Request for proposals: Grants to support the meaningful involvement of the civil society and communities’ representatives from Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Montenegro, Uzbekistan into the country dialogue processes related to the development of national funding requests for Global Fund Grant Cycle 7 (GC7) in 2023

The Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) invites initiative groups, organizations of communities of people living with or affected by HIV and TB, as well as non-governmental HIV and TB focused organizations from Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Montenegro and Uzbekistan to apply for grants to support the meaningful involvement of the civil society and communities’ representatives from EECA countries into the country dialogue processes related to the development of national funding requests for Global Fund Grant Cycle 7 (GC7) in 2023.

The Global Fund regularly allocates funding to countries to support HIV, TB and malaria programs and to build resilient and sustainable systems for health. The Global Fund makes such allocations every three years at the beginning of a new allocation period.

Based on the Global Fund Board’s decision in November 2022 on the funding available for the 2023-2025 allocation period (referred to as Grant Cycle 7, or GC7), in December 2022 all eligible countries received allocation letters indicating allocation amounts available to support the national responses to the three diseases.

Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) are expected to initiate a country dialogue to discuss the content of the new funding requests, coordinate the process of their development and to submit their funding requests for GC7 during “windows” within the three-year time frame. Each country should decide on the “window” to submit the funding request depending on the timeframe of the implementation of the current grant and the Allocation Utilization Period indicated in the allocation letter.

It is expected that Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Montenegro and Uzbekistan will submit their national proposals in in W3 – by 21 August 2023. Thus, the time to develop funding requests is very limited.

The Eurasian Harm Reduction Association, being the host of the EECA Regional Platform for Communication and Coordination, offers grants to civil society organizations from EECA countries to support meaningful participation of civil society and community representatives in the process of preparing national funding requests for Global Fund grants.

Optionally, upon the request, the work of national level consultants could be supported directly by EHRA within the amount allocated for the country. In case of receiving requests for direct support of the work of consultants, they will be considered separately from this RFP, according to different criteria and procedures.

LIST OF POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES FOR SUPPORT (These are just examples. You may suggest your own activities):

  • Conducting a needs assessment among members of one or more communities in the context of building an effective response to HIV and/or TB, protecting human rights, promoting gender equality and meaningful engagement.
  • Conducting face-to-face meetings in order to identify interventions of a most priority for the representatives of a particular community to be included in the national funding request;
  • Moderation of the online discussions with representatives of various communities in order to develop proposals for submission to the CCM. Making protocols of such discussions and developing a document summarizing the proposed interventions and initiatives; etc.
  • Assistance with substantiation of the proposed activities for inclusion in the proposal and their budgeting; etc.

CONDITIONS

The following conditions must be taken into account when determining activities to be supported within the requested funding:

  1. Those proposals will be prioritized which are aimed to expand the inclusion, as relevant, to a new sub-population, group and/or new geographic location in the country dialogue process to develop national funding request,
  2. Support should be provided to ensure highest priority interventions identified by the respective communities are proposed for inclusion in the “Annex of Funding Priorities of Civil Society and Communities”[1]

No more than 1 grant per country will be awarded for the period up to 4 months of implementation. The maximum budget for each grant could be US $ 5,000 (but could be less). 

IMPLEMENTATION TIME: 20.04.2023 – 15.08.2023

LANGUAGES: Russian and English

REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS:

  • be registered as a legal entity in one of 4 countries: Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Montenegro, Uzbekistan; in case of initiative group, it should have a financial agent registered in one of these countries.
  • only NGOs, non-for-profit organizations can apply. Initiative groups also can apply, but their financial agent should be NGO or non-for-profit organization.
  • work with / represent / provide services / advocate for the needs of key populations affected by HIV and / or TB at the national level.
  • Ensure coordination and consolidation of the content of the grant proposal with key non-governmental sector partners in the country involved into the development of the national funding request for Global Fund Grant Cycle 7 (GC7) in 2023.
  • Have the capacity to prepare financial reports: an accounting/financial accounting and reporting system, a separate account in a reliable bank with a high rating in the country to receive grant funds in the grant currency – USD.

Application deadline: 18 April 2023, 23:59 CET.

Applications will be considered and a decision on grants to be awarded will be made straight upon the receipt of the applications, and therefore it is recommended to submit applications as soon as possible.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, please send the following documents by 18 of April 2023 23:59 CET, with RFP Nr. EHRA-04-16 as the subject at info@harmreductioneurasia.org:

  1. Completed application form, signed with the organization director or responsible representative.
  2. Completed work plan and budget in Excel format.
  3. Annex 1 – Registration document of the organization translated into Russian or English.

Applicants who have submitted an incomplete package of documents will not be considered as tender participants!

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

The submitted applications will be evaluated by the selection committee comprised on EHRA Secretariat members. The following criteria will be used to evaluate the received applications (the maximum possible number of points is 100, the minimum required number is 80 points):

  • Problem statement (20);
  • Clear and achievable aim and objectives of the grant (20);
  • Realistic and clear grant activities (20);
  • Financial and administrative capacity of the organization to implement the grant within the specified time frame. Including: realistic and justified budget (20).
  • Coordination of proposal content with key partners (20).

[1] Funding Priorities of Civil Society and Communities Most Affected by HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Available at: https://www.theglobalfund.org/media/12163/core_funding-priorities-civil-society-communities_annex_en.docx