Public call for submission of project proposals
Through funds available to support projects of an urgent nature (Urgent Fund), the Institute for Youth Development KULT (Institute) empowers non-governmental organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to more easily initiate positive changes, improve the position of young people and strengthen the youth sector. The emergency fund is intended for non-governmental organizations that operate in BiH, represent and/or promote the interests of young people and strengthen the youth sector through concrete initiatives, projects and activities.
The idea of the Urgent Fund is to simply and quickly support direct and urgent interventions aimed at improving the position of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such interventions can be aimed at the implementation of existing youth legislation, support for youth participation in society and decision-making processes, support for activism, strengthening of organizations/associations and their capacities, and general support for young people in development. The Institute invites non-governmental organizations registered in BiH (associations and foundations established according to the laws on associations and foundations in BiH) to submit their project proposals within the Emergency Fund .
Areas of Public Call
The proposed projects under this call should include concrete solutions with the aim of creating better conditions for young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The purpose of the Emergency Fund is to finance or co-finance already existing or completely new initiatives, projects and activities aimed at building and strengthening the youth sector in BiH through the following areas:
Area 1: Cooperation with the authorities and advocacy for a better position of young people
- Establishment and implementation of mechanisms prescribed by laws on youth
- Involvement of young people in decision-making processes
- Establishment, development and improvement of institutional mechanisms aimed at a better position of young people
Area 2: Work with young people
- Strengthening young people so that they initiate and/or participate in social changes
- Encouraging young people to initiate and implement initiatives
- Work with marginalized groups of young people
Area 3: Strengthening the youth sector in BiH
- Improvement and recognition of the youth sector
- Strengthening of youth organization
Note: across all areas it is important to emphasize that organizations create synergy with stakeholders, authorities, community and other organizations dealing with youth.
Also, organizations are especially encouraged to plan advocacy initiatives towards decision makers at the local level in their project proposals. Advocacy is a fundamental and long-term process in a democratic society that seeks to influence decision-makers to change the content of political decisions in order to achieve general social goals and rights, improve the quality of life of the entire society or specific social groups. In this process, advocates use various strategies such as lobbying, activism, initiatives, public opinion campaigns, writing letters and holding meetings with decision makers. Advocacy is the use of a formal process that brings about “official change” that is more time-consuming; therefore, it is important to get to know the decision-making process that you want to influence.
Advocacy initiatives can be proposed in each of the 3 mentioned call areas, and they can additionally include advocacy activities aimed at:
- implementation of specific measures, guidelines, expert recommendations, conclusions, methods and tools concerning the improvement of the position of young people, which are listed in some of the relevant international or local reports concerning the position of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
- improving the position of marginalized youth.
The Institute especially supports activities and initiatives involving youth from marginalized groups, youth from rural areas, activities/initiatives for women and improving gender equality (e.g. youth with mental or physical difficulties or disabilities, youth not in the education system, employed or in training /NEET youth/, young members of the LGBTI population, youth without parental care, young socially vulnerable women and other groups of vulnerable youth) and we hereby encourage organizations dealing with these topics to propose their projects within the Emergency Fund.
In the application, the applicant will indicate which field he primarily deals with in his project proposal. If the project proposal does not refer to any of the mentioned areas, but still concerns the construction and strengthening of the youth sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, applicants can define areas that support the development of the youth sector and young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Technical information
The full text of the Public Call as well as all the necessary forms are available on the online grant management platform APPLY at the link: https://s.mladi.org/UF
Applicants are required to submit a project proposal in electronic form, with all required attachments, after registering as an organization on the online grant management platform APPLY. As part of the application, applicants should fill in all information about their organization and select the component to which they are applying within the Program, after which they will receive an automatic e-mail confirmation of receipt of the application. Project proposals that are not submitted in the specified manner will not be considered.
All potential applicants should access the registration on the online grant management platform APPLY as soon as possible in order to familiarize themselves with the conditions and technical settings of the application, via the link: https://s.mladi.org/UF . We ask applicants to save the link in their bookmarks if they intend to apply for this or any future invitation from the Institute. Detailed instructions on the registration process are available at the link: https://kult.smapply.io/res/p/tehnicke-instrukcije/ .
After successful registration on the APPLY online platform, the applicant should as soon as possible submit a certificate of tax registration (ID number) and a decision on the registration of a legal entity or an extract from the register not older than one year. All necessary documents are added by filling out the Eligibility form through your organization’s APPLY profile (or by clicking directly on the link: https://kult.smapply.io/acc/app/#eligibility ) , which can be amended and supplemented at any time.
Applicants who are already registered on the APPLY platform can get more information by clicking the “Pages” button in the upper right corner. If the application has already been started but the applicant does not see the progress achieved so far, it is necessary to click on the name of the organization’s administrator in the upper left corner of the APPLY dashboard and select the name of the organization in front of which the application is being made.
For more information and detailed instructions on how to complete all steps of registration and application through the APPLY online platform, you can consult our YouTube playlist: https://s.mladi.org/KULT-APPLY
Applicants are requested to carefully read the text of the Public Call before starting the application process.
General guidelines for applicants
Non-governmental organizations registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina ( associations and foundations established according to the laws on associations and foundations in Bosnia and Herzegovina) can apply for the Public Call .
Informal groups of citizens, government institutions, economic societies, religious organizations, political subjects, as well as international organizations that do not have a registered representative office in BiH in accordance with the laws on associations and foundations cannot apply for the Public Call .
The call remains open until August 31, 2024 , or until the available funds of the Emergency Fund are used up.
All project activities must be realized in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Applications and required documentation must be written in one of the official languages and scripts of Bosnia and Herzegovina . Applications must be completed electronically.
Project proposals can be submitted for the entire or partial amount of funds needed for the implementation of the nominated project.
Grants supported through the Emergency Fund cannot last longer than nine (9) months , that is, they can last from the moment of approval until February 28, 2025 at the latest.
The maximum amount of requested funds cannot exceed BAM 8,000.00 . The maximum amount of purchases of equipment and other fixed assets that the organization intends to keep in its ownership cannot exceed 25% of the requested amount.
All questions regarding this public call should be sent exclusively via the e-mail address: pravkaja@mladi.org (subject/subject: 21.04.3- N2.7-631, Urgent fund request ).
Incomplete applications, applications that are not submitted in the specified manner, as well as applications on inappropriate forms will not be considered. Application status notifications will be communicated to applicants through the APPLY platform.
Criteria
The review of the project proposal for the Emergency Fund includes the following criteria:
Eliminating criteria
- the maximum amount of requested funds does not exceed BAM 8,000.00;
- the maximum amount of purchases of equipment and other fixed assets that the organization intends to keep in its ownership cannot exceed 25% of the requested amount;
- the applicant is a non-governmental organization registered at any level of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with the applicable laws on associations and foundations;
- all documentation specified in the invitation as mandatory has been submitted, and the Eligibility form has been filled out;
- the applicant submitted the project budget on the OBR-GRB form;
- the applicant has submitted a completed form Checklist for checking compliance of project activities with requirements related to environmental protection.
Scoring criteria
- the project idea is in accordance with the call criteria, it is clear and understandable;
- young people are one of the main target groups of activities carried out by the organization;
- the project has an advocacy initiative that it carries out in its area of activity and in its local community/places of activity;
- the goals are specific, measurable and realistic and can be achieved during the duration of the project or shortly after its completion;
- the applicant has a responsible approach and methodology of working with young people and other users and partners;
- the proposed methodology leads to the desired results, is specific and gives a clear picture of the project intervention;
- the organization has the capacity (structure of the organization) to implement the project;
- project results with associated indicators contribute to the fulfillment of project goals, are specific and measurable with a specified target group and their number;
- clearly defined tools for monitoring and evaluating the project that can be used to assess performance;
- the budget reflects a good relationship between invested money and achieved results;
- project activities are aligned with costs, and costs are clearly explained in the narrative part of the budget;
- applicants are encouraged to have co-financing, either in kind or in cash;
- the project proposal is not based solely on the creation and distribution of promotional and advocacy material, or only on holding seminars, workshops, panels and trainings, and avoids unnecessary costs;
- potential risks in the implementation of the project are recognized and measures to reduce them are described;
- the project proposal promotes the sustainability of achieved project goals and results;
- the proposed project is not a repetition of the completed project, it is based on the success of current and previous interventions for young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is innovative and uses best practices and lessons learned.
Evaluation
After the commission evaluates the received proposals, all applicants will be informed about the outcome of the evaluation of the project proposals via the APPLY online platform. Applicants whose project proposals are positively evaluated enter the phase of grant award negotiations.
In the negotiation phase, the commission and the applicant will agree on the project proposal, especially the parts related to deliveries, monitoring and evaluation of the project. The Commission has the right to ask for additional clarifications and documents with the project proposal and to support the development of the proposed measures and activities.
Notification of a positive assessment of a project proposal does not necessarily mean that a contract will be signed or that the project proposal will be financed. By signing the grant award agreement, the mutual relations of cooperation and the rights and obligations of both contracting parties are regulated.
Grant conditions
Applicants may or may not have a project partner. The partnership statement, i.e. letters of support are submitted in a separate step as “Additional documentation” with the project proposal.
Organizations that are shortlisted must allow the Institute to carry out a simplified pre-grant assessment, which involves determining the maturity and ability of the organization to be a beneficiary of the grant by reviewing the relevant documentation on regular activities. Partner organizations do not need to complete a simplified pre-grant review.
A simplified pre-grant audit is performed before signing the contract and is a condition for signing the contract with the Institute. In case of non-observance of the deadlines for submitting the application or the deadlines related to the pre-grant audit, the applicant will be rejected.
Only organizations whose projects are rated the best and which successfully pass the simplified pre-grant assessment process can be beneficiaries of the grant.
The Institute undertakes to use all collected data and documentation submitted as part of the application to the Public Call exclusively for the processing of the grant.
During the implementation of the project, the applicant will be responsible for the management of the content and financial part of the project, as well as for narrative and financial reporting, and the submission of monitoring and internal evaluation data to the Institute.
The Institute has no obligation to explain its decision individually to the applicants and reserves the right not to allocate all the available funds provided for in this Public Call.
You can download the public invitation document HERE .
Source: mladi.org
