The proposals shall be designed and implemented in line with the Commission’s Annual Action Programme covered by the programming document “Thematic Strategy Paper and Multiannual Indicative Programme 2007-2010” for the Development Cooperation Instrument in favour of Food Security for 2009 and more broadly with the EC Development Policy.
The global objective of this Call for Proposals is: Reduction of extreme poverty, hunger and starvation and the improvement of the nutritional status of vulnerable people throughout the country.
The specific objectives of this Call for Proposals are:
• The improvement of food security, livelihood and coping capacity of people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and their households through innovative approaches to their support and reintegration into the productive sector.
• The improvement of the existing nutrition system monitoring through enhanced access to health and social services for vulnerable groups.
Sectors or themes
Food insecurity at household level among HIV/AIDS patients and family members of HIV/AIDS patients.
Location
Actions must take place in Zambia, without geographical restriction. The proposal will have to provide analytical evidence for the choice of specific sites within the country or a specific region.
Types of action
The interventions should support HIV/AIDS affected families to get back into production in order to secure their livelihood and self dependency, and to improve their nutritional status. The approach should be to analyse food insecure HIV/AIDS patient’s nutritional status and dietary needs, if necessary supplement the diet of food insecure HIV/AIDS patients and assist patients in “producing/obtaining” a well balanced diet in order to enable them to build up their immune system. At the same time, people living with HIV/AIDS should be supported in a way that enables their reintegration into the productive system allowing them to take care of their personal and household's basic needs.
The support should also be extended to the patients’ families since it is well known that individual rations often are shared with family members.
Special attention has to be paid to the method of targeting the beneficiaries so that people living with HIV/AIDS and households caring for them are reached. Proposals will have to provide analytical evidence for the selection of the target groups and specific sites within the county.
Interventions should also help strengthening the existing nutrition monitoring system to improve access to health services particularly at key points of child development and maternal care.
It is necessary to include the participation of the stakeholders (including Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Community Development and Social Service, Ministry of Education, local authorities, etc.) during the design of the interventions in order to have their full involvement in the project implementation and monitoring. NGOs should consider from the start of the project design a targeted and sustainable approach. As such, strategic links should be built with more permanent services (in terms of nutrition, health and social protection) provided in Zambia. To the extent possible, food security support will build on nationally owned policies and strategies for poverty reduction and include strong local partnership. Therefore the proposals shall support long term government programmes and strategies, especially in the area of Nutrition under the Ministry of Health and Social Protection under the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services. It is strongly encouraged to work within existing government and local development structures.
Types of activity
Priority will be given to activities which demonstrate an innovative approach to the objectives of this call for proposals.
There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:
• applicant(s) which may request a grant (2.1.1), and their partners (2.1.2);
• actions for which a grant may be awarded (2.1.3);
• types of cost which may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant (2.1.4).
2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants: who may apply?
(1) In order to be eligible for a grant, applicants must
be legal persons and
• be non profit making and
• be specific types of organisations such as: non-governmental organisations, public sector operators, local authorities, international (inter-governmental) organisations as defined by Article 43 of the Implementing Rules to the EC Financial Regulation and
• be nationals of a Member State of the European Union or of Zambia, but in the first case having a partner organisation in Zambia. This obligation does not apply to international organisations and
• be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with their partners, not acting as an intermediary and
• have adequate experience in the field of development of the kind covered by this programme.
(2) Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations which are listed in Section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide to contract procedures for EC external actions (available from the following Internet address: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/practical_guide/index_en.htm
Candidates or tenderers will be excluded from participation in procurement procedures if:
a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata; (i.e. against which no appeal is possible);c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the Contracting Authority can justify;
d) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the Contracting Authority or those of the country where the contract is to be performed;
e) they have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial interests;
f) they are currently subject to an administrative penalty referred to in Article 96(1) of the Financial Regulation (BUDGET)/ Article 99 of the Financial Regulation (10th EDF).
Contracts may not be awarded to candidates, applicants or tenderers who, during the procurement procedure:
a) are subject to a conflict of interest;
b) are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the Contracting Authority as a condition of participation in the contract procedure or fail to supply this information;
c) find themselves in one of the situations of exclusion for this procurement procedure.
In part B section VI of the grant application form (“Declaration by the applicant”), applicants must declare that they do not fall into any of these situations.
2.1.2 Partnerships and eligibility of partners
Applicants may act individually or with partner organisations. The number of applicant's partners for one action is not limited. However, when the applicant is an European organization at least one of the partner organisations must be registered in Zambia.
Applicants’ partners participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the grant beneficiary. They must therefore satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable on the grant beneficiary himself.
The following are not partners and do not have to sign the “partnership statement”:
• Associates
Other organisations may be involved in the action. Such associates play a real role in the action but may not receive funding from the grant with the exception of per diem or travel costs. Associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to in section 2.1.1. The associates have to be mentioned in Part B section IV - “Associates of the Applicant participating in the Action” of the Grant Application Form.
• Subcontractors
The grant beneficiaries have the possibility to award contracts to subcontractors. Subcontractors are neither partners nor associates, and are subject to the procurement rules set out in Annex IV to the standard grant contract.
The applicant will act as the lead organisation and, if selected, as the contracting party (the "Beneficiary").
Budget:
The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2,000,000 The Contracting Authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
Size of grants
Any grant awarded under this Call for Proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
• minimum amount: EUR 200,000
• maximum amount: EUR 500,000
In addition, no grant may exceed 90% of the total eligible costs of the action (see also section 2.1.4). The balance must be financed from the applicant's or partners' own resources, or from sources other than the European Community budget or the European Development Fund.
An information session on this call for proposals will be held on Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 9.00 hours n in Lusaka (place to be confirmed). Interested organisations should confirm their presence (one person per organisation) by e-mail to the address below not later than 1 February 2010 at 16.00 (local time). The exact time of the meeting will be confirmed at a later date to interested participants. Attendance to this meeting is not compulsory for applicants.
Questions may in addition be sent by e-mail no later than 21 days before the deadline for the submission of applications to the below address, indicating clearly the reference of the call for proposals:
E-mail address: sabrina.bazzanella@ec.europa.eu
Contracting Authority has no obligation to provide further clarifications after this date.
Replies will be given no later than 11 days before the deadline for the submission of applications.
In the interest of equal treatment of applicants, the Contracting Authority cannot give a prior opinion on the eligibility of an applicant, a partner, an action or specific activities.
Questions that may be relevant to other applicants, together with the answers, will be published on the internet at the EuropeAid website: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?ADSSChck=1256216984493&do=publi.welcome&userlanguage=en
It is therefore highly recommended to regularly consult the abovementioned website in order to be informed of the questions and answers published.]
All questions related to PADOR registration should be addressed to the PADOR helpdesk:
europeaid-on-line-registration-hd@ec.europa.eu
De richtlijnen van deze Call bevinden zich in bijlage.
Alle relevante documenten en informatie van deze call zijn beschikbaar op: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?ADSSChck=1246626693376&do=publi.welcome - Klik 'Search by Reference', nr.129291
