Objectives

• EU 4 Lebanon – Inclusive Services for Social Actions (ELISSA) is a flagship initiative funded by the European Union and implemented by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). The project aims to improve the living conditions, resilience, and social inclusion of refugees displaced by the Syrian crisis as well as vulnerable members of host communities in Lebanon. It does so by enhancing equitable access to quality social services and by fostering sustainable livelihood opportunities, particularly in underserved and high-vulnerability areas. Within this framework, SDCs, under the authority of the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), play a central role as both service providers and local development facilitators, engaging directly with communities to identify needs and deliver appropriate responses.
• ELISSA builds upon a long-standing strategic partnership between AICS and MoSA and was designed as a scale-up and geographical expansion of the EU-funded action Integrated Social Services Provision to Lebanese and Syrian Refugees communities in Lebanon (ISOSEP). ISOSEP laid the groundwork by piloting a model of integrated social service delivery and local development through selected SDCs, emphasizing capacity building, community engagement, and data-driven planning. ELISSA reinforces and broadens these efforts, consolidating institutional know-how while supporting more inclusive and participatory approaches at the local level.
• The present Call for Proposals is launched within the broader ELISSA framework and is intended to further foster participatory local economic development processes in target areas, creating synergies between social protection and economic empowerment. The present action contributes to the overall ELISSA objective of strengthening the resilience and social cohesion of vulnerable populations in Lebanon.
• SDCs’ role and skills in local development processes are strengthened.
• Local economic operators and local CBOs are provided with financial and technical support to implement local economic development plans.

Priority Areas

• Target vulnerable groups (e.g. women, youth, PwDs)
• Promote green transition, waste reduction, or circular economy
• Create new jobs
• Strengthen local value chains
• Support ecosystem services restoration

Funding Information

• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must not exceed the below maximum amount:
  • maximum amount: EUR 1,400,000.00.
• Between €20,000 and €45,000 for local economic operators (e.g. MSMEs, cooperatives, start-ups) with mandatory co-financing of at least 10% of the grant.
• Between €10,000 and €25,000 for CBOs

Expected Outputs

• Participatory analysis of the target areas is performed by local Committees
• Local economic operators and local CBOs received technical and financial assistance to implement development plan
• Results, lessons learnt, and best practices are disseminated

Ineligible Costs

• Costs that do not comply with the conditions laid down in the contract are not eligible. The following costs are not eligible:
  • debts and debt service charges (interest);
  • provisions for losses or potential future liabilities;
  • costs declared by the beneficiary(ies) and financed by another action or work programme receiving a European Union (including through EDF) grant;
  • purchases of land or buildings, except where necessary for the direct implementation of the action;
  • currency exchange losses;
  • in kind contributions (except for volunteers' work);
  • bonuses included in costs of staff;
  • negative interest charged by banks or other financial institutions;
  • salary costs of the personnel of national administrations.

Eligibility Criteria

• There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:
  • the actors:
    • the ‘lead applicant’, i.e. the entity submitting the application form;
    • if any, its co-applicant(s) (where it is not specified otherwise the lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) are hereinafter jointly referred as ‘applicant(s)’);
    • and, if any, affiliated entity(ies) to the lead applicant and/or to a co-applicant(s);
  • the actions:
    • actions for which a grant may be awarded;
  • the eligible costs or results/conditions:
    • where the grant takes the form of reimbursement of costs (totally or partially): the eligible costs, the types of cost that may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant.
    • where the grant takes the form of financing not linked to costs (totally or partially): the eligibility conditions for the results/conditions.
• Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s))
  • Lead applicant in order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person and b) be non-profit-making
    • be a non-governmental organisation, registered towards the relevant authority in Lebanon
    • be effectively established in4 a Member State of the European Union or in an eligible country or territory as defined under Article 28(1) of NDICI-GE5,
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary
    • have at least one relevant experience in local economic development
    • have at least one relevant experience in managing sub-granting schemes
    • have at least one relevant experience in working with SDCs of the Ministry of Social Affairs.
  • Co-applicant(s)
    • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
    • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
    • Co-applicants must sign the mandate in Part B Section 4 of the grant application form.
    • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).

Ineligibility Criteria

• The following are not considered entities affiliated to an applicant:
  • Entities that have entered into a (procurement) contract or subcontract with an applicant, act as concessionaires or delegatees for public services for an applicant,
  • Entities that receive financial support from the applicant,
  • Entities that cooperate on a regular basis with an applicant on the basis of a memorandum of understanding or share some assets,
  • Entities that have signed a consortium agreement under the grant contract

For more information, visit Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

https://aics.portaleamministrazionetrasparente.it/archivio97_concessione-contributi_0_178_952_1.html