1. Information Meeting Grant Facility 19/01/2010

2. Grant Facility Agenda 10:00 WELCOME 10:10 PRESENTATION GRANT FACILITY 10:40 SUMMARY OF QUESTIONS RECEIVED 10:50 QUESTION AND ANSWERS

3. Grant Facility General goal Basic issues Specific objectives Evaluation procedure Indicative time table Implementation and reporting

4. Grant Facility General Goal The Grant Facility intends to enhance the quality of humanitarian aid and to increase its effectiveness by strengthening the preparedness and response capacities as well as the technical skills of : non-profit making organisations non governmental humanitarian organisations their staff and the related local actors The Grant Facility has : an increased budget 4,0 Mio EUR (last year 1,8 Mio EUR) objectives in line with those defined last year legal basis Council Regulation 1257/96, European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid, Framework Partnership Agreement and is integrated in the overall capacity building policy of DG ECHO

5. Grant Facility Basic Issues Financing decision from 16 December 2009 till 15 June 2011 Proposed projects must be completed before 15 June 2011 For a specific agreement, the costs are eligible at the earliest from the date of receipt of the first version of the Single Form by DG ECHO Applicants can act individually or with partners Proposals introduced by several partners = advantage 1 Partner = lead partner Other partners = implementing partner An applicant can introduce maximum : 1 individual proposal and 1 proposal as lead partner A proposal can be linked to only 1 specific objective Contribution DG ECHO is max. 85% of the total eligible cost

6. Grant Facility Basic issues (continued) The Grant Facility is built around 4 specific objectives : 1. Local capacity building / specialised sector training1.700.000 2. Quality, accountability, promotion of humanitarian principles and law1.000.000 3. Strengthen capacity of A-partners and of civil society in EU countries under-represented in FPA 500.000 4. Reinforce networking between ECHO partners 400.000 Contingency reserve 400.000 4.000.000 Amount per specific objective can be changed : allocation reserve of EUR 400.000 or transfer between specific objectives

7. Grant Facility Specific objective 1 Strengthen the skills and humanitarian aid expertise through local capacity building initiatives and or specialised sector training Priority sectors Protection and Security; Food; Wash; Health; Shelter; Logistics, Transport, Telecommunication; Cash and vouchers; Needs assessment; Disaster Risk Reduction Eligible partners : who can apply ? NGOs signatory to the Framework Partnership Agreement Non-profit organisations (Article 7 Council Regulation 1257/96) European research institutes, universities and academic institutions Who will benefit ? FPA partners + staff; Local implementing partners Civil Society in EU countries underrepresented under current FPA Training : minimum 50 % of participants not from own organisation Size of grants : between 100.000 – 500.000 EUR

8. Grant Facility Specific objective 2 Enhance the quality of management, increase the accountability to those in need and to European citizens on proper use of public funds and promote humanitarian principles and law Eligible partners : who can apply ? NGOs and international organisations signatory to the Framework Partnership Agreement Non-profit organisations (Article 7 Council Regulation 1257/96) European research institutes, universities and academic institutions Who will benefit ? The global humanitarian community Result of the projects will be made accessible to all FPA Partners Size of grants : between 100.000 – 300.000 EUR

9. Grant Facility Specific objective 3 Strengthen the capacity of partners using the A control mechanism and of civil society in European Union Countries which are under-represented in the framework of the current Framework Partnership Agreement Eligible partners : who can apply ? NGOs signatory to the Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) with DG ECHO and using the A control mechanism for capacity building of the submitting organisation All NGOs signatory to the Framework Partnership Agreement with DG ECHO for strengthening the capacity of civil society in underrepresented EU countries Who will benefit ? NGOs signatory to the FPA and using the A control mechanism Civil society in EU countries underrepresented under current FPA Size of grants : between 50.000 – 200.000 EUR

10. Grant Facility Specific objective 4 Reinforce networking between DG ECHOs NGO Partners Eligible networks: Non-profit legal person Main headquarters in a Member State of the European Union At least 4 FPA partners are active member of the network At least 1 FPA partner is member of the steering board or committee Aim of the network : Improve the quality and effectiveness of humanitarian aid Contribute to the humanitarian aid priorities (European Consensus or Hyogo Framework for action 2005-2015) Enhance the cooperation between European NGOs Who shall benefit ? Global humanitarian community Results accessible to all FPA partners Size of grants: between 100.000 – 200.000 EUR Operating grant agreements

11. Grant Facility Evaluation procedure By a dedicated team (evaluation committee) in cooperation with the Capacity Building Steering Group of DG ECHO The evaluation will cover : Eligibility check : eligible action ? – eligible applicant ? – eligible beneficiary ? If not met : rejection of the proposal Appraisal using 6 criteria : 1.The relevance of the proposal to the specific objective; 2.The added-value in improving the quality of humanitarian aid and in increasing its effectiveness; 3.The proposed methodology, experience and quality of the logical framework; 4.Budget and cost-effectiveness; 5.Individual proposal or proposal introduced by several partners; 6.The contribution to DG ECHOs visibility

12. Grant Facility Indicative time-table Deadline for submission of proposals (Single Forms) : 15 February 2010 Confirmation of receipt of project proposal + reference number for further communication : end February 2010 Analysis received Single Forms by evaluation committee : March 2010 Eligibility check for non FPA-partners (based on legal documents) : end of March 2010 Early April : feedback indicating : - Notification of award - Rejection of proposal + reason - Proposal put on the reserve list (max. 2 months) Finalisation Single Forms : April 2010 Signature Agreements : end of April / early May 2010

13. Grant Facility Implementation and reporting Same procedures as for other humanitarian actions with DG ECHO Model grant agreement (model used for agreements with FPA – NGOs): http://ec.europa.eu/echo/about/actors/fpa_en.htm Model operating grant agreement (only for agreements under specific objective 4): http://www.cc.cec/budg/imp/grants/imp-90_014_agreement_en.html#1 Modifications of an agreement after it has entered into force : - only possible if both parties agree; - should be justified, clear and unequivocal - depending on the type of modification the procedure will vary (unilateral modification – exchange of letters – supplementary agreement) - maximum 1 month before end of implementation period of action

14. Grant Facility Implementation and reporting (continued) Reporting : Single Form ALWAYS used for : - Project proposals - Intermediate Report - Final Report (narrative + financial report) During the action, dialogue and communication with DG ECHO desk officers: - Sylvia Wilcox sylvia.wilcox@ec.europa.eusylvia.wilcox@ec.europa.eu - Laura Vari laura.vari@ec.europa.eulaura.vari@ec.europa.eu - Carine Uwase carine.uwase@ec.europa.eucarine.uwase@ec.europa.eu Reference library : http://ec.europa.eu/echo/about/actors/fpa_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/echo/about/actors/fpa_en.htm

15. GRANT FACILITY

16. Grant Facility Geographical scope In which countries can a proposal cover operations ? The Grant Facility is not limited to a geographical region. Capacity building initiatives and trainings can be organised in a member state of the European Union and in third countries receiving humanitarian aid. In principle we do not finance operations either in european countries which are not a member state of the European Union or in third countries which do not receive humanitarian aid. Justified exceptions are possible.

17. Grant Facility Eligibility of partners An NGO signatory to the Framework Partnership Agreement with DG ECHO has not yet been awarded a grant Can this partner be eligible under the Grant Facility ? YES under specific objectives 1 or 2 or 3 Take extra care when justifying the added value of your action to improve the quality of humanitarian aid and when underlining the experience you have in the chosen area of intervention.

18. Grant Facility Technical experience How to prove the technical experience in the chosen area of intervention ? (supporting document § 1.3) Description : chapter 3 of the Single Form (Humanitarian organisation in the area of intervention) Certificates not required Possibility to add annexes to the Single Form

19. Grant Facility Period of Implementation When can I start my action – when should my action be completed ? Grant Facility Decision 16/12/2009 15/06/2011 A B B A AB A : The start date of your action shall be at the earliest the date DG ECHO receives your Single Form or a later date (provisional date for signature of agreements : end April / early May 2010) B : All the actions financed under the Decision shall be completed before 15/06/2011 - if not, related costs not eligible

20. Grant Facility Eligibility of beneficiaries Specific objective 1 : local capacity building / specialised sector training The action should benefit to inter alia, local implementing actors in the field Local implementing actor - could that be a local government agency / employees ? In principle, yes Example : Some employees from a local (not national) government could participate in training events but may not form the majority of the participants + local government directly involved in implementation of humanitarian aid

21. Grant Facility Eligibility of beneficiaries Specific objective 1 : local capacity building / specialised sector training - The action should benefit : - FPA partners + staff - Local implementing actors in the field (local partners of FPA partners) - Civil society from EU-countries under-represented under current FPA Could the proposed action also benefit : - Civil society from EU-candidate or EU-potential candidate countries (example : Croatia, Macedonia, Iceland …) ? - Staff from NGOs (who have not signed the FPA) from a member state of the EU ? In principle, they may participate but we would expect they do not form the majority of the participants. Our first objective is to reach staff of our FPA-partners, their local implementing partners + civil society from underrepresented countries.

22. Grant Facility Eligibility of beneficiaries Specific objective 1 : local capacity building / specialised sector training: At least 50 % of participants should not belong to the applicant organisation. Participation from outside the family related organisation will be considered as an advantage. « Family related organisation » : consists of different autonomous organisations sharing core values and mission. Autonomous organisations member of the same « family » or member of the same « movement ». Max. 50 % staff of the applicant + Staff from other FPA-partners; and / or Staff from local implementing partners from FPA-partners; and / or Staff from civil society from under-represented countries (FPA)

23. Grant Facility Number of applications Applicants may act individually or with partners. A proposal introduced by several FPA partners will be looked upon favourably. In this case: - 1 partner = lead - other partners = implementing partners An applicant may submit:- individual proposal and - 1 proposal as lead partner Lead partner will be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with their partners and WILL NOT ACT AS AN INTERMEDIARY Individual proposal : the whole action has to be implemented by the applicant or can there be implementing partners ? There can be implementing partners – majority local implementing partners Proposal as lead partner : do the implementing partners all have to be FPA partners ? majority FPA-partners Applicants submits : an individual proposal + a proposal as lead Can this applicant in addition be an implementing partner ? Yes Is it possible to have an NGO as lead + UN implementing partner + other FPA partners ? Specific Capacity building programme for IO. Exception possible only if implementation by UN necessary + minor.

24. Grant Facility Thank you OTHER QUESTIONS ?