Call for Proposals: Enhancing Accountability in South Africa

About

The European Commission (EC) is seeking Proposal for Enhancing Accountability.

The Programme aims to contribute to Sustainable evelopment Goal (SDG) 16 to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels, and supports achievement towards SGD 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.

The benefits of accountability for society in general are numerous and significant, and include:

• Improving the practice of good corporate governance;

• Improving the management of public finances;

• Reducing costs associated with investigating misconduct and misappropriation of public funds; and

• The achievement of optimal performance and improvement of delivery of quality services to citizens.

Objectives

• Accountability and transparency have a positive impact on social cohesion, conflict prevention and the protection of minorities, and put the rights-based approach (RBA) at the forefront of government actions. The New European Consensus on Development aligns EU policies and actions to the objectives of the 2030 agenda and stresses that good governance, democracy and rule of law are vital to sustainable development.

• South Africa remains challenged by inequality, poverty, corruption, unemployment and uneven quality and performance of public service delivery. Partnerships between Government, development partners, civil society and the private sector are required to address and overcome these challenges.

• organisations is critical, as CSOs play an important role in highlighting any erosion of accountability, state-capture, corruption and poor service delivery. It is necessary to support and strengthen anti-corruption initiatives taken by both civil society and by State Institutions. By means of this call for proposals, the programme will provide funding to support initiatives by civil society and other eligible actors to engage and advocate, and to collaborate with State Institutions to reduce corruption in the public and private sector.

• The global objective of this call for proposals is to improve public governance in South Africa.

• The specific objective of this call for proposals is to improve accountability and transparency, and support anti-corruption activities in South Africa.

Priorities

• The actions under this call for proposals are expected to address the following priorities in design and implementation:

  • Strengthening anti-corruption efforts/initiatives by civil society organisations, including the media.

  • Increasing engagement, dialogue and collaboration on anti-corruption efforts between civil society, State Institutions supporting Constitutional Democracy, the public sector and the private sector.

  • Improving transparency and thereby strengthening deterrence and detection of corruption, in both the public and private sectors.

Cross-cutting elements to be addressed in of this call for proposals are:

• Gender equality: Gender equality constitutes a fundamental human rights principle and a common value of the European Union.

• Rights-based approach: The European Consensus on Development commits the EU and its Member States to implementing a rights-based approach (RBA) to development cooperation, encompassing all human rights .

• Business and Human Rights: The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights should be applied by beneficiaries and associates participating in the action, where relevant.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 4,472,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

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

  • Minimum amount: EUR 500,000

  • Maximum amount: EUR 850,000

• Duration: The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 30 months.

Eligibility

• 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 organisations such as: non-governmental organisations, citizens' groups, organisations representing economic and social interests, community organisations, advocacy organisations, women's and youth organisations, research organisations, academic institutes, think tanks, education institutions, independent foundations, public bodies, media groups and international (inter-governmental) organisations as defined by Article 43 of the Implementing Rules to the EC Financial Regulation. However, in case of a multi-beneficiary grant, an International Organisation, a public sector operator, or a local authority cannot be the applicant.

  • 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

  • Be able to demonstrate to have carried out activities in the field covered by the Call in the past three years, and

  • Be established in South Africa or in a Member State of the European Union or other eligible countries as per the relevant provisions of the DCI regulation , and

  • If the lead applicant is established in a Member State of the European Union and other eligible countries (except South Africa), a minimum of two South African co-applicants are required.

  • Co-applicants of the Enhancing Accountability Call for Proposals that were awarded a grant contract following that first Call for Proposals and are now a “co-beneficiary” for that grant contract are eligible for this Call as lead or co-applicants.

Post Date: 25-Nov-2022