Call for proposal for Lebanese NGOs in the framework of the Shabake project

    Expertise France, l’Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Denmark’s development cooperation (Danida) have developed a capacity-building project, the “Shabake Project”, in order to help local and international Lebanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) become lasting, key players in mitigating the effects of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon by a strong capacity building and a direct link with international donors.

   Expertise France, The French public agency for international technical assistance, will be implementing the Shabake Project and is therefore launching an open call for proposals in order to select NGOs that will participate in the Project. As the contracting authority, Expertise France will award a grant directly to each selected NGO after direct negotiations. The application sent by the NGO candidate should highlight its long-term vision in order to understand how Shabake could help reaching its objectives in terms of development and of implementation of a strategy. The application should also explain the NGO capacity to carry out a capacity-building project, meaning evaluate their own assets, capacities, and skills. 

      The selected NGO “partners” will receive funding and expert assistance for their own-capacity-building plan. They will also have an opportunity to put their new institutional changes into practice via a project that reduces vulnerabilities. In addition, each NGO partner will be invited to meet and directly interact with donors, aid providers, and public authorities working in the development-aid ecosystem. 

The Shabake capacity-building project has three component parts:

1.     Strengthening assets, capacities, and skills of the local Lebanese NGOs selected for a grant award.

2.     Implementation by each NGO of a crisis-response project to reduce vulnerabilities.

3.     Improving the participation of NGO partners in the development-aid ecosystem.  

     The whole project aims for inclusiveness and rests on NGO partner participation in the project’s governance and their commitment to the entire project. Expertise France will add value to their efforts to encourage NGOs to be change-makers and conduct their own diagnostic and capacity assessment foreseen in the project. During Shabake project execution, Expertise France will be flexible and agile in order to optimally meet NGO partner needs. NGO partners will also have opportunities to improve their relationships with donors and to help aid providers improve their understanding of Lebanese civil society.Self-assessment and self-management – key principles of the Shabake Project – will allow partner NGOs to better assimilate capacity-building efforts and build a stronger, more autonomous and more sustainable network of Lebanese NGOs. 

AMENDMENT OF THE CALL FOR PROPOSAL GUIDELINES FOR LEBANESE NGOs

One of the eligibility criteria has been amended in order to lower the annual budget amount required to apply to the shabake project.

• On P11 of the guidelines, “1. Administrative document submissions and eligibility criteria” :

The mention “Managed a budget of 1,125 million USD or more in 2018”, has been replaced by the mention “Managed a budget of 700 000 USD or more in 2018 (including direct and indirect fundings)”.

This decision aims to open the call for proposal to medium size local NGOs, in order to strengthen and enforce their capacities on the long run.