Q:
The proposal guidelines section 2.1.2 state that partners must "satisfy the same eligibility criteria
as applicants", and in 2.1.1 that applicants must "have a proven track record of successful
management and implementation of similar interventions of comparable financial volumes over
the past five years".
Is it therefore necessary that local NGO partners must have been registered in Liberia for five
years? In this case identifying eligible partners with local community grounding may be
especially challenging in some target areas.
A:
Applicants and their Partners must "have proven track record of successful management and
implementation of similar interventions of comparable financial volumes over the past five years"
(point 2,1,1, of guidelines), but not mandatorily in Liberia
They have to "be either already registered as a non-governmental organisation in Liberia or be
able to operate as such in Liberia immediately upon award of the contract" "the applicant will
have to clearly establish that in their application dossier" (point 2,1,1 of the guidelines)
Q:
What are the difference between Grants for Action and Operational Grants?
A:
Grants are direct financial contributions from the EU budget or from the European Development
Fund (EDF). They are awarded as donations to third parties that are engaged in external aid
activities. The Contracting Authority awards grants that are used to implement projects or
activities that relate to the EU's external aid programmes.
Grants fall into two broad categories:
* Grants for actions aiming to achieve an objective that forms part of an external aid programme.
* Operating grants finance the operating expenditure of an EU body that is pursuing an aim of
general European interest or an objective that forms part of an EU policy.
Grants are based on the reimbursement of the eligible costs, in other words, costs effectively
incurred by the beneficiaries that are deemed necessary for carrying out the activities in
question. The results of the action remain the property of the beneficiaries.
You may also refer to the Commission's EuropeAid website:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/grant/index_en.htm
Q:
A:
Q:
Are we to submit both a concept note and a full proposal by the 20th June deadline? Or should
we first submit a concept note and then a full proposal if we go through to the next stage of
consideration?
As per to the Guidelines for Applicants the deadline of 20 June 2008 applies to the submission
of both a Concept Note and a full Project Proposal.(point 2,2,2, of the guidelines: "Applications
must be submitted ....the complete application form (Part A: concept note and part B: full
application form)....".) The subsequent deadlines are summarised in the indicative time table
presented in point 2.5.1.
We are interested in undertaking a project in County X. The guidelines state that “to the extent
possible, actions under this call will be complementary to previous EC and ECHO Food Security
interventions in the country.” Would you be able to provide any information regarding current
and past EC/ECHO projects in County X as well as those by other EU member states?
A:
Current and recent past interventions supported by the EC: cf. table in Annex 1
NB: It is part of the preparation work of the applicants to approach eventually these
organisations for more details, as well as to approach organisations other than the EC (for
example Member States) that they think may be relevant for the preparation of their concept
note, to obtain information on their past and current activities.
Q:
We have identified a possible Partner organisation (local NGO) with good local grounding and
technical experience but which may not have sufficiently long experience to meet the eligibility
criteria. This potential partner is part of a Network with large experience in promoting sustainable
livelihoods across Africa, and would be able to draw upon this experience of this network. Would
such organisation be eligible to act as a Partner?
A:
See point 2,1,2 of the guidelines "Applicants partners participate in desinging and implementing
the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the grant
Beneficiary. Theys must therefore satisfy the same eligibility criteria as applicants." and
point 2,1,1, of the guideleines "to be eligible for a grant, applicants must...have a proven track
record of successful management and implementation of similar interventions of
comparable financial volumes over the past five years (....)."Please note that this means that
the mentionned track record has to be demonstrated in the course of the last five years, and not
that it has to have been for a total duration of five years.
Q:
We are an organisation with experience in X. We can propose a great project for about 1 600
000 € (including co-financing), or (a) smaller one(s) for 1 000 000 €.
What would be the best proposition given the field of speciality of our organisation and the
envelope of the lot 1 is 2 000 000 € ? Would you prefer to award under lot 1, 2 projects of 1 000
000 € for different activities, or if a big project in our field of specialty (if the quality of the
proposal is high of course).
A:
No such criteria as preferring 'one large or various small actions' intervenes in the decision of
award. As per the Guidelines to the Applicants, the only criteria are the eligibility ones (Section
2.1) and the evaluation ones (Section 2.3). Please refer in particular to Section 2.3 page. This
methodology shows that the most important criteria for award are the scores of the concept note
and of the full application.
Q:
As the Applicant, our organisation has registered and updated its profile in the online database
PADOR. Is it compulsory for our local NGO partner to register itself in PADOR? Or is filling in
part III of the application form sufficient for the proposal evaluation process?
A:
Please refer to the beginning of Section 2.2 of the Guidlines to the Applicants, which states that:
"the prior registration in PADOR for applicants for this Call for proposal is not obligatory".
Q:
1) Is cash for work (pay local workers for assisting in the rehabilitation) an eligible activity
2) Are distribution of non-food items (for exampe: hygiene packages, farming and gardening
tools...) an eligible activity?
3) The guidelines to this call for proposals indicate that investment activities targeting local
institutions are considered eligible. Would the construction activities be considered eligible under
this call for proposals?
A:
Please refer to the point 2,1,3, Eligible actions: actions for which an application may be made.
Please note that this section states namely "Food aid and food for work" under actions are noneligible. We also refer the point 2,2,4 of the guidelines stating: "(...) In the interest of equal
treatement of applicants, the Contracting Authority cannot give a prior opinion on the eligibility of
an applicant, a partner or an action."
Abidjan, (pour Monrovia)
le 03/06/08