CSOs as Actors in Governance and Development (India)

• Eligibility Criteria:
  In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  – Be a legal person;
  – Be non-profit making;
  – Be a specific type of organisation such as: civil society organisations or a civil society organisation association;
  – Be established in a Member State of the European Union or in a Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA); and
  – Be a non-Indian lead applicant must act with minimum of three Indian co-applicants.
• Type of funding: Programmatic
• Target country: India
• Application language: English

The European Commission (EC) is providing grants to strengthen Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as independent actors of good governance and development.

The global objective of this call for proposals is to strengthen Civil Society Organisations as independent actors of good governance and development in their own right.

The specific objective of this call for proposals is to strengthen Indian Civil Society Organisations’ ability to engage as actors of good governance and development at the local, state and country level.

The priorities of this Call for Proposals are:

1. LOT 1: To strengthen CSO engagement in EU-India Partnerships’ policy dialogues and contributing to the effective implementation of the Global Gateway Strategy in India.

The seven ongoing EU-India Partnerships focus on Climate and clean energy, Resource efficiency and renewable energy, Sustainable urbanisation, Water, Connectivity, Migration and mobility in addition to Science and technology. In India, EU investments under Global Gateway strategy’s five priorities, focuses primarily on Sustainable Urbanisation (incl urban transport), Energy Transition (incl clean energy), Water, Digitalisation, Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture.

2. LOT 2: To increase CSO capacity by developing or supporting existing CSO platforms, thereby enabling a coordinated approach and collective voice in developmental issues.

Key sectors/groups (non-exhaustive) linked with the SDGs for which a coordinated approach and collective voice is encouraged include governance, peace and security, human rights, freedom of expression along with challenges faced locally and regionally by women, youth, vulnerable groups, minorities including religious minorities, LGBTIQ+ community members, indigenous communities, persons living with disabilities, etc. Engagement, inclusion and empowerment of youth is considered as a growing and important sector by the EU, and a crucial factor for future overall economic growth and social cohesion.

3. LOT 3: To strengthen capacities of media actors for the promotion of freedom of expression, media freedom and pluralism online, combatting hate speech, extremism and disinformation. 

Actions (non-exhaustive) are expected to improve/increase the resilience of journalists/media houses, outreach to women journalists, journalists reporting about the work being undertaken by CSOs, and qualitative reporting on matters pertaining to SDGs and wider development-related issues.

The current call for proposals falls under the thematic programme for CSOs and aims to strengthen CSOs as independent actors of good governance and development. To this end, support for CSOs as a result of the programme has the key principles of promoting an inclusive, participatory, empowered, and independent civil society.

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