Grant Name: CEDAR CIVIL SOCIETY-CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT, DIALOGUE AND RECOVERY CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Core Objective: To promote a peaceful and inclusive society for sustainable development by strengthening active citizenship and supporting socio-economic development, particularly within the context of South Africa's 'just transition' and the EU-SA Global Gateway investment program.
Target Recipient Type: Non-profit organizations including non-governmental organizations, public sector operators, local authorities, and international (inter-governmental) organizations.
Target Recipient Size: Not explicitly defined by employee count; however, organizations should have the capacity to manage significant projects.
Designation: SECTOR-SPECIFIC (focused on civil society development within specific themes like just energy transition, transport, digital, and pharmaceutical sectors in South Africa).
Geographic Scope: Actions must take place in South Africa. Priority areas are KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, and Limpopo. Lead applicants can be established in South Africa, EU Member States, or other eligible countries.
Key Filtering Criteria: Applicants must be non-profit legal persons, established in an eligible country, and their proposed actions must align with civil society capacity building and development objectives in South Africa, especially those linked to the Global Gateway and just transition.
Grant Frequency and Context: This is an open call under the broader CEDAR program, aiming to support the EU's engagement roadmap with civil society and the EU-South Africa Global Gateway initiative. While the program is ongoing, this specific call has a defined application deadline.
Financial Structure
Overall Budget: The total indicative amount available for this call is EUR 3,625,000.
Grant Size per Action:
Minimum grant amount: EUR 500,000.
Maximum grant amount: EUR 1,000,000.
Funding Rate (Co-financing):
The grant may cover between 50% and 95% of the total eligible costs of the action.
The remaining balance must be financed from sources other than the general budget of the Union or the European Development Fund.
Eligible Costs:
Reimbursement of eligible costs, which can be based on actual costs or simplified cost options.
Costs must comply with the provisions of Article 14 of the standard grant contract's general conditions.
A contingency reserve not exceeding 5% of estimated direct eligible costs is permissible, but requires prior written authorisation for its use.
Indirect costs are eligible for a flat-rate funding up to 7% of the estimated total eligible direct costs (excluding volunteer and project office costs).
Volunteer costs can be accepted as co-financing based on defined unit costs.
Ineligible Costs:
Debts and debt service charges (interest).
Provisions for losses or potential future liabilities.
Costs already declared and financed by another European Union grant.
Purchase of land or buildings, unless directly necessary for the action's implementation (with ownership transfer required).
Currency exchange losses.
In-kind contributions (except for volunteer's work).
Staff bonuses.
Negative interest charged by banks.
Financial Support to Third Parties:
Applicants may propose providing financial support to third parties, with a maximum amount of EUR 60,000 per third party.
The lead applicant must clearly define the objectives, eligible activities, types of recipients, selection criteria, exact amount determination criteria, and maximum amount for this third-party support.
Eligibility Requirements
General Eligibility:
Must be a legal person and non-profit-making.
Must be directly responsible for preparing and managing the action; not acting as an intermediary.
Must not be in any exclusion situations (e.g., conflict of interest, financial irregularities).
Eligible Organization Types
Non-governmental organisations (defined as voluntary, independent from government, non-profit, not a political party or trade union).
Public sector operators.
Local authorities.
International (inter-governmental) organisations (e.g., those set up by intergovernmental agreements, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Federation of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies).
Geographic Establishment
Lead applicant must be effectively established in South Africa, an EU Member State, or other eligible countries as stipulated in relevant EU basic acts (e.g., CIR/NDICI-GE/EINSC/IPA III/DOAG/Ukraine Facility).
Note: The effective establishment requirement does not apply to international organisations.
Consortium Requirements
If the lead applicant is established in an EU Member State or other eligible countries (excluding South Africa), a minimum of one South African co-applicant is required.
Lead applicants may apply individually or with co-applicant(s).
Co-applicants must meet the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant.
Affiliated entities must have a structural link (legal or capital) with the applicant that exists independently of the grant award (i.e., not created solely for the action).
Application Limits
A lead applicant may submit only 1 application per call.
A lead applicant may be awarded only 1 grant per call.
A lead applicant cannot be a co-applicant or affiliated entity in another application simultaneously within this call.
A co-applicant/affiliated entity may be involved in a maximum of 2 applications.
A co-applicant/affiliated entity may be awarded a maximum of 2 grants.
Action Location Requirements
All funded actions must take place in South Africa.
Priority will be given to actions implemented in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, and Limpopo.
Ineligible Actions
Actions focused primarily on individual sponsorships for workshops, seminars, conferences, or scholarships for studies/training.
Actions that could lead to human rights violations or significant adverse environmental/climate effects.
Actions supporting political/electoral parties, proselytism, or violence.
Actions concerned only or mainly with equipment procurement.
Financial Capacity Requirements
For grants exceeding EUR 750,000, the lead applicant must provide an audit report from an approved external auditor for their last 3 available financial years (if a statutory audit is required).
In other cases, a self-declaration signed by an authorized representative certifying the validity of accounts for the last 3 financial years is sufficient.
These requirements do not apply to applications for grants not exceeding EUR 60,000, or to public bodies and international organisations.
Application Process
Application Process Overview:
This is an open call for proposals with a two-stage evaluation process.
Applicants submit both a Concept Note (Annex A.1) and a Full Application (Annex A.2) concurrently.
Initially, only Concept Notes are evaluated. Pre-selected lead applicants' Full Applications are then assessed.
Lead and co-applicants must also register in the Commission's Participant Register to obtain a Participant Identification Code (PIC).
Applications must be submitted in English.
Applicants must strictly adhere to the format of the grant application form and annexed documents.
Application Deadlines and Indicative Timeline
Deadline for submission of full application (Concept Note and Full Application): 2025-09-30 at 12:00 (Brussels date and time).
Deadline for requesting clarifications from the contracting authority: 2025-09-09 at 12:00 (Brussels date and time).
Last date for clarifications issued by the contracting authority: 2025-09-19 at 12:00 (Brussels date and time).
Indicative date for information on Concept Note evaluation results (Step 1): 2025-10-20.
Indicative date for notification of contracting authority's decision: 2025-11-15.
Indicative date for contract signature: 2025-12-01.
Applicants are strongly advised to submit well in advance of the deadline to avoid technical issues.
Required Documentation and Materials
Completed Grant application form (Annex A), including A.1 Concept Note and A.2 Full application form.
Completed Budget (Annex B - Excel format).
Completed Logical framework (Annex C - Excel format).
Statutes or articles of association for the lead applicant, co-applicant(s), and affiliated entity(ies) (unless eligibility has been recognized in another call under the same budget line within the last 2 years).
Signed Declaration on Honour on exclusion and selection criteria (Annex H) for all applicants and affiliated entities (required for grants exceeding EUR 15,000).
For financial capacity assessment (for grants exceeding EUR 750,000): an audit report from an approved external auditor for the last 3 financial years (if statutory audit required) or a self-declaration, along with the lead applicant's latest accounts (profit and loss account and balance sheet).
If relevant documents are not in an official EU language or the language of the call, translations of pertinent parts must be submitted.
The PADOR registration form (Annex F) must be submitted if online registration is technically impossible.
Reporting and Monitoring Obligations
The proposed action must include an effective and efficient monitoring and reporting system.
A planned and budgeted evaluation is expected.
Post-Award Requirements
Successful applicants (and affiliated entities, with some exceptions) receiving grants over EUR 60,000 must complete a self-evaluation questionnaire on sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEA-H) (Annex L).
Awarded lead applicants agree to the contractual conditions of the standard grant contract (Annex G) or a Contribution Agreement if they are a pillar-assessed organization.
Evaluation Criteria
Overall Process: Applications are assessed in a two-step evaluation (Concept Note then Full Application) followed by an eligibility verification.
Scoring: Each subsection is scored on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good).
Consistency with call objectives, priorities, and themes (5 points).
Relevance to country/region/sector needs, including synergy and avoiding duplication (5 points).
Clarity and strategic choice of target groups and final beneficiaries, and how their needs are addressed (5 points).
Presence of particular added-value elements, such as innovation or best practices (5 points).
Design of the action (30 points):
Intervention logic: Clear expected results (outputs/outcomes/impacts) and sequential achievement of objectives (10 points, due to x2 weighting).
Context analysis: Robust analysis of needs and stakeholder capacities (5 points).
Risks and assumptions: Clear assumptions and consideration of factors that might hinder results (5 points).
Indicative Activities: Clear linkage and consistency with expected outputs (5 points).
Cross-cutting issues: Extent of integration of relevant elements like environmental/climate change, gender equality, disabled people's needs, minority rights, youth, and HIV/AIDS (5 points).
Pre-selection: Only concept notes reaching a certain, unspecified minimum score will be considered for pre-selection.
Step 2: Full Application Evaluation (Maximum 100 points)
Selection Criteria (20 points) - Assesses operational and financial capacity:
Sufficiency of in-house experience in project management (5 points).
Sufficiency of technical in-house expertise (knowledge of issues) (5 points).
Lead applicant's stable and sufficient sources of finance (5 points).
Note: An application will be rejected if the total score for this section is less than 12 points, or if any single subsection score is 1.
Award Criteria - Evaluates the quality of the proposal:
Relevance of the action (20 points): (Sub-criteria are identical to Concept Note evaluation, each 5 points).
Design of the action (15 points):
Intervention logic and consistency of activities with outputs (5 points).
Completeness and quality of the Logical Framework Matrix, including RACER indicators, baselines, and data sources (5 points).
Robustness of context analysis and integration into the intervention logic (5 points).
Implementation approach (15 points):
Clarity and feasibility of the action plan, activity clustering, and realistic timeline (5 points).
Effectiveness and efficiency of monitoring, reporting, and evaluation systems, including indicator updates and planned evaluations (5 points).
Technical skills of co-applicants/affiliated entities and their adequate involvement in implementation (5 points).
Sustainability of the action (15 points):
Likelihood of long-lasting and transformative benefits for target groups/beneficiaries (5 points).
Potential for multiplier effects, including replication, extension, and knowledge sharing (5 points).
Overall sustainability across financial, institutional, policy, and environmental dimensions; also covers risk analysis and mitigation measures (5 points).
Budget and cost-effectiveness of the action (15 points):
Efficiency: Adequacy between estimated budget amounts and expected results (5 points).
Budget: Appropriateness of activities reflected in the budget, and clarity of results/performance indicators for financing not linked to costs (10 points, due to x2 weighting).
Cross-cutting Themes Impact: Integration of relevant cross-cutting issues (e.g., environmental/climate change, gender equality, human rights) is a key scoring factor throughout both evaluation steps.
Compliance & Special Requirements
Ethical Standards and Values
Conflict of Interest: Applicants must not be affected by any conflict of interest with other involved parties.
EU Values: Commitment to and respect for basic EU values, including human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, and human rights (including minorities).
Zero Tolerance for SEA-H: Adherence to a 'zero tolerance' policy against sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment. Successful applicants (with exceptions) must complete a self-evaluation questionnaire on their internal SEA-H policies.
Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery: Compliance with all applicable laws and regulations relating to anti-bribery and anti-corruption. Actions proven to involve unusual commercial expenses may lead to rejection or termination.
Regulatory Compliance
Environmental and Labour Standards: Compliance with environmental legislation (including multilateral agreements) and core labour standards as defined by relevant International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions.
Human Rights: Actions must not violate human rights in partner countries.
Sanctions Lists: Recipients of financial support cannot be designated in lists of EU restrictive measures.
Risk Management
The design of the action must include a robust analysis of potential risks (e.g., physical, environmental, political, economic, social) and propose relevant mitigation measures.
Visibility Requirements
Grant recipients must ensure the visibility of the European Union as the funder, primarily through the prominent display of the EU emblem and relevant funding statements.
All visibility and communication activities must comply with the latest Communication and Visibility Requirements for EU-funded external action.
Derogations from these obligations may be granted in exceptional situations, such as security concerns or local political sensitivities, but require prior EU agreement.
Unique Aspects / Strategic Opportunities
Focus on Civil Society: This call strongly emphasizes empowering civil society organizations to play a key role in sustainable development and the 'just transition' in South Africa.
Global Gateway Alignment: Projects should align with the EU-South Africa Global Gateway investment package, particularly addressing social, economic, and environmental challenges in the context of just transition in digital, energy, transport, and pharmaceutical sectors.
Priority Actions: Specific priority will be given to actions that:
Share knowledge and improve understanding of the Global Gateway's impact and benefits at local government level.
Pilot tangible local economic policies and projects supporting communities transitioning from unsustainable resources.
Promote youth and women employability and entrepreneurship, climate change awareness, biodiversity management, citizen participation, gender equality, human rights, and digital innovation.
Support policies and strategies prioritizing justice within the just transition.
Build capacity of Community Based Organisations and local government authorities to foster an enabling environment for the just transition.
Grant Details
civil society
capacity building
dialogue
recovery
south africa
just transition
global gateway
sustainable development
socio-economic development
human rights
gender equality
youth empowerment
climate change
environmental protection
local governance
multi-stakeholder partnership
non-governmental organizations
public sector
local authorities
international organizations
policy development
advocacy
awareness raising
training
networking
community development
energy transition
digital transformation
transport infrastructure
pharmaceuticals
sdg16
sdg5
sdg13
sdg8
sdg10
CEDAR CIVIL SOCIETY-CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT, DIALOGUE AND RECOVERY CALL FOR PROPOSALS
184434PROSPECTSEN
CEDAR Civil Society -Capacity Enhancement, Dialogue and Recovery programme (BGUE-B2021-14.020122-C1-INTPA)
NGO
PUBLIC
OTHER
ZA
AT
BE
BG
HR
CY
CZ
DK
EE
FI
FR
DE
GR
HU
IE
IT
LV
LT
LU
MT
NL
PL
PT
RO
SK
SI
ES
SE
ENVIRONMENT
SOCIAL
ENERGY
TRANSPORTATION
TECHNOLOGY
HEALTHCARE
OTHER
Grants8