The EU Aid Volunteers initiative brings volunteers and organisations from different countries together to work on humanitarian projects worldwide. The objective of this call is to strengthen the capacities of sending and hosting organisations intending to participate in the EU Aid Volunteers initiative and to ensure compliance with the standards and procedures regarding candidate volunteers and EU Aid Volunteers.

With this call the European Commission expects to strengthen the capacities of up to 115 sending and hosting organisations in the fields of:

– Disaster risk management, preparedness and response;
– Linking relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD);
– Strengthening local volunteering in third countries;
– Capacities to undergo certification including administrative capacity;
– Capacity to provide early warning to local communities.

Eligible bodies
The organisation applying on behalf of all applicants (the coordinator) will be legally responsible for the Consortium in its contractual relationship with the Agency.
Proposals for both, Technical Assistance and Capacity Building activities, must be submitted by:
– non-governmental not-for-profit organisations formed in accordance with the law of a Member State and whose headquarters are located within the Union; or
– public law bodies of a civilian character governed by the law of a Member State; or
– the International Federation of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Only legal entities established in the the Member States of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom) are eligible to apply.

For both Technical Assistance and Capacity Building activities, the coordinator in each project is active in the field of humanitarian aid for at least 3 years.

​Technical assistance projects are designed and implemented by transnational partnerships involving entities from at least three different countries participating in the programme from which:
– at least one coordinator or one applicant in each project must have been active in the field of volunteer management for at least 3 years.

Capacity building projects are designed and implemented by transnational partnerships involving entities from at least two countries participating in the programme and at least two third countries in which humanitarian aid activities and operations take place.
– in each project, the coordinator and at least one applicant from a country participating in the programme must have been active in the field of humanitarian aid; 
– in each project, at least one applicant from third countries in which humanitarian aid activities and operations take place is active in the field of humanitarian aid; 
– at least the coordinator or one applicant from a country participating in the programme in each project must have been active in the field of volunteer management for at least 3 years.

Eligible activities
Activities supported for both Technical assistance and Capacity building projects may include the following: study/scoping visits to refine and finalise needs assessment of the action, activities to build/strengthen capacities, training courses for third country trainers/coaches/mentors/multipliers, seminars and workshops, job shadowing, twinning arrangements and exchange of staff, exchange of good practices, study visits, activities to foster partnership building, activities to assist organisations in meeting the Core Humanitarian Standards, activities to strengthen regional cooperation, administrative costs for the development of, and managing EU Aid Volunteers online volunteering opportunities published on the EU Aid Volunteers Platform in support of the project activities, coaching/mentoring of key sending organisation paid staff, training courses for third country trainers/coaches/mentors/multipliers, study visits of up to 3 months for key paid staff or volunteers from third countries to be based in European applicant/partner organisations, needs assessment methodologies/information management, disaster risk management, disaster risk reduction/disaster preparedness, crisis response (and related sectors), linking relief, rehabilitation and development, resilience and climate change adaptation.

​Budget
The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at EUR 7 770 000.
The maximum grant will be EUR 700 000. Each grant will amount to between EUR 100 000 and EUR 700 000.
The Agency expects to fund 22 proposals.
The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

Deadline: 1 June 2018, 12 pm Brussels time.

Find out more:  https://bit.ly/2pWyu9A

For further support organisations should contact the Education Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency.