 project proposals in total with the maximum funding of 100 000 EUR for objective 3.
Eligible actors
The fund supports initiatives of local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations, Foundations, Community Based Organizations (CBO) and private sector entities registered in Ethiopia. The organizations must abide by the relevant local legislations.
Eligibility criteria (press to download)
FLC funding cannot be granted for the following purposes:
- To government ministries, departments, or county administrations
- To unregistered associations or organizations
- To support the activities of political parties
- For charitable purposes, humanitarian aid, donations, scholarships, events, or in-kind contributions
- To Finnish beneficiaries or entities
- For basic academic research
- For construction activities, land purchases, or one-off and ad hoc events
- For use as capital investment or loans
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Application process The Call for Proposals opens on 8thst July 2025 and closes on 22nd August, 2025 at 16:00 (local Ethiopian time). Interested applicants could submit their proposal by email to the Embassy of Finland ([email protected] and ADD. Sanomat @gov.fi) not later than the closing date 22nd August, 2025 at 16:00 (local Ethiopian time). Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered. Please note that email applications should be scanned, signed and stamped during submission. Otherwise, will not be accepted. The applicants should use this format (press to download) Application format 2025. Private companies should fill in fill in this form and attach to the proposal Private Company Application Form 2025. Special conditions for private com companies’ projects: Provisions for Private Sector Applications. Proposals must be submitted in PDF format and must not exceed 10 pages in length. |
Enquiries
Any questions regarding the FLC Call for Proposal must be presented in writing at the latest by Friday, August 15,2025 to [email protected] OR [email protected]. Reply to the questions will be published on the Embassy’s web page on August 19,2025, Tuesday by COB.
Evaluation of the proposals
The proposals will be evaluated within 2 months from the due date. Decisions to applicants, including both accepted and rejected will be communicated by 22nd of October 2025.
Q & A