# C_2017067EN.01000801.xml

| 3.3.2017 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 67/8 |
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3.3.2017

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 67/8

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS — EACEA 08/2017

EU Aid Volunteers initiative: Projects for deployment of senior and junior EU Aid Volunteers to support and complement humanitarian aid in third countries, with a focus on strengthening the capacity and resilience of vulnerable and disaster affected communities and implementing organisations

(2017/C 67/08)

The Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps — EU Aid Volunteers (hereinafter referred to as ‘the EU Aid Volunteers initiative’) (1) and related legislation (2) establish a framework for joint contributions from European volunteers to support and complement humanitarian aid in third countries.

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The present call for proposals will provide funding to support actions aimed at deployment of EU Aid Volunteers to support and complement humanitarian aid in third countries in projects focusing on disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness and linking relief rehabilitation and development.

1.   Objectives

Objectives

The objective of the call is to fund projects involving the deployment of EU Aid Volunteers. These projects will contribute to strengthening the Union's capacity to provide needs-based humanitarian aid aimed at strengthening the capacity and resilience of vulnerable and disaster-affected communities in third countries by focusing on disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction and enhancing the link between relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD). In addition, these projects may also strengthen the capacities of implementing sending and hosting organisations participating or intending to participate in the EU Aid Volunteers initiative, including in tools and methods of early warning for disasters.

With this call the European Commission expects to achieve the following results:

| — | 525 junior/senior volunteers deployed to communities in vulnerable and disaster-affected third countries, |
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525 junior/senior volunteers deployed to communities in vulnerable and disaster-affected third countries,

| — | for junior professionals: possibility to take part in apprenticeship placements in EU before deployment, |
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for junior professionals: possibility to take part in apprenticeship placements in EU before deployment,

| — | opportunities for online volunteering to support or complement the project activities, |
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opportunities for online volunteering to support or complement the project activities,

| — | projects funded under this call provide synergies and complementarity to EU-funded operations in humanitarian aid or civil protection in the respective countries/regions. |
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projects funded under this call provide synergies and complementarity to EU-funded operations in humanitarian aid or civil protection in the respective countries/regions.

2.   Eligible bodies

Eligible bodies

All organisations involved in the project will be referred to hereafter as the ‘consortium’.

All applicants involved in applying within this call, and acting as either sending or hosting organisations, must be certified under the EU Aid Volunteers initiative. Details about the certification mechanism can be found at:

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/eu-aid-volunteers/funding/certification-mechanism-for-sending-and-hosting-organisations_en

The organisation applying on behalf of all applicants (coordinator) must be a certified EU sending organisation under the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.

The remaining applicants are either certified sending or certified hosting organisations under the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.

Project proposals involving sending and hosting organisations that have applied for certification before the deadline for submitting applications (Section 8) will be included in the eligibility check and evaluation phases. However the selection of these project proposals would be subject to the outcome of the certification process.

In order to maximise the chance that the decision on your application is taken in due time, it is highly recommended to apply for certification on or before 12 May 2017.

12 May 2017

A project consortium must involve at least two certified sending organisations from two different countries and two certified hosting organisations.

Non-certified organisations specialised in any areas relevant to the objectives or the actions of the project may be involved as partner in the consortium in order to contribute with their specific expertise (Article 8(3) Delegated Regulation). Such organisations have to meet the criteria as defined in the Regulation, Article 10(3) or Article 10(4).

3.   Eligible activities

Eligible activities

Activities supported under this call must include:

Deployment of senior and junior EU Aid Volunteers to humanitarian aid projects in the area of disaster risk reduction, preparedness and LRRD in third countries based on identified needs. This includes selection, recruitment and preparation of EU Aid Volunteers and communication activities in compliance with the Communication Plan of the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.

Activities to support the implementation of the main action may include:

| — | apprenticeship placements for junior volunteers in EU sending organisations, |
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apprenticeship placements for junior volunteers in EU sending organisations,

| — | capacity building of vulnerable, disaster affected communities and local organisations, |
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capacity building of vulnerable, disaster affected communities and local organisations,

| — | capacity building of hosting organisations, |
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capacity building of hosting organisations,

| — | technical assistance for sending organisations, |
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technical assistance for sending organisations,

| — | activities to promote involvement of online volunteers as well as employee volunteers to support the actions of the EU Aid Volunteers. |
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activities to promote involvement of online volunteers as well as employee volunteers to support the actions of the EU Aid Volunteers.

Project activities may include:

| — | information, communication and public awareness, |
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information, communication and public awareness,

| — | hazard, risk analysis and early warning, |
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hazard, risk analysis and early warning,

| — | contingency planning and preparedness for response, |
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contingency planning and preparedness for response,

| — | protection of livelihoods, assets and small scale mitigation works. |
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protection of livelihoods, assets and small scale mitigation works.

Activities within capacity building and technical assistance may include:

| — | activities to build/strengthen capacities, |
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activities to build/strengthen capacities,

| — | study/scoping visits to refine and finalise needs assessment of the action, |
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study/scoping visits to refine and finalise needs assessment of the action,

| — | seminars and workshops, |
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seminars and workshops,

| — | job-shadowing, |
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job-shadowing,

| — | twinning arrangements and exchange of staff, |
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twinning arrangements and exchange of staff,

| — | exchange of knowledge, organisational learning and good practice, |
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exchange of knowledge, organisational learning and good practice,

| — | study visits, |
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study visits,

| — | activities to foster partnership building, |
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activities to foster partnership building,

| — | activities to assist organisations in meeting the Core Humanitarian Standards, |
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activities to assist organisations in meeting the Core Humanitarian Standards,

| — | activities to strengthen regional cooperation, |
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activities to strengthen regional cooperation,

| — | (only for technical assistance) Coaching and mentoring of key sending organisation paid staff and volunteers, |
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(only for technical assistance) Coaching and mentoring of key sending organisation paid staff and volunteers,

| — | (only for capacity building) Training courses for third country trainers/coaches/mentors/multipliers, |
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(only for capacity building) Training courses for third country trainers/coaches/mentors/multipliers,

| — | (only for capacity building) Study visits of up to 3 months for key paid staff or volunteers from third countries to be based in EU applicant/partner organisations. |
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(only for capacity building) Study visits of up to 3 months for key paid staff or volunteers from third countries to be based in EU applicant/partner organisations.

Capacity building activities should be undertaken by senior volunteers or junior volunteers with significant experience in capacity building and supervised by a senior professional.

Online volunteering activities should be related to the project and shall be implemented via the EU Aid Volunteers Platform managed by the Commission.

4.   Eligible candidate volunteers

Eligible candidate volunteers

Sending and hosting organisations shall adhere to the standards and procedures regarding candidate volunteers and EU Aid Volunteers as provided by Regulation (EU) No 375/2014, Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1398/2014 and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1244/2014.

The following persons having a minimum age of 18 years shall be eligible to apply as candidate volunteers:

| — | citizens of the European Union, and |
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citizens of the European Union, and

| — | third country nationals who are long-term residents in a Member State. |
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third country nationals who are long-term residents in a Member State.

Candidate volunteers can be:

| — | junior professionals, in particular recent graduates with less than five years' professional experience and less than five years' experience in humanitarian action,
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junior professionals, in particular recent graduates with less than five years' professional experience and less than five years' experience in humanitarian action,

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| — | senior professionals with five years' professional experience in positions of responsibility or expert positions. |
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senior professionals with five years' professional experience in positions of responsibility or expert positions.

Selection of candidate volunteers is undertaken by sending and hosting organisations in conformity with Implementing Regulation (Chapter 2). Selected candidate volunteers must participate in the mandatory training programme provided within the EU Aid Volunteers initiative (3). Only those candidate volunteers who successfully pass this training and assessment will be eligible for deployment as EU Aid Volunteers.

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In addition, junior candidate EU Aid Volunteers who will be required by sending and hosting organisations to undertake an apprenticeship placement must also successfully pass this training and assessment.

Training courses for EU Aid Volunteers selected under this call for proposals will take place between April and July 2018. When planning activities, applicants to this call for proposals must take these dates into account when planning their workflow and timetable (i.e. advertising of deployment vacancies; shortlisting candidate volunteers for potential deployment; online training of candidates for at least 2 weeks; on-site training of candidate volunteers over 10-12 days; start of apprenticeship/deployment placements). Organisations should therefore be ready to publish their vacancies at least 3 months ahead of the start of the training course.

5.   Eligible activity venue and timeframe

Eligible activity venue and timeframe

Apprenticeship placements prior to deployment (only for junior volunteers) must take place in one of the sending organisations participating in the project for a maximum duration of 6 months, where possible in a country other than their country of origin.

Deployment placements can range between 1 month as a minimum and 18 months as a maximum.

An indicative list of third countries for 2017 for deployments and capacity building in third countries has been defined prior to the call according to a needs assessment methodology similar to that for humanitarian aid actions but excluding areas with ongoing armed conflict. This list plus details of the methodology can be found under the following link: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/eu-aid-volunteers/funding_en

This list can be modified due to the events that could endanger the security and safety of volunteers.

The project activities can take place beyond the partner countries as long as the countries concerned are also on the list of countries mentioned above.

Projects must start on 1 December 2017 with a maximum duration of 24 months.

Applications for projects scheduled to run for longer periods than that specified in this call for proposals will not be accepted.

However, if after the signing of the agreement and the start of the project it becomes impossible for the beneficiary, for fully justified reasons, to complete the project within the scheduled period, an extension of the eligibility period may be granted.

A maximum extension of three additional months can be granted, if requested before the deadline specified in the agreement. The maximum duration will then be 27 months.

6.   Award criteria

Award criteria

Eligible applications will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

| — | relevance of the project (maximum 30 points), |
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relevance of the project (maximum 30 points),

| — | quality of the project design and implementation (maximum 30 points), |
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quality of the project design and implementation (maximum 30 points),

| — | quality and relevance of the partnership and cooperation arrangements (maximum 20 points), |
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quality and relevance of the partnership and cooperation arrangements (maximum 20 points),

| — | impact and dissemination (maximum 20 points). |
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impact and dissemination (maximum 20 points).

Projects scoring less than 60 overall points will not be considered for funding.

7.   Budget available

Budget available

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at EUR 12 600 000.

The maximum grant will be EUR 1 400 000. Grant requests below EUR 100 000 will not be considered for funding. The Education, Audiovisual and Cultural Executive Agency (EACEA) expects to fund 12 proposals.

The EACEA reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

8.   Deadline for submission of applications

Deadline for submission of applications

Grant applications must be drawn up in one of the EU official languages, using the electronic application form (eForm) specifically designed for this purpose. The e-Form is presented at the following address: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/documents/eforms_en

The electronic application form duly completed must be submitted by 12.00 (midday, Brussels time) on 6 June 2017.

12.00 (midday, Brussels time) on 6 June 2017

9.   Additional information

Additional information

Applications must comply with the provisions contained in the application guidelines — Call for proposals EACEA 08/2017, be submitted on the e-Form provided for this purpose and contain the relevant annexes.

The documents can be found at the following address:

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/eu-aid-volunteers/funding_en

In case of questions, please contact: EACEA-EUAID-VOLUNTEERS@ec.europa.eu

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(1)  Regulation (EU) No 375/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 establishing the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (‘EU Aid Volunteers Initiative’) (OJ L 122, 24.4.2014, p. 1).

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(2)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1244/2014 of 20 November 2014 laying down rules for the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 375/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (‘EU Aid Volunteers initiative’) (OJ L 334, 21.11.2014, p. 52) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1398/2014 of 24 October 2014 laying down standards regarding candidate volunteers and EU Aid Volunteers (OJ L 373, 31.12.2014, p. 8).

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(3)  For more information, please consult the call for tenders EU Aid Volunteers initiative: training programme and training of candidate volunteers, 2015/S 069-122685.

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