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Africa-Europe Foundation Awards Scheme a Call for Expression of Interest 2024

Mekelle:  14 April 2024 (Tigray Herald)

Africa-Europe Foundation Awards Scheme a Call for Expression of Interest 2024

1. SUMMARY

The Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) is launching an Awards Scheme to youthorganisations, cities/local authorities and civil society partners working from across Africaand Europe.

The purpose is to catalyse debate and action on the themes of the landmark “State-ofAfrica-Europe Report 2024”, fromnexus of ‘Climate Change and EconomicDevelopment’ to ‘Sustainable Finance’ and ‘Education, Culture and Science’.

The 2024 Awards Scheme is being launched in the context of a demand for a renewedpartnership between local youth organizations across Africa and Europe.

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The Awards Scheme includes micro-grant support for successful applicant organisations,with individual awards valued at a maximum of 5,000 Euros or a maximum of 10,000Euros. The Scheme is organised in two ‘lots’:

Local Impact Awards (Lot 1):

Local impact awards support initiatives developed and deliveredone of theMember States of the African Union or European Union.

Examples of ‘local initiatives’ include Townhall-style debates, youth expertconvenings, series of podcast interviews, community projects, etc…;.

‘Local initiatives’ should have a short timeline for implementation and take place,from startfinish, between July 2024 and October 2025. Expecting mostawarded projects to be short-timed, from few days to few weeks of

implementation.Direct beneficiaries of the ‘Local initiatives’ should include local communitiesfocusing on local youth. Indirect beneficiaries are the citizens of Africa and

Europe.

Cross-Network Awards (Lot 2):

Cross-continental initiatives should be implemented on the basis of working

across the two continents with either in-person or remote participation from at

least two Members States, one each from the AU and EU.Examples of cross-continental initiatives include youth hackathons, dialogues,gatherings, creative collaborative projects, etc…..

Cross-continental initiatives should have a short timeline for implementation thattake place, from start to finish, between July 2024 and October 2025. Expectingmost awards to focus on projects with a limited number of weeks of

implementation.

Direct beneficiaries of the ‘cross- continental projects’ should include local andainternational communities focusing on youth. Indirect beneficiaries are thecitizens of Africa and Europe.
2. PROGRAMME

About the AEF

The Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) is an independent, multi-stakeholder platform engaged infrank dialogue, policy advocacy and strategic analysis on promising topics for the Africa-Europepartnership. Founded in 2020 by Friends of Europe and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, inpartnership with the African Climate Foundation and ONE Campaign, the AEF aims to promoteand strengthen cooperation between Africa and Europe.

In a time of global challenges, the Africa-Europe Foundation aims to reset the relations betweenthe two continents by building a true partnership and a vision for a shared future. The AEF Charteroutlines organisation’s commitment in reshaping the Africa-Europe relations, rooted in theappetite for deeper partnership between the peoples of Africa and Europe; a partnership thatincludes civil society, cities, the private sector and, in priority, young people.

Background

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First piloted in 2022, the AEF Awards Scheme (New Partners Initiative’ engaged youthorganisations based in Africa and Europe.

Through this scheme, the AEF allocates micro-awards to qualifying organisations to conductactivities at national/sub-regional levels across both continentsthe AEF’s priority areas ofintervention. This scheme supports the AEF’s key objectives: to bring initiatives on Africa-Europeinto local settings and to strengthen AEF’s network of key partners by engaging with stakeholdersin AEF’s priority areas.

The AEF has pioneered an independent mechanism to track the Africa-Europe Partnership,including the implementation of political and financial commitments made by the AU and EUHeads of State at their periodic summits, focusing on the latest, 6th EU-AU Summit of February2022, to foster accountability and identify opportunities for enhanced implementation, thuscatalyse impact.

In February 2024, the AEF issued the first report of its kind, “The State of Africa-Europe Report2024”, which serves as the culmination of the Foundation’s dedicated effort to monitor deliveryof commitments between Africa and Europe and provides a benchmark for monitoring politicalcommitments between the main institutional actors of the Partnership.

Throughout 2024 and in the lead up to the next AU-EU Summit planned for 2025, the AEF aimsto engage with youth organisations and local communities on the themes of the Report to discussand action its outcomes.

2024 Call for Express of Interest

The 2024 Awards Scheme is being launched in the context of a demand for a renewed partnershipbetween local youth organizations across Africa and Europe.

AEF invites youth led organizations, cities/local authorities, think-tanks, civil society platformsand NGOs inspiring, empowering, and connecting local youth actors through dialogue to help
shape a strong, mutually beneficial partnership between Africa and Europe to tackle contemporarychallenges, to take part in this year’s scheme.

This Call is underpinned by the “State of Africa-Europe Report 2024”, produced by the AfricaEurope Foundation and focused on the implementation of policy/financial commitments of theEU-AU Partnership.

The Call aims to provide a platform for youth organisations and local actors to lead dialogues andactions on the core themes and analysis of the Report, from ‘Climate Change and EconomicDevelopment’ nexus to ‘Sustainable Finance’ and ‘Education, Culture and Science. The applicantsshould propose the type of action/micro-projects they wish to implement in their application.

AEF invites youth organisation to deep dive into 3 priority chapters of the Report through theirproposed projects:

iClimate and Development.

ii

Science, Education, and Culture.

iii.

Sustainable Finance.

This Call is organised in two lots:

1.Local Impact Awards (Lot 1):

Local impact awards support initiatives developed and delivered

one of the

Member States of the African UnionEuropean Union.Examples of ‘local initiatives’ include Townhall-style debates, youth expert

convenings, series of podcast interviews, community projects, etc…;’Local initiatives’ should have a short timeline for implementation and take place,from start to finish, between July 2024 and October 2025. Expecting most awardedprojects to be short-timed, from few days to few weeks of implementation.Direct beneficiaries of the Local initiatives’ should include local communitiesfocusing on local youth. Indirect beneficiaries are the citizens of Africa andEurope.

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2

Cross-Network Awards (Lot 2):

Cross-continental initiatives should be implemented on the basis of working acrossthe two continents with either in-person or remote participation from at least twoMembers States, one each from the AU and EU.

Examples of cross-continental initiatives include youth hackathons, dialogues,gatherings, creative collaborative projects, etc…..

Cross-continental initiatives should have a short timeline for implementation thattake place, from start to finish, between July 2024 and October 2025. Expectingmost awards to focus on projects with a limited number of weeks ofimplementation.Direct beneficiaries of the ‘cross- continental projects’ should include local and

international communities focusing on youth. Indirect beneficiaries are the citizens

of Africa and Europe.

The initial overall budget for this Call is 150,000.00 euros with individual awards valued at amaximum of 5,000.00 euros or a maximum of 10,000.00 euros.

Topics for the ‘Local Impact Awards’ (Lot 1) as well as the ‘Cross-Network Awards’ (Lot 2) shouldbe clearly linked to the Report with a focus on identifying and/or implementing solutions to theproblems and underlying issues grappling Africa-Europe relations and implementation of regionaland global development strategies (Agenda 2030, Agenda 2063,…) with an aim to drive the AfricaEurope Partnership forward.

The application process to respond to this Call for Expression of Interest will run for 45 days frompublishing the Call on Monday 8th April 2024 until Thursday 23 May 2024.

Awarded activities will run and be completed during the implementation period of 7th July to 25thOctober 2025.

3. APPLICATION & EVALUATION CRITERIA

Key elements:

Up to 25 micro and small grants with a budget of a maximum of 5,000.00 euros or amaximum of 10,000.00 euros with indicative allocation of 20 micro-grants for Lot 1 and 5small-grants for Lot 2.

Awarded grants can either fully fund a new activity proposed in a grant application orcontribute, through co-financing, to a larger activity that is funded through other sourcesbut which objectives and implementation aligned to the objectives and scope of this Call.

The allocated grant funding should be used to (co-)finance the direct costs of organisingthe activities (logistics, communication, personnel, etc.).

On exception basis, the scheme will support with in-kind additional support such asproviding a venue or speakers towards the organisation of events on the side-lines and inthe same location as high-level meetings linked to AEF’s thematic areas (e.g., UNGA,COP29, annual AU Summit, 7th AU-EU Summit, etc.).

In addition to (co-)financing in the form of the micro- and small-award, as part of itscommitment to build capacity of youth and youth-based organisation and when requested,the AEF support may include providing input on content and methodology as well asquality assurance.

One organisation can submit only one application per Lot. In their applications,organisations need to clarify the level of funding required (up to 5,000.00 euros or up to10,000.00 euros) providing clear justification for, and a breakdown of, its resource plan.

Application

To apply, applicants are required to submit a duly completed proposal (Annex A: Concept Noteand Budget) providing all requested detailsthe application template, including details of theproposed activity, intended impact, timeline for implementation, and summary budget.

Applicantsmust use only the Concept Note and Budget form provided to prepare theirapplication, as only this model form willaassessed. It is therefore of utmost importance that thisdocument contains ALL relevant information concerning the proposed project.Hand-written Concept Notes will not be accepted.

Applications must be written in English.

A single application is permitted per organisation per Lot.

The applications need to be submitted by emailsenttothe address:partnerships@africaeuropefoundation.org no later than by 23rd May 2024 (16.00 Brussels,18.00 Addis Ababa)

No additional documents/annexes than those requested should be sent at the time of submission.Clarification will only be requested when information provided is not sufficient/unclear and thusprevents the contracting authority from conducting an objective assessment.

Late applications will not be considered.

Eligibility criteria

The Call is intended for a variety of youth organisations that are registered in any one of theMember States of the AU or EU.

For Lot 1, eligible organisations include grassroot youth organisations, local youth networks,regional and international youth organisations and associations that work at local community level,civil society platforms, NGOs, local authorities, city councils and departments, and localcommunity associations.

For Lot 2, eligible organisations are national, regional and international youth organisations andassociations, as well as civil society platforms, NGOs, and local authority platforms that workacross Africa and EU and focus on youth engagement and dialogue..

Evaluationa

The selection process will be undertaken by the appointed Evaluation Committee comprised ofAEF intemal management team and external reviewers with subject matter expertise as well ascompliance expertise. Evaluation will focus on: 1) compliance with the Call objectives andrequirements, 2) alignment to the AEF priority themes and initiatives.

Evaluation grid

To ensure a fair and transparent process the Evaluation Committee will use the following scorecard when evaluating applications.

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