Fund for Local Cooperation in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia 2018 Is Open for Applications

The Finnish Fund for Local Cooperation (FLC) is a fund managed by the Office of the Ambassador to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The fund supports initiatives of local non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and other institutions in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The FLC helps local civil society actors to carry out well-targeted projects with a clear goal and sustainable outcome in the field of human rights, democracy and good governance, particularly in regard to gender equality. The approach is to establish partnerships with a limited number of organizations instead of supporting one-time activities like workshops or seminars.

The priority areas of the Finnish development policy are: rights and status of women and girls, the growth of developing countries' economies to generate more jobs, livelihoods and well-being, democratic and better-functioning societies and food security, access to water and energy, and sustainable use of natural resources. Projects funded from FLC cannot be contradictory to these objectives, and should support them in the local context. More information on Finnish development policy can be found behind the following here.

Priority areas of the FLC in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in 2017 are gender equality, disabled persons and economic empowerment of the most vulnerable. The Embassy prefers to focus on projects with the cost of around 15 000 – 30 000 euro.

Criteria for Eligibility:

  • The organization(s) in question should have a genuine, credible domestic basis, thus the proposed program should not be launched or fully financed by the donor;
  • Activities proposed should reach a large audience and have potential for broad impact;
  • Prospective applicants must provide detailed information on their organization.

Incoming applications will be assessed based on the following criteria:

  • Past experiences of projects with similar focus;
  • Specific, achievable and relevant objectives of the project;
  • Clarity on the main beneficiaries;
  • Effective and efficient use of the funds - the organization needs to demonstrate in the proposed budget that the funds will be used effectively to reach the specified objectives;
  • Innovative approaches to solve problems in the community;
  • Sustainability of the results. The organization needs to indicate clearly how the impact of the project will be sustainable after the funding from the Embassy of Finland has finished;
  • Overall openness is important. The projects have to be registered in Armenia, Azerbaijan or Georgia.

The Fund cannot support activities of political parties, activities of unregistered organizations, projects in which the beneficiary is a single person or a single family, purely charity purposes or Finnish beneficiaries. The Fund is designed to support projects. It is not intended to support operating expenses of organizations. In addition, the administrative costs for the project must remain reasonable.

How to Apply

Applicants must provide the following preliminary information on the applicant and the project in their applications. Please use this application form.

Information on the Applicant

  1. Name of the organization:
  2. Address:
  3. Telephone:
  4. Email:
  5. Director (person in charge):
  6. Telephone (office):
  7. Telephone (mobile):
  8. Description of the organization:
  9. Official status of the organization (including the registration number and date):
  10. Location:
  11. Number of members:
  12. Number of full-time employees:
  13. Financing sources of the organization:
  14. Description of the key activities of the organization:

Information on the Proposed Project

The applicant should provide a full Project Proposal which covers at least the following issues:

  1. The reason for launching the project;
  2. The previous experience of the organization in the same sector and the same theme;
  3. The existing financing from other agencies;
  4. The objective of the project;
  5. The description of the approach: how the project intends to create changes, what methods would be used, how different social groups and interests would be taken into consideration;
  6. Description of the activities;
  7. Target group. The relation of the organization with the target group;
  8. Expected results (as concrete as possible);
  9. Risks;
  10. Schedule for the program and each task;
  11. Inputs;
  12. Budget in detail (unit costs included; salary costs detailed; payment schedule unless included in the contract);
  13. Description of the personnel involved;
  14. Monitoring arrangements. Reporting schedule. Auditing arrangements.

Additional Information

The Office of the Ambassador to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia reserves the right to accept or reject project proposals. Project duration is limited up to one year. The Embassy has the right to evaluate and audit a project at any time; the organization responsible for the project has to make all required documentation available for the evaluation/audit if asked.

Application and possible attachments have to be written in English. The budget has to be submitted in euros. Only complete applications will be considered.

The Agreement with the Office of the Ambassador to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia has to be signed and stamped by an authorized representative of the organization.

The accounting of the supported activities has to be ensured. No further funding can be provided to any organization until it has provided an approved accounting report regarding any previous funding.

Applications and possible further enquiries can be sent via email to ita-22@formin.fi. All applicants will be informed to the email indicated in the application when a final decision is made.

Deadline for submitting applications: Sunday, February 11, 2018 by 10:00. Project proposals submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

Additional information is provided by: Ms. Paivi Joki-Kyyny, Assistant to the Ambassador, e-mail paivi.joki-kyyny@formin.fi

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