TRAINING WORKSHOP ON EUROPEAN UNION PROJECT ELABORATION FORMAT

1. TRAINING WORKSHOP ON EUROPEAN UNION PROJECT ELABORATION FORMAT

2. PASC CALL FOR PROPOSALS Title: Support to governance initiatives as promoted by Civil Society Organizations in Cameroon Target CSO • Level two organizations made up of formally constituted actors like NGOs, non-profit making organizations that support development dynamics, human rights associations, labour organizations, and development organizations of church bodies, etc • Level three organizations are made up of umbrella organizations, such as co-ordination units, federations and networks, • Level four organizations: These are dialogue platforms and forums. These organizations are composed of "umbrella organizations“…

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE CALL AND PRIORITY ISSUES Overall objective: To promote civil society initiatives that enhance responsible and participatory political, economic and social governance in Cameroon. Specific objectives: 1.To improve and strengthen the involvement of CSOs in the design, implementation and monitoring of public policies. 2.To scale up the contribution of CSOs towards a transparent, fair and effective governance system that contributes to the improvement of the living conditions of the population….

4. FINANCIAL ALLOCATION PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY Call for Proposals is 550 million FCFA distributed as follows: • Lot 1: 300 million FCFA for Level two CSOs • Lot 2: 250 million FCFA for level three and four CSOs Size of grants • minimum amount: 7 million FCFA • maximum amount: 20 million FCFA Percentages of total eligible costs of the action: • · Minimum percentage: 75 % of the total eligible costs of the action. • · Maximum percentage 100% of the total eligible costs of the action • No application for grants within the framework of this Call for Proposal should exceed 95% of the total accepted cost estimate. • At least 5% should be financed by applicant or partners or other donors….

5. ACTIONS ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING Activities of advocacy, lobbying, community mobilization and citizen effort that contribute to • improving the management of public policy in strict compliance with national laws; • Initiatives that improve local governance; • Activities in the fight against corruption • Activities that contribute to building a transparent and consensual electoral system; • Initiatives of involvement and alternative monitoring of public policies; • Activities that contribute to transparent management of public finances ...

6. Ineligible Actions • Actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops, seminars, conferences and congresses; • Actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses….

7. 0bjectives of the workshop Global objectives Train CSOs on the European Union project elaboration Format so as to enhance the quality of projects to be submitted to PASC. Specific objectives: • To enable CSOs have a mastery of the European Union Project Format.  • To improve the knowledge of CSO staff on project conception and elaboration. • To improve projects already being designed by CSOs for submission to PASC….

8. THE EUROPEAN UNION PROJECT FORMAT The EU project format elaboration is divided into 2 parts namely: • The concept note; which should not be more than five pages (A4 size) of Arial 10 characters with 2 cm margins. • The full proposal which requires a lot of details but with maximum pages equally indicated in some areas.

9. The concept note It should contain: • The problem (development challenge) and its impact to the society, • The proposed solutions to the problem and their expected results, and the goal which the project will finally reach. • The concept note is the Why, How, and What of the project : why you want to start the project to resolve what problem; how you plan to resolve the problem; and what goal you want to reach at the end of the project.

10. SUMMARY OF THE ACTION(1page)

11. TITLE OF THE ACTION • A title of a proposal is as important as the proposal itself, • It gives the donors the first impression when they start reading it. • The title should be brief, sharp, and attractive and should say what the proposal is about • Formulate your title when you are almost through with the whole proposal design • An attractive and competitive title will help the proposal to stand out of others.

12. The project title should be short, concise, and preferably refer to a certain key project result or the leading project activity. • Project titles that are too long or too general fail to give the reader an effective snapshot of what is inside the project……..

13. EXAMPLES Title 1: “Current Women Voting Situations and the Promotions in Bamenda 1 council”, Title 2: “Promotion of participation of Women in Voting in Bamenda 1 council”.

14. TITLE EXAMPLES Effective project titles • Raising Environmental Awareness in Mezam Division • Citizens Protect watershed of Lake Oku Ineffective titles • Environmental Education • Protection of the Watershed of Lake Oku from the Wastewater Flowing Through the River Originating from Local Households

15. RELEVANCE OF THE ACTION • The justification or rationale or problem statementis critical in the proposal because here you have to convince the donors that the project is worth doing. • Give a precise description of the problematic situation by using quotes, examples, references, research data and press articles which would be very helpful.

16. Compare the local problem to other societies to show the donors that the problem happening in your society is more severe than other regions. • On the other hand, you will need to convince the donors that the solutions you propose will solve the problem with efficiency, and have higher possibilities of success or goal reaching.

17. LEVELS OF RELEVANCE IN EU PROJECTS • Relevance to the objectives/sectors/themes/ specific priorities of the call for proposals • Relevance to the particular needs and constraints of the target country/countries, region(s) and/or relevant sectors (including synergy with other EU initiatives and avoidance of duplication)

18. Relevance to the objectives/sectors/themes/specific priorities of the call for proposals • Provide background (historical)information that has led to poor governance in the area you want to intervene. • Propose Solutions to address the situation (that are in line with this call for proposals) • Describe which particular expected objectives/result mentioned in the guidelines of the call will be addressed. EX: this action seeks to improve and strengthen the involvement of civil society organizations in the design, implementation and monitoring of public policies in collaboration with public institutions.

19. EXAMPLE One of the important components of democracy is that the council policy decision making is transparent and with the involvement of the public. But what happens in the Mumbai council does not show the signs of democracy as  the decision-making is always performed solely by the mayor, which is a worst condition compared to the neighboring councils.(PROBLEM) To solve this problem, we propose to conduct surveys to identify the causes of the problem and to promote dialogue between the council and the local populations. This will be done by creating……….(solution) Similar strategies have been used and applied in other councils and have been found to be of great success in promoting democracy in governmental policy making (references needed showing the statements are true and referable). We expect that after two years of our efforts, the involvement of local populations to the governmental decision making will be improved and put into regular practice (Results +time frame)) .

20. Relevance to the particular needs and constraints of the target country/countries, region(s) and/or relevant sectors (including synergy with other EU initiatives and avoidance of duplication) • Describe the context and justification (with statistics) in relation to your action/project and the call for proposals. Ex Women account for more than half the population of the NWR, unfortunately less than 30% of women are involved in decision making processes and mechanisms especially when it comes to governance issues. • Problem analysis. Provide a brief analysis of the problems to be addressed by the action and how they are interrelated at all levels. • Propose solutions and expected results in relation to the call for proposals NB:Write in context of your country or region or village or counciletc

21. EXAMPLE An impediment to public-private partnerships between CSOs and the Ndop council is that the council has a negative view of CSOs (especially NGOs), based on a range of perceptions including the legitimacy of their right to exist, governance, patriotism, and excessive personal benefits. This can be attributed to the fact that council officials are unaware of what CSOs do or the valuable contributions they make (or could make) to the development agenda. CSOs working in Ndop often do themselves a disservice by not informing the council of their activities and achievements.(problem analysis) Strategic alliances between civil society organizations working in Ndop and the council will lead to the improvement of responsible and participatory political, economic and social governance in the council.Therationalefor civil societyorganisations (CSOs) toengage in multi- stakeholderinitiativeswiththecouncilwillgo a longwaytoinvolve civil society organisations (CSOs) in the definition, programming, implementation, monitoring and assessment of development programmes and policies in the council. Bystrengthening, supporting and monitoringexistingor new governance and public-privatepartnershipinitiatives at the local levelswillgo a longway in solvingmost of thechallengesfacedbytheCSO in thisdomain.Supportinginitiativesthatpromotemulti-stakeholderparticipation in ordertoimprovetheinvolvement of CSOs in thedecisionmakingprocess re enforcesthe position of civil society as a crucial actor in a democracy.(Solutions and results)

22. Stakeholders, Actors, Partners, Associates • Stakeholders are people or groups of people who have interests in, or an influence on the issues being addressed. They could be directly involved in the issues or are influential as a result of their work, their attitudes or their interest in related issues. • Actors are more directly involved in the action or project. Apart from those who are (or would be) directly involved in the identification, planning, implementation and monitoring of the action, those who are at the origin of a problem can also be referred to as actors.

23. Partners are people or organisations with which a project would be implemented. In the case of this call for proposal, a partner is an organisation which will carry out specified activities and benefit from the funding earmarked for the said activities. • An associate is an organisation that would work with the applicant of a grant, but whose role is mainly to backstop. Within the framework of PASC, an associate does not benefit from project funding except for field expenses like transport, feeding and lodging.....

24. SUSTAINABILITY OF ACTION • Describe the expected impact of the action with quantified data where possible, at technical, economic, social, and policy levels (will it lead to improved legislation, codes of conduct, methods, etc.?). • Describe a dissemination plan and the possibilities for replication and extension of the action outcomes (multiplier effects), clearly indicating any foreseen dissemination channel.

25. Provide a detailed risk analysis and contingency plan. This should include a list of risks associated for proposed actions, accompanied by relevant mitigation measures. • A good risk analysis will include a range of risk types including physical, environmental, political, economic and social risks

26. Describe the main preconditions and assumptions during and after the implementation phase......

27. Explain how sustainability will be secured after completion of the action. In doing so, make a distinction between the following dimensions of sustainability: 1. Financial sustainability: financing of follow-up activities, sources of revenue for covering all future operating and maintenance costs, etc;

28. 2. Institutional sustainability: including structures that would allow the results of the action to continue to be in place after the end of the action, capacity building, agreements and local "ownership" of action outcomes; 3. Policy level sustainability: where applicable) including the structural impact of (improved legislation, consistency with existing framework/s, codes of conduct, methods, etc.).

29. 4. Environmental sustainability (what impact will the action have on the environment – have conditions put in place to avoid negative effects on natural resources on which the action depends and on the broader natural environment)

30. SUSTAINABILITY SUB HEADINGS • Expected impact of the action • Dissemination plan and the possibilities for replication and extension of the action outcomes • Risk analysis and contingency plan • Main preconditions and assumptions during and after the implementation phase. • Institutional and Financial sustainability

31. BUDGET OF THE ACTION • Budget is the most important part of any proposal. • The budget depicts a clear picture of all expenditures involved in carrying out a project. • Any project, right from its very inception, requires several activities involving the financial aspect. • Its necessary to focus on the budget and to ensure that it is clear and all the expenditures proposed are justified.

32. Budget should cover all eligible cost not only the contribution of PASC • Items should be clearly described and should show main components • If a partner is to pay for an activity e.g. lodging it should be indicated in the budget • Real transport cost will be reimbursed. show place of departure and destination • Lump sums are not accepted • Present round figures • Amounts in budget should be same as in application form

33. ELIGIBLE COST • Salaries • Car hiring expenses • Equipment and supplies • Resource fee, traveling and accommodation • Real traveling expenses of participants to workshops/meetings • Visibilitycost (banners, media,leafletsetc) • Documentation expenses • Unforeseen or contingency reserve max.5% of direct eligible cost to be used only after prior authorization from PASC • Administrative expenses max.7% of the total of direct eligible cost.

34. INELIGIBLE COSTS • Debts and provision for loss or debts • Debtor’s interest, exchange rate loses, taxes • Cost already financed in another framework • Purchase of lands or buildings except indispensable for project implementation (to be transferred to beneficiaries or partners at end of project) • Third party expenses

35. JUSTIFICATION OF BUDGET Additionally in Annex B, in the second column of worksheet no.2, • describe the information and methods used to establish the amounts of unit costs, lump sums and/or flat-rates, to which costs they refer, etc. • clearly explain the formulas for calculation of the final eligible amount1 • identify the beneficiary who will use the simplified cost option (in case of affiliated entity, specify first the beneficiary), in order to verify the maximum amount per each beneficiary (which includes if applicable simplified cost options of its affiliated entity(ies))

36. BUDGET EXAMPLE