Bilateral FAQs – Asylum and Migration

1.Will there be an open call for Programme I “Local Development & Poverty Reduction”?

The Bilateral Call for the Programme I “Local Development & Poverty Reduction” will be launched in the upcoming period. However, this will not be an open Call but the three pre-defined organizations under the specific Programme I (namely SolidarityNow, European Wergeland Center & Athens Development & Destination Management Agency), will be invited to submit their […]Read More

2.Question on eligibility criteria for participation, sent on behalf of a Greek Kindergarten. The kindergarten is a legal entity of Public Law (Y.PAI.TH), with a registration number under the committee of primary education and with a distinct bank account managed by the Head of the Kindergarten. Does the Kindergarten meet the requirements for applying for the funding?

According to the call, eligible applicants are also public entities. From that perspective, being a public legal entity does not exclude your eligibility. Nevertheless, a final answer to the question regarding the eligibility can only be given after the submission of the proposal and after the examination and evaluation of all legal documents. Please note […]Read More

3.Improved operational procedures and capacity of the Greek Asylum Service and Appeal Committees” (page 4). The question is if the proposed action could concern only the Greek Asylum processes and not the Appeal Committee. For example, could the improved procedures and capacity affect only the RAOs, the RICs, etc.?

One of the general objectives of the Programme II “Asylum & Migration” is indeed the improvement of operational procedures & capacity building of the GAS & or AC. Kindly note that a bilateral proposal, as mentioned in the Call’s document, could include initiatives such as: “strengthening the capacity and effectiveness of Greek public and private […]Read More

4.Ιf a bilateral partnership is willing to submit two proposals, in that case, is it necessary to submit two project templates and budgets?

Each proposal will be submitted separately & will have a unique ID number of application; Practically, if a bilateral partnership is willing to submit two proposals, then two applications, two budgets’ templates have to be submitted.

5.In the Call for Proposals, it is mentioned the funding is available only for NGOs with headquarters in Greece, Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein. If an organization is based in a country not included in the abovementioned countries but primarily operates in Greece, is this organization eligible for this funding opportunity?

According to the Call for Proposals “Bilateral Initiative applicants & partners must be legal entities registered and established in Greece or in the Donor States. Eligible promoters could be both profit and non-profit institutions in Greece or in Norway, Lichtenstein, or Iceland.“. If this is not the case for the organization, i.e. if you it […]Read More

6.We are a small civil non-profit organization, dealing with the social circus and we have collaborated with many Greek institutions and NGOs. Our idea is to exchange good practices and implement a series of interventions in camps and hospitality spaces with similar social circus groups in the reference countries. Our question is the following: whether such an action would be relevant to the programme or whether it is exclusively related to asylum procedures.

It is suggested to carefully read the guidelines of the Call, and specifically the indicative activities, which could be included and described in a potential application and discuss the component of your proposal with your partner(s). An indicative non-exhaustive list of eligible activities as described in the guidelines of the Call is the following: • […]Read More

7.Is a Non-profit legal entity under private law, considered eligible for the call. For example, if a public benefit legal entity, which states among its statutory purposes the provision of support and care to vulnerable groups, including refugees, and the implementation of programs for their integration in the local society, could be considered is an eligible applicant for this call?

According to the Call for Proposals “Bilateral Initiative applicants & partners must be legal entities registered and established in Greece or in the Donor States. Eligible promoters could be both profit and non-profit institutions in Greece or in Norway, Lichtenstein or Iceland”. According to that, as far as an organization is a non-profit legal entity […]Read More

8.Do we (a local Greek NGO) need to find a partner in Norway from your database?

Αt least one entity from one of the Donor States, relevant to achieving the cooperation objectives, must be involved in any initiative. Practically, if you are interested in submitting a bilateral application, you may find a partner from the database. However, in case you are already aware of a Norwegian organization, which you find that […]Read More

9.Should all partners involved in the project be implementing activities or can one partner be implementing and the other(s) be the recipient of activities?

It is up to the partnership & the agreement between partners to breakdown activities in a bilateral project. There is no such a restriction in the bilateral component.

10.Can you share a link to past projects that successfully received this funding in previous years, so that we can gain an understanding of what they looked like?

Under the current scheme of the Fund Operator (SOL CROWE & HumanRights360) it is the first time we launch such a Call, therefore we cannot share something from the past.

11.Is there a list with the supporting documentation requested available in Greek? The translation of some documents such as tax statement, tax declaration and tax clearance certificate may lead to misinterpretation and attaching the wrong document.

Please find below the translation in Greek for the documents requested in the Call text: Valid tax statement and social insurance statement: φορολογική και ασφαλιστική ενημερότητα εν ισχύ Tax declarations; Balance sheets of the last two years: Φορολογική δήλωση (Εκκαθαριστικό) / Ισολογισμοί των δύο τελευταίων ετών Although tax clearance certificate is mentioned in the question […]Read More

12.In the call, regarding the amount of funding, the following is stated “The total amount for funding under this Call is €110,000. Initiatives can be supported up to a maximum rate of 100% of the eligible costs, with a maximum grant of €15,000 per application”, is the amount of €15,000 given to the entity submitting the proposal or is it shared between the two partners?

The funding shall be disbursed to the bank account provided by the Lead Partner on the contract, as reimbursement of all expenses incurred by or on behalf of the Partnership. The budget allocation between the partners is agreed when planning the project (the Leader organisations – together with their project partner/s) and is to be […]Read More

13.We are an association and in the framework of the call for proposals for the Bilateral Initiatives Programme II: “Asylum and Migration”, we would like to submit a proposal. The actions selected are :
• Visits aimed at deepening cooperation through specific joint activities
• Networking, exchange and transfer of knowledge, technology, experience, and best practices

Can we apply as an association/NGO ?

The actions selected are eligible under the Call, as described in the list with the indicative activities for a bilateral component in the Call: visits aiming at deepening partnerships across sectors and through specific common activities networking, exchange, sharing and transfer of knowledge, technology, experience and best practice visits by NGO experts / experts from […]Read More

14.In the financial budget can we add the purchase of computers for the migrant structure we are working with?

The expense of purchasing computers does not appear to have a direct and apparent association with the objective of the Call, thus it is considered not eligible. For the expenditure to be considered eligible under this call, it should contribute directly to achieving the objective of the call.

15.Can the signature of the partner be electronic?

An officially certified electronic signature by the representative(s) of the legal person is also acceptable.

16.What permanent equipment can we request for the migrant facility because the needs are high?

The expense of purchasing equipment does not appear to have a direct and apparent association with the objective of the Call. All Proposed initiatives should enhance cooperation and improve mutual knowledge and understanding, adding value to the objective/outcomes of Programme II, Asylum and Migration. Every expense included in the proposal must also follow the general […]Read More

17.In the case of an international organization with offices and operational presence in Greece and in the donor states: if the Greek office applies as an applicant, 1) would the office of the organization in one of the donor states qualify as a partner, and 2) would this partnership scheme meet the eligibility criteria and prerequisites of the call?

A “partnership” requires the cooperation between two distinct legal persons. Subsidiaries or offices of the same legal person in different countries cannot be held as “partners” and therefore such a “partnership” would not be eligible.

18.Checking the UDI page that provides a list of organizations that can apply for the call, our organization is not included. Does this mean that we are not qualified to apply for the call?

The organizations mentioned under the link https://ngonorway.org/partners/ is an indicative list of partners, not a list of eligible applicants. Organizations not included in the list can also be eligible applicants. A “partnership” requires the cooperation between two distinct legal persons. Subsidiaries or offices of the same legal person in different countries cannot be held as […]Read More

19.All support documents of our partner – such as TAX Declaration, certificates, statutes, etc. – are in the Norwegian language. Does the partner need to translate all these documents in English?

The (following) supporting documents should be uploaded together with the application and budget template in Greek or translated in English in case of any other language for an application to be eligible for evaluation.

20.In the guidelines for applicants, it is written “Latest consolidated version of the Statutes of the Organization, as registered in the General Registry- and a General Certificate (including Statutes changes) issued no more than 30 days prior to the last application date.” (page 2 Guidelines for applicants) Does this mean that you need the Statute of the Organization and its amendments?

We need the latest consolidated version of the Statutes. Not the initial Statutes and all amendments afterwards.

21.What exactly is the General Certificate of the last 30 days and where does it come from?

Regarding companies, the General Business Registry of Greece (ΓΕΜΗ) issues a so-called “General Certificate” that includes the registration date of the company, the dates of all following amendments of the statutes (in case there are any), as well as some information regarding the good standing of the company.

22.Regarding the pending legal issues point: “Pending legal issues – if any, signed solemn declaration by the legal representative, stating that the lead applicant and potential partners have no legal backlog. (page 2 Guidelines for applicants) Is a Certificate from the Court of First Instance acceptable?

No. We need a relevant declaration by the legal representative.

23.Regarding the last point of the specific criteria: “Tax declarations of the last two years; Balance sheets of the last two years if the organization is audited by Chartered Accountants, the last reference & budgets and accounts of the last two years Fund Operator reserves the right to ask additional documents during the contracting phase with the project promoters pre-selected.” (page 3 Guidelines for applicants) Does this mean that we need to submit the financial statement of the last two years?

We are providing you a Greek translation of the required documents mentioned in this point, for your convenience and clarification: Φορολογική δήλωση δύο τελευταίων ετών/ ισολογισμοί – οικονομικές καταστάσεις δύο τελευταίων ετών σε περίπτωση ελέγχου από ορκωτούς ελεγκτές.

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Bilateral Cooperation