Flexible Funding Facility
With the
instrument of Flexible Funding the EPD aims to complement the work and rich
diversity of European political and civil society foundations and the current
EU instruments in democracy assistance. The EPD aims to establish an
operational facility at arm's length from the official institutions of the EU,
capable of making timely responses to demands where and when they are most needed.
The flexible funding facility will support reform processes and
programs, capable of operating at a greater level of flexibility,
responsiveness and risk than would be appropriate for the EU institutions or
Member States themselves. At the same time it will provide a platform for
partner organizations from target countries where additional funding but also European
expertise will become better accessible.
Characteristics and principles of the Flexible Funding
Facility:
1. The EPD
will fund projects implemented by local organizations, corresponding the
local needs in democracy assistance;
2. The EPD
will facilitate dialogue processes within the society which analyze the
democratic deficits and prioritize areas of assistance in the implementation of
political reforms; the dialogue aims to ensure a) that local ownership is
secured for the implementation of reforms and b) that assistance has a
strategic edge in furthering democracy;
3. A strong
emphasis on European "lessons learned" from working in democracy promotion as
well as having gone through transition to democracy will be built-in to the EPD approach. The expertise of the European network of democracy assistance
organizations will be used to build the EPD programmes on;
4. EPD
support will be independent from but complementary to assistance provided by EU
and Member States' instruments;
5. An
important part of the EPD approach will consist of mapping the current EU
activities as well as projects done by European organizations in the target regions
in order work truly complementary;
6. Flexibility
- EPD assistance will be responsive to the needs of partners and to windows of
opportunity arising, be prepared to take risks;
7. Not time
consuming - EPD aims for a 3-6 months period between receiving a demand for
funding and the transfer of funds;
8. Target
groups of EPD funding will be the relevant actors who are committed to work
on the local development and growth of
democratic principles and practice in the society;
9. EPD
support is long-term oriented,
transparent and accountable;
10. Only
solicited projects will be accepted that comply with the EPD mission statement
and Country Democracy Consensus under the Fragile Democracy Programme created
in partnership with local stakeholders;
11. On the
ground - the EPD aims to work with organizations directly, including
unregistered organizations;
12. Easy
administration - EPD will keep the funding mechanism simple from the administrative point of view
(shorter project description, simple budget etc.)
13. Small size
grants - funding should be made available even to small organizations with the
sum of between 10,000 and 30,000 euros. Funding of larger projects will also be
available.
PARTNERS
These are target organizations within the society that can
work with the EPD:
1. Registered
civil sector organizations working in the field of human rights and democracy
promotion with at least 2 years' track record of activities in the field they
are submitting the request;
2. Unregistered
civil sector organizations working in the field of human rights and democracy
promotion with at least 1 year of existence;
3. Registered
and unregistered independent media and media assistance organizations;
4. Political
parties (in principle work on a multiparty concept);
5. Think
thanks and academic research centers;
6. Cultural
organizations with projects with strong political (democracy promoting) impact;
7. Educational
institutions with projects with strong political (democracy promoting) impact;
8. Trade unions and workers
associations with projects with strong political (democracy promoting) impact;
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