Call for proposals - European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR): Campaign 4 - Advancing equality tolerance and peace

Deadline
09.03.2006
Budget line / available budget
19.04.03 / euro 6.5 million
Objectives and supported actions in the field of ENARґs work
The main aim of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) is to promote human rights, democracy and conflict prevention in third countries by providing financial support for activities supporting these areas.This call for proposals focuses on projects to implement Campaign 4 of the EIDHR, entitled “Advancing equality, tolerance and peace” which is divided into 2 separate Lots:
Lot 1: Combating racism and xenophobia and promoting the rights of peoples belonging to minoritiesThe campaign will encourage the adoption of anti-discrimination legislation and policies at national level and the removal of discrimination in access to employment, education and other rights. It will promote fair and non-discriminatory representation and participation of minorities and caste-affected groups at all levels of decision-making. The campaign will also develop the capacity of anti-discrimination bodies and support projects to promote intercultural and interethnic understanding, including by encouraging the development of community groups and positive media engagement.
Lot 2: Promoting the rights of indigenous peoplesThis Lot will focus upon the following priorities: Raising public awareness of the situation and living conditions of indigenous peoples, and promoting knowledge and understanding of their rights, in particular the right to live on their own land and to own property. Projects of capacity building will be encouraged, including enhancing information flows, providing specialised workshops and supporting network building of indigenous peoples’ organisations at national and regional level. Support will also be provided for the preparation and activities of indigenous peoples’ representatives participating in relevant international forums and also for cooperation with international organisations.For both Lots, particular attention should be paid to ensure that gender equality and the rights of children are reflected in all activities. Moreover, preference will be given to proposals that include aspects to promote the objectives of conflict prevention and conflict resolution and that promote cross-cultural and inter-religious understanding. The actions can be implemented on either regional, country or global level. Regional and global projects should seek to have a regional or global impact and be more than a series of small country projects combined.
Applicants
Applicants may act individually or with partner organisations. The European Commission draws the attention of the applicants to the fact that for this call for proposals partnerships between organisations for the implementation of projects are encouraged. In order to be eligible for a grant, applicants must:
be legal persons and
be non profit making and
be non governmental organisations or higher education institutions and
be nationals of a Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA) or
For country projects: be nationals of a country eligible under this call for a project at country. In Europe, the following countries are eligible: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Turkey.
For regional projects: be nationals of any focus country of the region in which the action will take place. It must include at least three of the countries of the same region, which are: Western Balkan & Candidate Countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM, Turkey, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia. The latter can not be an applicant); Asia; Sub-Saharan Africa; Latin-America & Caribbean. For detailed information please see the guidelines.
For global projects: be nationals of any country, except Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA.
Legal basis
Council Regulations EC No. 975/1999 and EC No. 976/1999 of 29th April 1999 – Official Journal L 120 of 8th May, 1999.
Community contribution
Minimum amount of grant:
- 300.000 for applicants that are nationals of a Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA).
- 150.000 for applicants that are nationals of a developing country eligible under this call for country and regional level projects.
A grant may not be for less than 50 % of the total eligible costs of the action.
Maximum amount of grant:
- 1.000.000 for all applicants.
No grant may exceed 80% of the total eligible costs of the action.The grant may cover the entire costs of the action if this is essential to carry it out.
A minimum amount representing 20% of the total available budget will be available exclusively for applications between Ђ150.000 and 300.000 submitted by organisations having their headquarters in a country where country level projects are foreseen in this call for proposals. For lot 2, they must be indigenous organisations.
Publication reference
EuropeAid/122583/C/ACT/TPS
Contact
The Concept Notes must be sent to:European Commission Xavier de ConinckEuropeAid Co-operation Office, Unit 04Office L-41 3/621049 Brussels, BelgiumAddress for hand delivery or by private courier service:European Commission Xavier de ConinckEuropeAid Co-operation Office, Unit 04Office L-41 03/62Central Courrier ServiceRue de Genиve, 1-2-3 1140 Brussels, Belgium Questions may be sent by e-mail toEuropeAid-EIDHR4@cec.eu.int
General remarks
A proposal may not address priorities from more than one Lot.
The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 12 months nor exceed 36 months.
Please note that the procedure of project selection has changed. You will only be requested to submit a full application form if your concept note is selected. Your full application will then undergo evaluation.
Applicants must apply in English, French or Spanish.
The guidelines can be downloaded ateuropa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/t ... (in English) europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/t ... (in French)the application form (concept note) ateuropa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/t ... (in English)europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/t ... (in French)
You will find the published call at europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/c ...by following the instructions:
On the left-hand side, please select OTHER, status (open), type (grants), region/country (all).
Then send your request.
Please scroll down on the right-hand side to the requested call.

MSc and PhD scholarships in Economics for Candidates from SEE

Application deadline: 27 January 2006
The Open Society Institute (Budapest), Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Staffordshire University Business School are offering 1-year MSc and 4-year PhD scholarships in Economics for qualified candidates form Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Croatia. MSc scholarships are offered in the first fourcountries/regions and PhDs in all six.Details of the scholarship programme can be found on the University's Business School website at http://www.staffs.ac.uk/business.
For all further information please contact Mrs. Jenny Herbert at j.herbert@staffs.ac.uk

Training course for trainers in human rights education with young people, 6-15 March 2006, Budapest

Application deadline: 9 January 2006
Organised by the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe, the course aims to develop the competence of trainers in working with human rights education at national and regional level and to enable them to act as trainers or multipliers for human rights education, especially through national or regional training courses and local pilot projects organised by its partners.
For more information on the TC please click here

Call for proposals for national and regional training courses in human rights education for 2006

Application deadline: 31 January 2006
The Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe has been running a European youth programme on human rights education since the year 2000, aiming to bring human rights issues in the mainstream of youth work practice. This programme is designed to achieve wide synergies between human rights education and youth work in the Council of Europe member states and beyond.
The Council of Europe welcomes proposals and expressions of interest from non-governmental youth organisations, other non-governmental and governmental organisations and institutions interested in human rights education with young people.
For all further information please click here

SALTO SEE Activities update

Information concerning support activities organised by SALTO SEE in 2006 on our website has been updated. In particular, you can now find calls for participation and application forms for the following activities:
Training Course on the financial management of YOUTH programme grantsDates and venue of the activity: 17 - 20 March 2006, Sarajevo (BiH)Deadline for applications: 6 February 2006
National Agency staff training and YOUTH programme evaluation workshop on Cooperation with South East EuropeDates and venue of the activity: 24 - 28 May, Mostar (BiH)Deadline for applications: 20 March 2006
Full information can be found or downloaded under http://www.salto-youth.net/tcsee/

Second Call for YOUTH Programme Contact Points in Partner Countries in South East Europe

Application deadline: 25 January 2006
The SALTO SEE Resource Centre is issuing a second call for YOUTH Programme Contact Points in South East Europe to complement the existing Contact Points which were set up in September 2005.
Following a public call for applications in spring 2005, a total of 12 YOUTH programme Contact Points were nominated by the SALTO SEE Resource Centre in consultation with the European Commission, and set up in September 2005 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the fYR of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro.
The SALTO-YOUTH SEE Resource Centre is issuing this second call to invite NGOs from specific regions in South East Europe, which could not be covered after the first call, to apply for this role, in particular:
Albania: Up to 3 YOUTH Contact Points can be established in different parts of the country.
Eastern part of Croatia (Slavonia,...) : One YOUTH Contact Point should be set up to complement the work carried out by the two already existing Contact Points in Croatia (Volunteers Centre Zagreb in cooperation with the Croatian Youth Network, Zagreb, and ZUM, Pula)
Kosovo (UNMIK): One YOUTH Contact Point should be set up.
The main role of the YOUTH programme Contact Points is to assist the SALTO SEE Resource Centre in enhancing the visibility of and access to the YOUTH programme in the Programme's Partner Countries in South East Europe.
The selected NGOs will be sub-contracted as service providers by the SALTO SEE Resource Centre for a period of in total 6 months, starting on1 April and ending on 31 October 2006, and will receive a small fee to support them in carrying out their tasks as Contact Points for the YOUTH programme.
Candidates must apply by sending the completed "YOUTH programme Contact Point application form" to the SALTO SEE Resource Centre, in which they are asked to describe the nature and experience of their organisation, as well as a proposal of how they would fulfill their role as a contact point for the Programme.
Applications must be sent by post to the SALTO SEE Resource Centre by 25 January 2006 (date of the postal stamp).
The full Call for Applications and the application form can be downloaded under http://www.salto-youth.net/seeStrategy. For more information, please contact the SALTO SEE Resource Centre.

Europe scores with the '.eu' !

Did you know that the EU got its own '. eu' internet domain on 7 December? On the eve of the registration day, about 100 000 '.eu' requests had already been registered
If you want to know all about this new saga, pay a visit to the Information Society website of the European Commission!
A general fact sheet, a technical fact sheet and the Frequently Asked Questions will keep you up-to-date with all the '.eu' news.
The registration process will happen in three stages: during the first two months – called 'sunrise' period – the registration of '.eu' names will be reserved to trademark holders and public bodies. From 7 February to 6 April 2006 registration will be open to other applicants, f.i. company names, unregistered trademarks or works of art. Registration will be open to all from 7 April.
How can you register? It is a piece of cake. You just need to get in touch with one of the 779 registration offices around the world, from the United States to Japan. These offices are accredit by EURid, a non-profit organisation which has been selected by the European Commission to manage the '.eu' domain name.
How much will this cost? During the 'sunrise' period the basic fee charged by EURid will be of €10. It will cost an additional €35 for public bodies, €45 for trademark holders and €85 for other types of domain names. '.eu' applicants will also need to pay about €100 to their registration office.
Uptil now the most popular domain names are 'hotel.eu', 'travel.eu', but also 'sex.eu', 'jobs.eu', 'casino.eu' and 'music.eu'.

Enlargement strategy endorsed

The enlargement strategy presented in November by the European Commission received strong endorsement from European Union foreign affairs ministers at their December 12 General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels. In its formal conclusions, the Council welcomed the Commission’s Communication on Enlargement presented on 9 November 2005, and the reports, recommendations and partnership proposals that accompanied it. At the request of several member states, the EU is planning a major reflection next year on the direction, speed and scope of enlargement, in the context of the broad reflections on the future of Europe. The Commission strategy is a good basis for "a necessary, further discussion on enlargement in 2006", the Council concluded. Meanwhile, careful attention was needed to anchor and develop support for the enlargement process across the EU, taking particular account of the views of EU citizens and the absorption capacity of the Union, the Council said. Conditionality should be applied effectively, at all stages of the process, in a fair and rigorous way, the Council added, reiterating at the same time its "strong encouragement to candidate countries, and other countries in the Western Balkans, along the road to reform and stability by reconfirming their European perspective." On Croatia, which started EU membership negotiations in October, the Council underlined its commitment to the accession process, and urged the country to make further progress on all the issues identified in the Commission's November report and in the Accession Partnership that has now been agreed. The Council exhorted Turkey to continue its reforms and preparations. And it reminded the Turkish authorities that there would be an EU verification to ensure "a follow-up in 2006 on the progress made on relevant issues" set out in the EU September declaration – a reference to the formal reminders that the EU offered to Turkey on recognising Cyprus and opening up its ports and airspace to accommodate traffic with the island.
Accession Partnerships set out principles, priorities and conditions to focus candidates' preparations for accession, and provide guidance for EU financial assistance. European Partnerships are similar documents, for countries in the Western Balkans as they move towards the prospect of EU membership. Each country is expected to develop a plan with a timetable and specific measures to address the legislative, budgetary and administrative planning priorities of these partnerships, and implementation is regularly monitored by the EU. The partnerships are updated in the light of developments, and successive versions identify new priorities for action adapted to each country’s specific needs and stage of preparation.
The Council also welcomed the Commission’s November road map for the Western Balkans and the progress reports on the countries in the region. It "drew encouragement from the region’s recent progress that the EU’s policies, based primarily on the fair and rigorous use of conditionality and a clear European perspective, were proving effective." And it reaffirmed its longstanding message that the future of the Western Balkans, with its potential candidate countries, lies in the European Union. Each country’s progress towards the EU would depend on how quickly it establishes respect for and protection of minorities, and other requirements of the links with the EU, including full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Council confirmed. It particularly urged Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to build on the positive development of the recent arrest of fugitive Croatian general Ante Gotovina, and to "take decisive action to ensure that all remaining fugitive indictees, notably Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, are finally brought to justice". The Council also gave its political agreement to European Partnerships with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro including Kosovo.

SALTO Upcomming Inclusion activities

• Inclusion - Breaking the barriers of social and physical disadvantages through voluntary service: a contact making seminar to establish partnerships between the organisations from the EU, and Pre-Accession Countries, that will trigger new volunteer exchange projects, enhancing the young peoples' mobility and promoting their participation and inclusion in the development of civil society. Bulgaria 9-12 March 2006. Course Description
• Out! - summercamp 2006: Summercamp for young people, aged 16 to 25. The theme will be "Living in a group is not easy". This theme came up due to the many questions OUT! receives about it. Living in society can be difficult, especially when you are gayminded or face some other identity. This can raise even more questions when you are dealing with different cultures. Who am I within an intercultural group? The Netherlands 27 July-8 August 2006. http://www.outinfo.nl - summercamp@outweb.nl