REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report on the interim evaluation of the «Daphne III Programme 2007 – 2013 »  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report on the interim evaluation of the «Daphne III Programme 2007 – 2013 »
Date: 2011-05-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: action programme, child, civil defence, cooperation policy, violence, woman, young person

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 11.5.2011 
COM(2011) 254 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Report on the interim evaluation of the «Daphne III Programme 2007 – 2013 » 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

4. 

4.1. 

4.2. 

4.3. 

4.4. 

4.5. 

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 3 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME ........................................................ 4 

Overview of the Daphne programme........................................................................... 4 

Implementation of the Daphne programme ................................................................. 5 

MAIN FINDINGS OF THE INTERIM EVALUATION............................................ 6 

Relevance ..................................................................................................................... 6 

Effectiveness ................................................................................................................ 8 

Efficiency ..................................................................................................................... 9 

Sustainability.............................................................................................................. 10 

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS .................................................... 10 

Improved focus on EU policy priorities..................................................................... 11 

Better dissemination and sustainability of projects' results ....................................... 11 

Balanced participation in the Daphne programme..................................................... 12 

More efficient management of the Daphne programme ............................................ 12 

Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 12 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The present interim evaluation of the Daphne III programme aims at providing an insight 
into  the  results  achieved  so  far  by  the  programme  and  the  qualitative  and  quantitative 
aspects of its implementation. The obligation to submit this evaluation to the European 
Parliament and the Council is expressed in Article 15 of the legal base of the Daphne III 
programme1.  

The evaluation of the programme was carried out by the Commission with the support of 
an  independent  external  evaluator2.  It  focused  on  the  results  obtained  so  far  by  the 
programme and the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the implementation of Daphne 
III3. 

The Commission has undertaken an in-depth analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of 
the Daphne III programme concerning: 

(1) How to improve the implementation during the reminder of the current programme; 
and, 

(2) How to improve the design of the programme in view of the "successor programme".  

More specifically the evaluation of the programme assessed: 

(1)  The  relevance  in  terms  of  the  programme's  objectives  and  approach  including, 
whether the objectives are pertinent to the needs and problems of the target groups, the 
priorities responsive to the policy developments, and whether the programme provides an 
EU added value and ensures synergies with other programmes; 

(2)  The  effectiveness  of  the  programme,  understood  as  the  extent  to  which  the 
programme  is  successful  in  achieving  its  objectives  and  creating  trans-national 
partnerships, and what the factors affecting the progress are; 

(3) The efficiency of the programme referring to the extent to which the Commission and 
the  funded  organisations  have  made  the  best  use  of  resources  –  financial,  human, 
technical – to implement the programme and activities, and to deliver the results. 

The  Report  presents  the  main  findings  of  the  evaluation,  conclusions  and  the 
recommendations  for  the  remaining  period  of  the  implementation  of  the  Daphne  III 
programme. 

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3 

Decision No 779/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007; OJ L 
173/19 of 3 July 2007 
The study was prepared by the European Policy Evaluation Consortium. 
The  study  undertaken  by  the  independent  evaluator  was  composed  of  desk  research,  interviews 
with Commission officials responsible for Daphne programme and other related programmes, an 
online survey of the beneficiaries of grants and finally case studies of selected projects.  

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2. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME 

2.1. 

Overview of the Daphne programme 

The Daphne III programme 2007-2013 "to prevent and combat violence against women, 
children and young people and to protect victims and groups at risk" was established by 
the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  in  2007  and  it  builds  on  and  serves  as  a 
continuation of the Daphne Initiative and its successors the Daphne I and the Daphne II 
programmes.  

The  first  Daphne  Initiative  started  already  in  1997  as  one  of  the  elements  of  a  broad-
ranging response of the EU to the cases of trafficking and sexual exploitation of children 
that had shaken Europe and galvanised public and political opinion.  

Recognising the links between violence against women and violence against children and 
young  people,  the  Daphne  Initiative  aimed  to  promote  actions  to  combat  violence  not 
only  against  children,  but  also  against  young  people  and  women.  This  approach  was 
further reflected in the subsequent Daphne programmes. 

The general objective of Daphne III is to contribute to the protection of children, young 
people  and  women  against  all  forms  of  violence  and  to  attain  a  high  level  of  health 
protection, well-being and social cohesion.  

These general objectives contribute to the development of EU policies, in particular those 
related to public health, human rights and gender equality, as well as actions aimed at the 
protection  of  children's  rights,  and  the  fight  against  trafficking  in  human  beings  and 
sexual exploitation. 

The  Daphne  III  specific  objective  is  to  contribute  to  the  prevention  of,  and  the  fight 
against,  all  forms  of  violence  occurring  in  the  public  or  the  private  domain  against 
children,  young  people  and  women,  including  sexual  exploitation  and  trafficking  in 
human  beings,  by  taking  preventive  measures  and  by  providing  support  and  protection 
for victims and groups at risk. 

By providing necessary funding Daphne III supports the following types of actions: 

(1)  Specific  transnational  projects  of  EU  interest  involving  at  least  two  Member  States 
(action grants) 

(2) Support to the activities of NGOs or other organisations, pursuing an aim of general 
European interest (operating grants) 

(3) Specific action taken by the Commission, such as studies and research, opinion polls 
and surveys, seminars, conferences and experts meetings (Commission initiatives)  

The activities financed by Daphne III include assisting and encouraging NGOs active in 
the  field,  developing  and  implementing  awareness  actions  targeting  specific  audiences, 
disseminating the results obtained under the Daphne I and the Daphne II programmes or 
identifying and enhancing actions contributing to positive treatment of people at risk of 
violence.  

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The  programme  also  helps  setting  up  and  supporting  multidisciplinary  networks, 
ensuring the expansion of evidence-based information and the knowledge base, designing 
educational materials and finally studying phenomena related to violence and its impact. 

Daphne III is open to organisations and institutions from EU Member States and EFTA 
States that are parties to the European Economic Area Agreement (Iceland, Lichtenstein 
and  Norway)  and  is  managed  centrally  by  the  European  Commission,  which  is 
responsible for setting the annual priorities, management of the budget, evaluation of the 
proposals and the conclusion of grants. 

2.2. 

Implementation of the Daphne programme 

The total financial envelope foreseen for the Daphne III programme is € 116.85 million 
for the period 2007-2013 with annual budgets of € 14.2 million in 2007, € 14.7 million in 
2008, € 17.8 million in 2009 and € 18.45 million in 2010. 

As  far  as  the  distribution  of  the  budget  is  concerned,  an  average  of  80  %  of  funds  is 
allocated  each  year  for  Action  Grants,  14  %  for  Operating  Grants  and  5  %  for 
Commission initiatives. 

Since 2007 the Commission has published 3 calls for proposals for Action Grants and 4 
calls  for  proposals  for  Operating  Grants  and  has  contracted  14  Commission  initiatives 
through public procurement procedures. 

The calls published by the Commission attracted a great number of proposals. For Action 
Grants  the  Commission  received  and  evaluated  until  now  697  proposals  submitted  by 
partnerships of organisations from at least two Member States. Following the assessment 
of formal criteria and the merits of the proposals, the Commission has funded 165 trans-
national projects. 

For Operating Grants the Commission received 112 proposals in total (including an on-
going selection) and has funded 29 of those after an assessment of their quality.  

The Commission finances up to 80% of the total cost and sets the ceilings for the amount 
of the grant. In case of Action Grants the minimum amount of a grant is € 75.000 while 
the maximum is € 600.000, whereas for Operating  Grants there is only the upper limit of 
€ 300.000.  

Therefore, the budget of the Daphne III programme allows funding of an average of 41 
Action Grants and 10 Operating Grants per year with the average amount of EU grant of 
€ 362.000 and € 175.000 respectively (2009 figures).  

Out of the 194 projects funded until now (Action Grants and Operating Grants) 55 aim to 
fight  violence  against  women,  57  violence  against  children,  27  violence  against  young 
people, whereas 55 projects are addressing more than one form of violence. A wide range 
of activities are carried out by the funded projects, which usually address more than one 
specific objectives or priorities of the programme. The most common deliverables are the 
production of materials, such as leaflets, booklets, guides and websites; the dissemination 
of  good  practices;  trainings;  and  conferences  or  seminars.  Other  deliverables  include 
academic publications, other research products and the setting up of public debates.  

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3. 

MAIN FINDINGS OF THE INTERIM EVALUATION 

3.1. 

Relevance 

The evaluation concludes that overall the Daphne III programme is highly relevant to the 
problems  it  was  designed  to  address.  The  level  of  violence  is  still  prevalent  and  the 
demand  for  the  programme  is  high.  Furthermore,  the  programme  objectives  –  prevent 
and combat all forms of violence against women, children and young people and develop 
a EU coordinated action – remain relevant to the ongoing needs of the target groups.  

Actions implemented under Daphne III adhere to the programme objectives. According 
to  a  mapping  of  projects  in  comparison  with  the  programme  objectives  there  is  a  clear 
link between the activities that have been, or are being, implemented by the projects and 
the  objectives  outlined  in  the  legal  basis  of  the  programme.  Furthermore,  the  results  of 
projects often feed into or have influence on policy (at national and EU level). However, 
the programme could do more to ensure that the results of activities funded by Daphne III 
are utilised in this way.  

In terms of EU-added value, the trans-national nature of the programme means that the 
different organisations from the Member States cooperate towards reducing violence and 
benefit  from  exchange  of  knowledge  and  best  practices.  Furthermore,  the  programme 
offers  the  opportunity  to  organisations  from  different  Member  States  to  cooperate  in 
preventing types of violence which are specifically trans-national. 

At  the  strategic  level,  the need  to  address  violence  against  women,  children  and  young 
people remains highly relevant, as the problem of violence persists and these issues are as 
relevant today as they were in 1997, when the Daphne Initiative was adopted. The fact 
that  the  objectives  remain  relevant  is  further  indicated  by  the  high  demand  for  funding 
through Daphne. On average, only 17.5 % of proposals for Action Grants and 36 % of 
proposals for Operating Grants can be funded each year.  

The scope covered by the Daphne III programme has expanded since the initiation of the 
Daphne programme to cover violence against a wider target group and in a larger number 
of forms. This is because, as the programme has funded more projects, different forms of 
violence have come to light. Highly specific forms of violence covered by ongoing and 
recently  completed  projects  include  violence  in  kindergartens,  "dating  violence",  abuse 
of elderly people and violence in intimate teenage relationships. 

Violence  per  se  is  not  defined  in  the  legal  base  for  Daphne  –  on  the  contrary,  it  is 
stipulated that the Daphne III programme covers "all forms of violence"4. In this regard, 
and in view of the expanding scope of target groups and issues covered, some criticism 
has been raised that the programme objectives may be too broad, and that it may be better 
to  create  a  more  focused  programme.  Furthermore,  there  is  a  risk  that  fewer  projects 
which focus on trans-national violence will be covered. 

The way by which the Commission ensures that the programme remains pertinent to its 
original objectives whilst allowing for innovation and flexibility is through the adoption 
of  the  annual  thematic  priorities.  The  thematic  priorities  act  as  specific  objectives  for 

4 

Articles 2 and 3 of the Decision 779/2007/EC establishing the Daphne programme 

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each  annual  budget  of  the  programme,  and  proposals  are  selected  on  the  basis  of  their 
alignment with the priorities.  

For example, in 2008 the priorities covered the broader topics of violence in the family 
and violence against vulnerable groups, but also the extent to which national legislation 
adheres  to  the  Convention  on  the  Rights  of  the  Child,  as  well  as  harmful  traditional 
practices.  This  allows  the  programme  to  target  a  focused  number  of  issues,  while 
remaining flexible and open to innovation. Nevertheless, proportionally larger number of 
activities funded fall within the broader objectives. In this respect there may be scope to 
further narrow or more closely guide the focus of the funded projects. 

There is a strong link to policy within the Daphne III programme both at the programme 
level and at the grassroots project level. It is clear  that  influencing policy is one of the 
aims of both. However, while the programme aims to guide policy (as well as reflect it), 
findings  point  to  the  fact  that  the  Commission  could  do  more  to  use  the  results  of  the 
implemented  actions  to  support  policy  developments.  Individually  also,  many  of  the 
projects implemented under Daphne III have as a goal to influence national or European 
policies.  This  is  reflected  in  the  survey  of  the  project  managers  where  a  vast  majority 
indicated that they would try, or already have, made an impact on policy. For example a 
Daphne  funded  organisation  is  advocating  for  Europe-wide  implementation  of  a  single 
telephone number scheme to report missing children. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  Daphne  III  addresses  issues  relating  to  gender  equality,  human 
rights,  protection  of  children  and  the  health  and  well  being  of  women,  children  and 
young  people,  the  programme  has  a  scope  to  both  complement  but  also  overlap  with 
other programmes both at the EU and national level.  

While there might be some overlaps in terms of the target groups and to some extent in 
the content, Daphne is the only programme which deals specifically with violence against 
women, children and young people.  

This  was  confirmed  in  consultations  with  stakeholders.  The  great  majority  of  grant 
beneficiaries  indicated  that  funding  for  the  same  type  of  activities  cannot  be  obtained 
from other EU programmes, national or international institutions. They also agreed that 
without the funding of Daphne they would not have been able to implement their planned 
activities. 

As regards to the EU added value, the programme was created in response to two very 
specific types of violence – paedophilia operating in networks and human trafficking – 
both  of  which  are  trans-national  in  nature.  These  two  types  of  violence  still  form  the 
focus  of  projects  funded  through  Daphne  to  date.  Specifically,  in  order  to  fight  these 
types of violence, cooperation between different countries is essential. 

There is also a need for exchange of best practices and investigation of the phenomenon 
of violence at a Europe-wide level. In particular, partnerships between distinct Member 
States  can  increase  the  knowledge-base  of  participating  organisations  and  extend  the 
scope of dissemination of projects results. 

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3.2. 

Effectiveness 

The effectiveness of the Daphne programme refers to the extent to which the programme 
is  successful  in  achieving  its  objectives.  It  could  be  stated  that  the  Daphne  programme 
has  a  considerable  impact  and  has  managed  to  make  progress  towards  achieving  its 
objectives.  

Actions funded through Daphne III are contributing to the prevention of violence against 
the target groups, to the exchange of best  practices  between the Member States, and  to 
policy  developments  at  EU  and  national  level.  However,  a  number  of  procedural  and 
substantive challenges have been identified which affect progress. 

Since its launch as the Daphne Initiative, the programme has expanded in capacity. The 
budget  of  the  Daphne  I  programme  was  €  20  m illion  for  a  three  year  funding  period; 
Daphne  II  had  a  budget  of  €  50  million  for  a  four  year  programme;  Daphne  III  has  a 
budget of over € 116 million. This is reflected 
in the increase in the number of projects 
funded in the recent years.  

Daphne often provides funding to the same organisation more than once, and this allows 
organisations  to  get  off  the  ground  and  projects  to  evolve.  Actions  funded  through 
Daphne have contributed to policy and have produced concrete outputs. More, however, 
could be done by improving the dissemination of the results of the Daphne programme to 
a wider audience. 

Moreover, the impact of some projects remains questionable because they seem to lack 
innovation  in  their  approach  and  the  actions  proposed,  and  are  highly  repetitive.  Many 
applicants tend to concentrate too much on the presentation of the project rather than on 
the question whether the action would bring any changes to the problem of violence. This 
approach  is  further  strengthened  by  the  Commission's  lack  of  reliable  indicators  to 
measure the impact of any project. 

With  regard  to  substantive  challenges,  involvement  of  local  and  national  authorities 
appeared in some cases to be an issue. For example, for the development of some of the 
project  activities  the  local  or  national  authorities'  cooperation  was  needed.  When  the 
level  of  cooperation  or  support  from  these  authorities  was  low,  this  was  a  direct  factor 
affecting the progress of the projects.  

On a positive note, the creation and maintenance of trans-national partnerships is one of 
the key achievements of the Daphne programme and it is an element of the programme 
which has been the most successful in ensuring the EU added value. The data show that 
each  project  involves  an  average  of  4-5  partners.  Projects  rarely  involve  many  more 
partners, as multiple partnerships are difficult to manage, and it means that the financing 
is spread too thinly.  

However,  the  evidence  suggests  that  more  could  be  done  to  promote  new  partnerships 
and  to  ensure  that  there  is  a  reasonable  geographic  spread  of  lead  organisations  as  the 
participation of organisations from some countries remains limited. This is especially the 
case  for  Member  States  that  joined  in  2004  and  2007  as  the  civil  society  organisations 
still lack the structures and expertise to compete for funds under Daphne. Organisations 
from  Italy,  the  United  Kingdom,  Belgium  and  Germany  are  the  most  frequent  project 

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leaders  while  there  is  notable  lack  of  projects  from  Romania,  Czech  Republic,  Poland 
and the Baltic countries. 

3.3. 

Efficiency 

The efficiency refers to the extent to which the Commission and the funded organisations 
have made the  best use of  resources to implement the programme and activities and to 
deliver the results.  

The  financial  resources  currently  provided  by  the  programme  to  implement  actions  are 
appropriate in that they allow high quality projects to be funded and at the same time the 
ratio of success in project selection ensures the significant competition among projects.  

The majority of the grant beneficiaries confirmed during the survey and interviews that 
the  financial  resources  available  for  the  selected  projects  allowed  them  to  produce  the 
planned  results.  At  the  same  time  a  suggestion  was  made  that  perhaps  a  change  in  the 
scale  of  projects  should  be  considered.  More  specifically,  funding  of  fewer  but  large-
scale projects could be more efficient, provide better value for money and bring results 
with a significant impact. 

The  Commission  makes  funding  available  in  the  form  of  Action  Grants  (to  finance 
specific trans-national projects) and Operating Grants (to support the day-to-day running 
costs  of  organisations  active  in  the  field).  The  percentage  of  budget  available  for 
Operating Grants and the number of organisations that would be eligible for this type of 
funding (are active at the European level) is however rather low. For this reason it was 
indicated that perhaps all funding should be concentrated on Action Grants only, which 
would  reduce  the  administrative  burden  related  to  a  separate  selection  process.  Also 
greater  use  could  be  made  of  Commission  initiatives  to  support  the  programme 
administration and the dissemination of results. 

Regarding  the  application  process,  significant  changes  were  introduced  to  facilitate  the 
Daphne application process. Firstly, the Commission has introduced an electronic system 
of  project  submission  through  the  PRIAMOS  on-line  tool.  Secondly,  an  "online  chat" 
was  made  available,  through  which  the  applicants  could  address  queries  to  the 
Commission in an open forum which all the applicants could see. Thirdly, the application 
forms were changed to focus the evaluation process on the final results and outputs of the 
projects. Generally, the feedback from the grant beneficiaries shows that the application 
process  is  appropriate,  although  further  efforts  should  be  taken  to  reduce  the 
administrative burden. 

However, the evidence gathered suggests that the period between the project submission 
and  the  conclusion  of  contracts  is  too  long  and  this  has  a  negative  impact.  This  is 
especially valid for the Operating Grants, where the funding was provided some months 
already into the financial year for which the funding was granted causing difficulties in 
implementing activities.  

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3.4. 

Sustainability 

Sustainability refers to the extent to which the partnerships, actions and their outputs will 
continue once the EU funding has ended and will bring a sustained impact on the target 
groups. 

It became evident that many projects rely heavily on EU funding to implement activities 
and  to  achieve  impacts  on  the  ground.  In  particular,  a  significant  amount  of  grant 
beneficiaries  under  Daphne  III  had  previously  received  EU  funding  and  many  were 
implementing activities under Daphne which were a continuation of those implemented 
under earlier funding. While this can be regarded as a weakness of the programme, it has 
to  be  underlined  that  the  Daphne  programme  is  often  considered  "unique"  in  its  scope 
and, while other resources may be available, they may not be as appropriate as Daphne. 

Moreover, the creation of stable partnerships is an important component of Daphne III. 
As with other EU programmes, Action Grants are awarded to organisations which have 
specifically  formed  transnational  partnerships  in  order  to  implement  their  proposed 
actions. Indeed, the Daphne III programme frequently produces successful partnerships. 
According to the feedback from grant beneficiaries, the vast majority of partnerships are 
likely to continue cooperation in a structured manner. 

Thus,  the  Daphne  III  programme  allows  organisations  to  establish  future  contacts  and 
networks and this has been highlighted as one of the benefits of including partners from 
other countries. The types of activities funded under Daphne – for example exchange of 
best practices, support for networks for the protection of women and children, European 
level help-lines,  and  comparative  European research – function better when  undertaken 
by the trans-national partnerships. It could be emphasised that the creation of strong and 
sustainable partnerships is the key success of projects under Daphne III. 

The extent to which the outputs of the projects will be sustainable and the needs of the 
target groups  will  continue to  be  met depends to a large degree on the activities which 
have been implemented under the projects, and the type of outputs and impacts resulting 
from these activities.  

The analysis of the implemented activities suggests that projects funded under Daphne III 
have  implemented  some  structures  which  will  continue  to  support  target  groups  in  the 
longer term. On the other hand, activities which cater to the immediate and direct needs 
of  the  target  groups  may  depend  on  the  continued  funding.  However,  the  case  studies 
conducted for the selected projects indicate that some implemented actions have already 
brought concrete results which are very likely to be sustainable over a long period.  

4. 

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 

In  response  to  challenges  and  issues  identified  during  the  programme  evaluation,  the 
Commission plans to implement the following measures in order to strengthen the impact 
of the programme and improve its implementation. 

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4.1. 

Improved focus on EU policy priorities  

Although  the  general  and  specific  priorities  of  the  programme  remain  relevant  and  the 
programme  is  very  responsive  to  new  developments  through  the  adoption  of  annual 
priorities,  the  evaluation  suggests  that  the  Daphne  III  programme  risks  moving  away 
from its main focus and target groups and in this respect could risk causing overlap with 
other EU programmes. The programme could also do more to achieve stronger links with 
current policy developments. 

The  Commission  will  continue  to  steer  Daphne  III  through  the  adoption  of  annual 
priorities,  but  it  will  focus  on  a  short  list  of  priorities  of  particular  importance.  In  this 
respect,  the  annual  priorities  will  make  the  programme  both  flexible  and  responsive  to 
evolving problems and needs. This will ensure that the Daphne III programme remains 
an important policy  tool,  both  developing new  ideas  and best practices  and  influencing 
the policy-making across Europe. 

To  achieve  stronger  impact,  the  Commission  will  also  consider  adjusting  the  scale  of 
funded  projects,  thus  financing  those  that  bring  an  important  EU  added  value  and 
produce widely disseminated outputs. 

More focused annual priorities will also allow avoiding any possible overlaps with other 
sources of funding available through EU programmes such as PROGRESS, Fundamental 
Rights and Citizenship and Prevention and Fight against Crime programmes. It has to be 
noted  that,  although  currently  there  are  some  similarities  in  terms  of  content  and 
activities  between  Daphne  and  other  EU  programmes,  in  general  these  represent 
synergies rather than overlaps. 

At  the  same  time  the  Commission  will  still  leave  a  possibility  to  finance  new  and 
innovative projects outside the annual priorities. The programme should remain open to 
new  ideas  on  how  to  combat  and  prevent  violence  against  women,  children  and  young 
people and the organisations applying for funding should have an opportunity to develop 
and  present  innovative  projects.  The  number  of  projects  funded  outside  priorities  will 
nevertheless remain limited to ensure focus on annual priorities. 

4.2. 

Better dissemination and sustainability of projects' results  

The  evaluation  of  the  Daphne  III  programme  found  out  that  more  could  be  done  to 
disseminate  the  results  of  the  funded  projects.  The  Commission  will  take  measures  to 
strengthen  the  impact  of  projects  and  their  sustainability.  First  of  all,  the  Commission 
will further focus the evaluation of projects and the design of the calls on the results and 
the  outputs  of  the  funded  actions.  This  result-oriented  approach  will  ensure  that  the 
available funds will be spent only on projects which really contribute to the objectives of 
Daphne and bring an important added value. 

Secondly,  funding  fewer  but  bigger  projects  could  also  be  a  solution  to  improve 
sustainability  as  generally  bigger  actions  have  better  chances  of  being  properly 
disseminated. The Commission will also further raise the profile of the "Daphne brand" 
which, as mentioned on many occasions by the grant beneficiaries, gives the projects an 
important credibility contributing towards better impact and sustainability. 

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Finally, the Commission will make use of some other tools to improve the availability of 
information  about  the  Daphne  funded  projects,  such  as  the  improvement  and  update  of 
the  "Daphne  toolkit"  website  and  funding  specific  projects  which  focus  only  on  the 
dissemination of results obtained so far by the consecutive Daphne programmes.  

4.3. 

Balanced participation in the Daphne programme 

The participation in the Daphne programme is not equal among Member States. There is 
a notable lack of applicants from Central and East European countries. 

The Commission will step up efforts to raise the profile of Daphne in countries where the 
participation  of  organisations  is  lower  than  the  average.  This  could  include  a  targeted 
information  campaign  consisting  of  information  meetings  and  distribution  of  Daphne 
booklets.  

Possibilities  of  cooperation  with  national  and  regional  authorities  to  disseminate 
information on the programme will also be explored. This is particularly important as due 
to  the  moderate  size  of  the  programme  the  Commission  cannot  always  directly  reach 
potential  beneficiaries  and  therefore  needs  to  rely  on  other  measures  to  communicate 
with organisations interested in the Daphne programme.  

To  this  end,  the  Commission  could  involve  more  Member  States  in  the  Daphne 
Programme Committee to disseminate relevant information to civil society organisations 
in the Member States.  

4.4.  More efficient management of the Daphne programme  

According to the information provided by the grant beneficiaries, there is a need for more 
efficient management of the programme in terms of timing and support provided by the 
Commission  to  applicants  and  grant  beneficiaries.  Some  measures  have  already  been 
taken  to  improve  the  application  process.  These  are  the  introduction  of  the  electronic 
system of application (PRIAMOS), new application forms that concentrate on the results 
of projects and the on-line chat to provide support at the application stage. 

The Commission will take further measures to reduce the time between the publication of 
the  calls  and  the  conclusion  of  contracts,  especially  for  Operating  Grants  which  are 
awarded only for a given budgetary year.  

It  has  to  be  also  noted  that  the  large  number  of  grants  awarded  and,  consequently,  the 
number of final evaluations and the extent of support requested by the grant beneficiaries 
create  a  constantly  increasing  workload.  In  order  to  improve  the  efficiency  of  the 
management of Daphne, the Commission would identify solutions to achieve economies 
of scale, improving at the same time the impact of projects funded under the Daphne III 
programme.  

4.5. 

Conclusions 

The  evaluation  confirms  the  overall  success of  the  Daphne  programme  in  achieving  its 
objectives. Since 2007 the Daphne III programme has been funding nearly 200 projects 
contributing to the prevention of, and the fight against, all forms of violence occurring in 
the  public  or  the  private  domain  against  children,  young  people  and  women,  including 

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sexual exploitation and trafficking in human beings, by taking preventive measures and 
by providing support and protection for victims and groups at risk. 

The  programme  funded  successful  projects  that  established  European  networks,  shared 
best practices, produced various publications and studied the phenomenon of violence.  

The problem of violence remains prevalent and the need for the European response is as 
important as it was in 1997 when the first Daphne Initiative was established. The demand 
for funding remains very strong showing how relevant the needs of victims of violence – 
women, children and young people – are.  

In  order  to  improve  the  reach  and  impact  of  the  programme  the  Commission  will 
strengthen  the  links  of  the  programme  with  policy  developments,  ensure  balanced 
participation  and  improve  the  dissemination  of  the  results  of  the  projects  and  the 
management  of  the  selection  process.  Lessons  learned  during  this  evaluation  will  be 
integrated  into  the  reflection  and  preparatory  work  for  the  next  multiannual  financial 
framework. 

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