1. Description
The European Union is committed to supporting civil society in Eastern Partnership countries. Developing leadership capacities and skills of future civil society leaders is one of the commitments made by the European Union in its policy on achieving ’20 Deliverables for 2020. Focusing on key priorities and tangible results’. Investment in leadership potential is expected to bring high returns in terms of professionalization of civil society organisations and thus, their capacity to engage in constructive policy and societal dialogue in Eastern Partnership countries.
This support is an investment in the development of young current civic activists or civically minded individuals from the EaP region, who display the interest and ability of taking leading roles in the growth of their societies.
The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Fellowships are an integral part of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility.
2. Objectives of the fellowship programme
The fellowship programme aims to identify young ambitious/ high-potential/ forward-thinking CSO activists from the EaP region and support the development of their leadership skills.
3. Eligibility criteria
a) For applicants:
Young CSO activists/ junior CSO professionals from the Eastern Partnership region who are affiliated with a civil society organisation in these countries (a letter of nomination is required) or have significant experience volunteering or seeking to address problems in the lives of their communities.
The applicants should meet the following criteria:
- be a natural person;
- be a national and/or a resident of one of the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine);
- be between 18 and 36 years old;
- have a proven track record of working in a CSO or taking a leading role in their communities in one form or the other;
- be committed to values associated with respect for fundamental human rights;
- have appropriate language skills for the chosen location of proposed action;
- be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the proposed action.
b) For actions:
The fellowship programme will provide support in the following broad areas of activities:
- Collecting local evidence: supporting fellows to collect and analyse evidence on key issues of public service delivery at local and national level.
- Involvement in policy-making: allowing fellows to gain expertise on specific policy issues, drafting policy papers/recommendations and organising advocacy campaigns; helping fellows get access to government channels in order to better get their ideas across.
- Capacity development: supporting mentoring and job shadowing schemes in order to build capacities of other members of their organisations, as well as members of other CSOs from relevant networks.
- Involvement in monitoring public administration activity and results: supporting fellows in developing a multitude of monitoring activities.
- Improvement of CSO accountability and link to constituencies: supporting fellows in improving the accountability mechanisms of their organisations and in better linking activities to citizens’ needs.
- Cooperation between CSOs: allowing fellows to organise activities bringing various CSOs together on issues of common interest.
- Innovation for development: utilize or develop ideas for specific ICT solutions for eTransparency and eParticipation in order to contribute to the improvement of dialogue and partnership between civil society and governments in the EaP countries.
c) For funding
The maximum amount of financial support available within the Fellowship Programme is EUR 5,000 per person.
This amount shall cover:
- specific activities outlined in the application form submitted by the applicant;
- travel and accommodation expenses outside or within the host country;
- service fees for hosting organisation, if required.
NOTE: In the case of proposals involving learning and mobility, the host organisations based in the EU Member States will facilitate the visa support. However, the applicants are expected to cover consular fees from the grant received.
4. Indicative number of calls for proposals
The Civil Society Fellowships initiative envisages annual calls for applications during 2017-2020 with approximately 20 fellows to be selected at each call.
5. Indicative time-schedule for calls
The first call will be launched on August 15, 2017 with the deadline for submission of applications in electronic format on Monday, September 25, 2017.
6. Further Information
Further information on the fellowship programme including the Guidelines for Applicants will be available at www.fellowships.eapcivilsociety.eu
