Support to Civil Society in Uzbekistan

Description

1) Objective

LOT 1: Human Rights and Democracy (HRD)
The global objective is promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law in Uzbekistan. The specific objective(s) are:
1) Protecting and promoting civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights;
2) Enhance the capacity of local civil society activists and CSOs to actively engage in promoting youth inclusion and empowerment, gender equality and women’s empowerment, media literacy, and environmental sustainability and climate change initiatives;
3) Safeguarding fundamental freedoms, including harnessing the opportunities and addressing the challenges of new technologies: to create and maintain an environment conducive to the full exercise of all fundamental freedoms, online and offline.

LOT 2: Civil Society Organisations (CSO)
The global objective is to strengthen local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as independent actors of good governance and development in Uzbekistan.
The specific objective(s) are:
1) strengthening capacities of local CSOs to engage in policy dialogue at national level and in dialogue, implementation and monitoring of national development programmes and plans;
2) to increase the capacity of civil society organisations to perform their role as independent development actors more effectively and to enhance efforts to promote a conducive environment for CSOs;
3) to improve capacity and ability of local CSOs to uphold and promote an enabling environment and democratic space in Uzbekistan, to support local administrations in the implementation and monitoring of the national initiatives and plans on decentralisation and implementation of the Agenda 2030 SDGs;
4) to strengthen capacity of local CSOs to engage in gender equality and youth inclusion and strengthen capacity of local women’s and youth partner CSOs.

2) Eligibility

In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must: (1) be a legal person and (2) be non-profit-making and (3) be a non-governmental civil society organisation and (4) be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

3) Location

Actions must take place in Uzbekistan.

4) Budget

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is €2,255,000. Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the minimum €415,000 and maximum €505,000. Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the minimum (50%) and maximum (95%) percentage of total eligible costs of the action.

5) Application

The concept note together with the declaration by the lead applicant must be submitted online via PROSPECT. The deadline for the submission is 22 August 2025.