The Embassy of Finland calls for proposals for actions promoting the rights of women and girls in Lebanon - new deadline 28 June 2019

The Fund for Local Cooperation (FLC) is a funding instrument managed by Finnish Embassies in eligible countries to support sustainable development cooperation efforts by civil society, mainly local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Community-based Organisations (CBOs), and the private sector. This year the FLC focuses on promoting the rights of women and girls in Lebanon.

Call for Proposals 

Gender equality is a long-standing priority for Finnish development policy. Finland has been a pioneer in the promotion of rights of all women and girls and gender equality. Gender equality continues to be a significant objective of Finnish foreign and development policy. In 2019, the Embassy’s Fund for Local Cooperation in Lebanon focuses on supporting the rights of women and girls.

The Embassy of Finland in Beirut is now calling for Project Proposals from local actors in Lebanon for development projects addressing the rights and status of women and girls.  The available funds amount to a total of 100 000 euros.

Due to technical issues, the deadline for the submission has been extended. The new deadline for Project Proposals is on Friday 28^th June 2019 at 17:00 local time .Project proposals that have been already submitted should not be resubmitted. Project proposals, including the filled in templates attached, should be sent to [email protected]. Only submissions received via email will be considered.

Priority theme: the Rights and Status of women and girls

Projects supported by 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 through economically, socially and ecologically sustainable development. The implementation of Finnish development policy is guided by the 2016 Government Report on Development Policy.

The objective of the FLC is to complement other Finnish development efforts in the Finnish development policy's priority areas. In the 2019 Call for Project Proposals, the focus is on Priority 1. The Rights and Status of Women and Girls. The eligible FLC projects must clearly address the rights and status of women and girls in Lebanon. Please see https://um.fi/goals-and-principles-of-finland-s-development-policy(Link to another website.) for more information.

Following the priorities of Finland’s development policy, priority is given to most vulnerable women and girls.

The Embassy’s Local Cooperation Fund budget is 100 000 euros in total, which will be divided between 1-3 projects, depending on the received proposals. The maximum project budget is 100 000 euros, with a maximum project duration of two years.

Eligibility

Applicants should be registered civil society organizations (non-governmental organizations, independent media, or community based organizations, chambers of commerce, business associations or trade promotion agencies).

For a proposal to be considered, these key elements of Finnish Development Policy must be applied:

1. Human Rights, notably the rights of women and children, and marginalized groups like persons with disabilities. Projects assessed as Human Rights “blind” cannot be funded. For the Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA), see the Guidance Note under the attachments. 
2. The project must incorporate the Results Based Management (RBM) approach. For more information on RBM, see the Guidance Note under the attachments.
3. The project should provide added value to the priorities and the cross-cutting objectives (CCOs) of Finland’s Development Policy, which include the:

• Promotion of Gender Equality,
• Reduction of inequality,
• Promotion of sustainable management of natural resources, environmental protection and climate sustainability.

See the attachments for further details.

FLC cannot support

Any activities of government, ministries, municipalities, unregistered associations or organizations, individual businesses, activities of a political party, basic research, charity or humanitarian aid, international non-governmental organizations or cultural events. As a rule, the FLC does not support infrastructure projects.

Submitting the Project Proposal

Kindly send your project proposal  via email to [email protected] with the subject line “Fund for Local Cooperation”. We recommend applicants to carefully consult the guidelines in the various attachments on this page. The application package should include:

• The filled out Template for Project Proposals (see attachment);
• The detailed Budget (using the template in Annex I);
• Results Framework (using the template in Annex II);
• Workplan (using the template in Annex III);
• 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.

For further information, see the attachments.

All questions related to the FLC should be send by email to [email protected]. Please note that the Embassy does not answer any telephone inquiries about the FLC during the application period. Most commonly asked questions and answers will be published on the Embassy website. The Embassy will hold an information session on the FLC on the 30th May at 14:00 to the interested applicants. Please confirm your participation in the information session by email to [email protected].

All applicants will be informed individually about the positive and negative funding decisions with justifications. The decisions will also be announced on the Embassy website once the process has been completed.