News, 4.5.2023

Funds for Local Cooperation: Call for Project Proposals for 2023-2024

The Embassy of Finland in Tel Aviv is launching a call for proposals for projects to be funded from the Embassy's funds for local cooperation, for the period of 2023-2024. Deadline for submitting the proposals is Thursday June 1, 2023.

In Finland a handshake, also one of the official Finland emojis, serves as the ultimate symbol of co-operation and trust.

What are the Funds for Local Cooperation?

Funds for Local Cooperation (FLCs) are an instrument of Finnish development cooperation used by Finnish Embassies. They are funds channeled through the local civil society organizations. The support is intended for projects, and the FLC cannot provide core funding.

This Call for Project Proposals is looking for projects to be implemented in 2023-2024 to contribute to the following outcomes of the
Embassy's FLC Program:

Enhancing possibilities for a two-state solution
Building trust between Israeli and Palestinian youth

Projects should also adhere to the cross-cutting themes of Finnish development policy, specifically gender equality and non-discrimination. The overall objective of the FLC Program in Israel is to contribute in building peaceful, democratic societies.

The Embassy of Finland can only fund civil society organizations registered in Israel and projects whose beneficiaries are Palestinians in East Jerusalem, West Bank and/or Gaza. The project activities may take place in Israel.

Legal and Normative Context

The FLCs are governed by Finnish legislation, particularly the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001), and the FLC Internal Instructions (6/2014) of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Finland. The Internal Instructions set out the main principles concerning eligibility criteria for partners and use of the FLC funds.

The local partners implementing FLC projects must abide by the relevant local legislation. As a rule all projects must be implemented by the local partners themselves, and only small procurements of a maximum of €15.000 from external agents may be allowed. If any procurement of goods or services for the value of over €15.000 is needed, the procurement shall be carried out in compliance with the Finnish legislation on competitive bidding.

How to Apply

Local agencies/organisations must use the application form in Attachment 1. All applicants use the same application form in order to guarantee that all key facts are presented and to allow for better comparability.

The application form should be accompanied by a project plan, including the project's results chain or framework and a budget.

Applications should be sent to [email protected] with the headline "FLC: [name of organization]".

The deadline for applications is 1 June, 2023. Only submissions received via email will be considered and late applications will not be accepted. This is the only opportunity to apply for FLC funding for the period of 2023-2024.

The total funds available are 120.000€ for a period of 2023-2024, which is also the expected project length. The Embassy aims to fund 3-4 projects with 30.000 – 40.000€ funding per project.

All questions related to the FLC Programme and the call for proposals should be send by email to j [email protected].

Selection Process

Applicants should be registered civil society organizations. Eligible applications must meet the compulsory requirements of the assessment criteria described in Attachment 2 (Assessment Criteria for Applications).

Those applications meeting all the compulsory requirements will be submitted for technical assessment. On the basis of a competitive scoring, the Mission will select the best 1-3 applications from each sector / theme for final selection.

For those applications accepted for final selection, the Mission will assess the applicant organization's financial and administrative capacity, as described in Attachment 3 (Assessment of Financial and Administrative Capacity of the Applicant Organization). The application of an organization failing the assessment will be rejected. The Mission may also reject applications for budgetary reasons, because of the financial limits of the Mission's FLC Programme. Based on the competitive scoring results, the Mission will finally approve the best applications for funding.

FLC Partners are requested to apply key elements of Finnish development policy and quality standards, namely the Results Based Management (RBM), Human Rights Based Approach to Development (HRBA) and Cross-Cutting Objectives (CCOs) in their project plans. They are an important part of the selection criteria for FLC applications, and projects which are assessed as Human Rights blind cannot be funded. If needed, a capacity development plan can be part of the Project Plan for a systematic integration of the quality standards throughout the project cycle. See attachments for further details on Results Based Management, Human Rights Based Approach to Development and Cross-Cutting Objectives.

FLC Funding Cannot Be Granted:

To Finnish Non-Governmental Organisations (separate applications through the MFA unit in question)
For projects of friendship associations in Finland (separate applications through the MFA unit in question)
To Finnish Government agencies or public bodies (separate applications through the ICI instrument)
To Finnish municipalities (separate applications 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 development 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)