Call for Proposals for Mozambican Civil Society Organizations
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA) announces a Call for Proposals for Mozambican civil society organizations in order to increase opportunities for civic engagement and accountability. The Call is directed to consortiums of CSOs who have expertise and who are active in the area of accountability, citizen participation, access to information, advocacy and human rights.
It is expected that the proposals contribute to the implementation of Finland´s country programme for development cooperation in Mozambique, and its outcome area related to strengthening accountability from the demand side. The newly revised Country Programme aims at increasing support to civil society, including human rights actors or defenders, and citizen´s engagement, in order to have a more comprehensive approach to accountability.
The consolidation of inclusive and participatory processes is an essential step to overcome development challenges in a collaborative and sustainable manner. Citizen engagement is also one the most effective means to ensure that policies and budget priorities are aligned with citizen needs, and for citizens to hold leaders accountable for their performance. For the accountability mechanisms to improve, efforts to enhance people´s participation as well as information and knowledge are essential. Therefore, access to information and transparency are equally important elements. Furthermore, the voice and capacities of civil society need reinforcing, along with the civic space or the overall enabling environment for civil society so that plurality and diversity of participation are protected.
Therefore, the following thematic areas should be addressed in the proposals:
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Citizen´s engagement in decision-making in different levels of governance
Access to information and evidence to inform advocacy
Strengthening of human rights actors and/or defenders
Strengthening or defending the civic space
Overall capacity building of the CSOs
MFA aims at supporting 1-2 consortiums of civil society organizations. The consortium(s) should be able to work at least in four provinces of the country and should consist of a mix of larger and smaller, or well-established and emerging organizations. The proposals should address all the key thematic areas mentioned above. The funding will be granted for 4 years (2023-2026) and can be up to a maximum of 5,45 million euros. If two consortiums are selected, revisions to the initially proposed budgets are possible due to the availability of the funding.
The grant will be awarded to a consortium of CSOs, but the grant decision can only be given to the lead applicant and the funding agreement only signed with the same. The lead applicant is therefore responsible for meeting all the requirements of the grant decision and agreement towards the MFA. The responsibilities of each CSO within the consortium must be clearly detailed within the proposal. Financing agreements have to be signed between the lead applicant and the consortium members at the time the agreement is signed between the MFA and the lead applicant. Funding can´t be sub-granted to organizations that have not been identified as members of the consortium in the proposal.
The policy and legal reference for the Call for Proposals
Finland’s development policy and cooperation is anchored in the Sustainable Development Goals and its priorities are described in the Report on Development Policy across Parliamentary Terms(Länk till en annan webbplats.), adopted by the Government in May 2021. Mozambique is a long-term partner country to Finland. The bilateral development cooperation is guided by Finland's Country Programme for Development Cooperation in Mozambique 2021- 2024(Länk till en annan webbplats.). At the time of publishing this Call, the website is unlikely to have the Country Programme document that contains the latest updates that relate for example to the approach in accountability described above. The key priorities of the Programme remain the same, but the revised version has some further conceptualization, and an outcome related to protecting and empowering the poorest women and girls, as well as youth affected by the conflict or climate events in the northern regions of the country. One of the already defined interventions for this is support to the implementation of the Child Grant component of the National Strategy for Social Protection. Support to sexual and reproductive health and rights, including comprehensive sexuality education, and youth, peace and security agenda are being identified. It is envisioned that the Country Programme will also be better able to address the nexus between humanitarian, development and peacebuilding approaches.
The civil society support is further guided by relevant MFA policy documents, such as Guidelines for Civil Society in Development Policy(Länk till en annan webbplats.) and Human Rights Based Approach in Finland's Development Cooperation(Länk till en annan webbplats.) as well as Finnish Government´s International Human Rights Policy(Länk till en annan webbplats.). The Foreign Ministry's crosscutting objectives(Länk till en annan webbplats.) should also be taken into account. These are gender equality, non-discrimination (with particular attention to the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities), and climate resilience and low emission development.
This Call for Proposals is administered by the Unit for the Southern Africa at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (Valtionavustuslaki 688/2001(Länk till en annan webbplats.), unofficial translation in English(Länk till en annan webbplats.)) is applied to the use of the grant.
The grant available is project support, earmarked to activities eligible as Official Development Assistance (ODA). The successful lead applicant(s) will sign an agreement with the MFA and agree to follow the General Terms and Conditions and Ethical Code of Conduct for the Government Grant. The MFA can set additional terms regarding the use of the government grant in its funding decision. A MFA representative shall participate in the Steering Committee that shall be formed for oversight and monitoring of the grant.
Submission of proposals
The proposals must be submitted to the Embassy of Finland in Maputo no later than Tuesday 16th of August 2022 at 12:00 hrs, in two signed paper copies. The address of the Embassy of Finland is: Avenida Julius Nyerere, 1128, Maputo.
The applications shall also be sent by e-mail to: [email protected] The subject field of the e-mail should indicate the following: CSO Call for Proposals. Individual e-mails should not exceed the size of 12 MBs.
The submission date and time shall be based on the arrival of the paper copies. It is recommended not to leave the submission of the application to the very last minute, as the applications submitted after the given deadline will not be considered. In case of discrepancies, the signed original paper copy shall be regarded as the principal application.
The processing of applications takes up to five months. All applicants will be informed about the funding decision(s).
Inquiries
Any questions related to the Call for Proposal, themes, technical issues etc. should be sent no later than 3rd of July by e-mail to: [email protected]
The subject field of the e-mail must include “Questions on CSO Call for Proposals”. The questions and the Ministry’s answers will be published on 5th of July on the Embassy of Finland´s website.
Specific units or employees at the MFA or the Embassy of Finland, including those in charge of the call, are regrettably not in a position to answer questions received separately.
Requirements for the lead applicant
To be eligible, the lead applicant organization must:
be ODA (Official Development Aid) eligible
be a registered and legally competent, Mozambican non-governmental organization
have been operational for a minimum of five years
Currently have funding from at least one other donor and a minimum annual income of 500 000 euros in the current or previous financial year
have a functional board of directors
be a non-partisan organization
demonstrate that its strategic goals align with at least one of the key thematic areas of the call for proposals and demonstrate past success in programmatic work related to accountability, citizen participation, access to information or evidence generation, advocacy or human rights, which has been evaluated. The lead organization alone doesn´t have to have experience in all of these.
have a solid financial management system including regular financial audits, and a reliable monitoring, evaluation and reporting system, including capability to report in English
Contents of the application
The application must consist of
a filled application template, demonstrating the lead applicant´s and the consortium’s eligibility for the Grant as described in this announcement (in English)
the programme proposal in English (a template to be used). The proposal should not exceed 15 pages, excluding annexes.
a multi-year budget that defines amounts each consortium member will implement, in euro (in English)
a results framework (in English)
an indicative work plan (in English)
a risk matrix or equivalent system analysing risks, mitigation strategies and responsibilities for the programme proposal (in English)
a letter of intent for the collaboration between the consortium members, signed by a representative of each organization
a copy of the registration certificate of all members of the consortium
An organogram or other description of organizational structure and staff of the lead applicant
the lead applicant´s strategic plan or a similar document that demonstrates its organizational goals and area of expertise, including its budget and funding sources
a copy of the latest audit report of the lead applicant
the lead applicant´s annual plan and budget for the current year
Selection criteria
The MFA will evaluate and assess the proposals according to the following criteria:
Alignment with all the thematic areas specified in the Call for Proposals
Complementarity with the other goals of Finland´s Country programme for development cooperation in Mozambique
Quality of the context, including human rights, gender and stakeholder analysis, as well as knowledge and understanding of the cultural and social aspects as well as relevant actors of the provinces the programme will be implemented
The type and extent of experience of the consortium as whole in working for accountability, citizen participation, access to information or evidence generation, advocacy and human rights, and capacity building initiatives
Extent of applying Results Based Management, Human Rights Based Approach and cross-cutting objectives of Finland´s development cooperation in the programme plan
Quality of the indicative work plan and feasibility of the proposed time frame and budget
Quality of the results framework and the risk analysis and risk management approach
Feasibility and innovativeness of the selected implementation strategies
Relevance and justification of the geographic coverage of the programme
Experience and proposed approach in working with different stakeholders in Mozambique
Inclusion of elements related to capacity building of the civil society
Organizational capacity of the lead applicant (in terms of financial management, grant management, human resources and monitoring and evaluation)
Clarity in consortium roles, responsibilities and complementarities