About

The European Commission has launched its call for proposals combining Mongolia specific budget allocations under two thematic programmes with the main purpose of promoting the respect for human rights through the Human Rights and Democracy (HR&D programme) and enhancing cooperation and dialogue with Civil Society Organisations (CSO programme).

Objectives 

• Lot 1: Human Rights and Democracy

  • The overall objective of the Lot 1 of this call for proposal is promotion and protection of: (i) human rights and fundamental freedoms; (ii) democracy; and (iii) the rule of law. 

  • The specific objectives of the Lot 1:

    • Specific objective 1: Protecting and empowering individuals: to contribute to the full enjoyment by every person of all human rights, be they civil, political, economic, social or cultural rights. 

    • Specific objective 2: Safeguarding fundamental freedoms, including harnessing the opportunities and addressing the challenges of new technologies: to create and maintain an environment conducive to the full exercise of all fundamental freedoms, online and offline. 

• Lot 2: Civil Society Organizations

  • The overall objective of the Lot 2 of this call for proposals is to strengthen CSOs in Mongolia as independent actors of good governance and development in their own right, to contribute to an inclusive, participatory, empowered, and independent civil society and democratic space in partner countries and an inclusive and open dialogue with and between Civil Society Organisations. 

  • The specific objectives of the Lot 2:

    • Specific Objective 1: To strengthen capacities of local CSOs in the areas of policy dialogue at various levels, development of technical capacities, improvement of internal organizational management and digital transformation to increase their contribution to empowerment of the society via digital technology. 

    • Specific Objective 2: To improve capacity and ability of local civil society partners to uphold and promote an enabling environment for civil society in Mongolia 

    • Specific Objective 3: Strengthened capacity of local CSOs to youth inclusion and strengthened capacity of local youth partner CSOs. 

Priority Issues

• The priorities of the Lot 1 (non-exhaustive list):

  • Specific objective 1: 

    • Enhanced oversight by – and a strengthened role for – civil society in monitoring, preventing and responding to human-rights violations and abuses, and where relevant, violations of international humanitarian law. 

    • Strengthened capacities of civil society, including in advocacy and raising public awareness, to help CSOs in their work to repeal discriminatory laws, policies, measures and practices. Specific attention shall be paid to the work of youth and women organisations and movements. 

    • Effective protection of – and material support to – human-rights defenders and their families. 

    • Strengthened capacities of human-rights defenders and CSOs, including in strategic litigation, advocacy and public awareness. This will help them to work in areas with restrictive laws/policies or funding restrictions. 

    • Improved efficiency, quality, accountability, transparency and credibility of justice systems. 

  • Specific objective 2: 

    • Strengthened capacities of civil society and independent media to exercise fundamental freedoms. 

    • Effective protection of – and support to – journalists, bloggers and other media workers. 

    • Strengthened public awareness and inclusive debate on the centrality of HR&D in the regulation and use of new technologies.

• The priorities of the Lot 2 (non-exhaustive list):

  • Specific Objective 1:

    • Initiating and contributing to national policy dialogue on civil society and civil society contribution to governance and development

    • Enabling civil society participation in and contribution to policy dialogue and decision-making processes at all levels 

    • Supporting civil local society contributions to regional and international dialogue fora, processes and platforms 

    • Supporting CSO organizational capacity related to internal governance; programme, project and financial management; advocacy etc. 

    • Supporting CSO sector-specific technical, research, analysis and advocacy capacity; 

    • Supporting CSO effectiveness, accountability and transparency 

    • Supporting CSO financial management capacities 

    • Supporting local CSO networks and platforms to promote coordination, collaboration and exchange. 

    • Supporting CSOs capacity to benefit from digital tools in the conduct of advocacy and in the implementation of their daily activities 

    • Support CSOs in raising awareness of public authorities and citizens regarding the possible opportunities and challenges posed by the digital transformation, and support CSOs in advocating for strong policies, legislation and regulatory frameworks aimed at addressing those challenges and harnessing the opportunities of digitalization, in line with the EU’s human-centric approach 

    • Support CSOs in strengthening digital skills of citizens in order to create an inclusive digital transformation 

    • Supporting CSOs awareness of digital threats as well as their digital security through training and secured digital infrastructure 

    • Support and strengthen CSOs capacity to reduce the digital gender gap and other gaps related to age, disability, location, social and economic status, discrimination and migration/refugee status (IDPs, refugees, etc.)

  • Specific Objective 2:

    • Support for civil society advocacy related to an enabling environment, including support to strengthen the positive narrative of civil society and counter defamation, hate speech and digital harassment on social media platforms 

    • Support for local and national civil society networks and platforms and civil society participation in multi-stakeholder dialogue fora aimed at strengthening alliances for civil society with other actors including media, private sector, academia etc. including ensuring accessibility of meetings and platforms to enable diverse organisations to participate. 

  • Specific Objective 3:

    • Initiating, contributing to, and supporting policy dialogue on youth and enabling the active participation of youth, youth organizations in decision-making processes at all levels 

    • Supporting capacity building and training for youth organizations, and for CSOs working specifically on youth inclusion 

    • Strengthen the rights of young people, including of those more marginalised, such as girls, young with disabilities or belonging to other marginalised groups, and their empowerment and involvement in public affairs, including by promoting their participation in their economy, society, and decision-making, notably through their active engagement in youth organisations.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 700,000 for the Lot 1 and EUR 2,340,000 for the Lot 2. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

• Size of grants

  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

    • Lot 1: Human Rights and Democracy

      • minimum amount: EUR 300 000

      • maximum amount: EUR 350 000

    • Lot 2: Civil Society Organizations

      • minimum amount: EUR 500 000

      • maximum amount: EUR 780 000

• Duration

  • Lot 1: The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 36 months.

  • Lot 2: The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 30 months nor exceed 48 months.

Ineligible Actions

• The following types of action are ineligible:

  • actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops, seminars, conferences and congresses;

  • actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses;

  • actions and measures that may result in violation of human rights in partner countries or causing significant adverse effects on the environment or the climate;

  • actions concerned only with one-off conferences. Conferences can only be funded if they form part of a wider range of activities to be implemented in the life-time of the project. For these purposes, preparatory activities for a conference and the publication of the proceedings of the conference do not, in themselves, constitute such “wider activities”;

  • actions which include micro credit activities;

  • actions which consist exclusively or primarily in capital expenditure, e.g. land, buildings, equipment and vehicles;

  • actions which discriminate against individuals or groups of people on grounds of their gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or lack of them, or their ethnic origin;

  • actions supporting political parties;

  • actions including proselytising activities.

Eligibility

• Lead applicant: Lot 1: Human Rights and Democracy

  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

    • be a legal person and

    • be non-profit-making and

    • be a specific type of organisation such as: non-profit making Civil Society Organization, public sector operator, local authority, international (inter-governmental) organisation as defined by Article 159(1) of the EU Financial Regulation; and e effectively established in  countries listed as eligible in Article 28 NDICI-Global Europe Regulation. Due to the legal status of international organisations, the obligation of effective establishment in the referred countries does not apply to international organisations, where the latter are eligible, and

    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary, and

  • The lead applicant may act individually or with co-applicant(s).

• Lead applicant: Lot 2: Civil Society Organizations

  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

    • be a legal person and

    • be non-profit-making and

    • be a specific type of organization such as: a non-profit making Civil Society Organization and 

    • be effectively established in countries listed as eligible in Article 28 NDICI-Global Europe Regulation and

    • be directly responsible for preparing and managing the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

Post Date: February 18, 2025