Preventing gender-based violence

CERV-2026 is an EU call under the CERV programme funding targeted actions to prevent gender-based violence, with an indicative budget of €4,000,000 for the prevention priority. Eligible applicants are consortia of at least two beneficiaries (public bodies or private non-profit organisations) with the lead applicant required to be non-profit; project grants range from €200,000 to €600,000 for 12–24 month actions. Grants are awarded as CERV lump sum grants and proposals must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal by 3 November 2026, 17:00 CET. Evaluation uses Relevance (40), Quality (40) and Impact (20) with an overall threshold of 70/100 and a minimum Relevance score of 25/40.

Call: CERV-2026-DAPHNE — Prevention (CERV-2026-DAPHNE-PREVENTION)

Overview

EU action grant under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) to fund projects that prevent gender-based violence (including cyberviolence and harmful practices) and support systemic measures to protect victims and children. The topic is one of five priorities in the broader CERV Daphne call for 2026.

What it funds:Prevention programmes and awareness-raising (including engaging men and boys), digital/cyber-violence prevention and reporting tools, perpetrator programmes, training and capacity-building for professionals, development of one-stop or integrated support services and child protection system strengthening ¹

1. 1Who can apply: legal entities (public or private non-profit, international organisations) established in eligible countries; consortia required for most priorities. Natural persons normally not eligible.
2. 2Special rules: Priority 1 (regranting) targets intermediaries with at least 3 years relevant experience; Priority 4 is restricted to public authorities as lead applicants; Priority 5 requires involvement of a public authority.
3. 3Project duration and size: Priority 1 projects 36 months; Priorities 2–5 between 12 and 24 months. Budget ranges: Priority €1 1,000,000–2,500,000; Priorities 2–€5 200,000–600,000.

Grants are awarded as CERV Lump Sum Grants (funding rate 90% applied to the lump sum). Priority 1 must include mandatory regranting and capacity-building work packages; regranted amounts per third party are capped at €60,000. Applicants submit electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Footnotes

1. 1Full call document, detailed conditions, templates and guidance available on the Funding & Tenders Portal: Call fiche CERV-2026-DAPHNE

Opportunity summary

Call for proposals to prevent and combat gender-based violence and violence against children under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV). Topic reference: CERV-2026. This topic is one of five priorities in the CERV-2026-DAPHNE call which opened on 7 July 2026 with deadline 3 November 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time. Projects under this prevention priority must address targeted actions to prevent gender-based violence, including measures to prevent rape and promote consent, measures to prevent and address cyber violence, perpetrator programmes, and measures addressing stereotypical media portrayals and sexual harassment in audiovisual industries. Indicative funding for the prevention priority is €4 000 000. The call uses CERV Lump Sum Grants and follows single-stage submission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. More details, templates and the Call Document are available on the Portal and applicants must consult them closely ¹.

Link to topic page:Preventing gender-based violence topic page on the Funding & Tenders Portal CERV-2026-DAPHNE-PREVENTION ¹

Detailed eligibility and administrative summary

This section extracts and consolidates the eligibility, administrative and operational rules relevant to applicants for the prevention topic from the CERV-2026-DAPHNE call documentation.

Deadline and timetable:Call opening: 07 July 2026. Submission deadline: 03 November 2026, 17:00 CET (Brussels time). Evaluation: November 2026 – May 2027. Information to applicants: May 2027. Anticipated grant signature: June–July 2027 ¹.

Funding instrument and action type:Type of action: CERV Lump Sum Grants (reimbursing a fixed lump sum determined on the basis of the estimated budget and a funding rate of 90%). The grant is a lump sum model under the CERV lump sum decision. The call is managed under the CERV programme (2021-2027) and the Daphne strand.

Form of submission:Single-stage, single-deadline electronic submission only via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper submissions are not accepted. Applicants must use Part A and Part B templates and submit the detailed budget table and mandatory annexes in the Submission System ¹.

Answers to structured classification questions

Eligible Applicant Types

Eligible applicants and participating entities as described in the call:public bodies, private bodies (non-profit), international organisations, research organisations, higher education establishments, NGOs, grassroots civil society organisations, programme contact points (with accounting segregation), and entities without legal personality in exceptional cases. Natural persons are NOT eligible except self-employed sole traders where the company is not a separate legal person. Profit-oriented organisations cannot act as lead applicants for priorities 2, 3 and 5; they may participate as partners only. Priority 4 is restricted to public authorities acting as sole applicant or consortium lead. Priority 1 intermediaries must be non-profit and show at least 3 years proven experience in CSO capacity-building and regranting experience. The call encourages involvement of public authorities as partners or letters of support where indicated. Third parties/recipients of regranting (priority 1) must be non-profit grassroots CSOs established in eligible countries. Associated partners, affiliated entities and subcontractors are permitted in their specific consortium roles defined in the call document ¹.

1. 1Public bodies (national/regional/local authorities, ministries, agencies, police, judicial, equality bodies)
2. 2Non-profit organisations (NGOs, women’s rights organisations, civil society organisations)
3. 3International organisations
4. 4Research organisations and universities
5. 5Private non-profit entities and foundations
6. 6Programme Contact Points (subject to accounting segregation requirements)
7. 7Grassroots CSOs as third parties (recipients of regranting under Priority 1)
8. 8Self-employed natural persons only where legal form is sole trader (limited exception)

Funding Type

Primary financial mechanism:grant. Specifically, lump sum grants under the CERV Lump Sum Grants modality (CERV-LS / CERV-AG-LS). The call requires lump sum calculation based on an estimated budget and applies a funding rate of 90% for the lump sum determination. For Priority 1, financial support to third parties (regranting) is a mandatory activity work package within the action; regranted amounts are part of the action budget but follow the rules set for third-party funding in the call document ¹.

Consortium Requirement

Requirement differs by priority:Priority 1 (Regranting) can be submitted as a single applicant or a consortium. Priorities 2, 3 and 5 require a consortium of at least two beneficiaries. Priority 4 is restricted: the sole applicant or the lead applicant must be a public authority; a consortium is allowed but coordinator must be a public authority. Consortia must contain eligible beneficiaries (not only affiliated entities or associated partners). One entity can submit only one proposal as coordinator across the entire call. Consortium composition and size must be justified and proportionate to the project scope and budget ¹.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility)

Eligible countries:EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories, OCTs); countries associated to the CERV programme; and countries in ongoing negotiations for association where the association enters into force before grant signature. Project activities must take place in eligible countries. Projects may be national or transnational in scope. Third-party projects (regranted) must implement activities in eligible countries as well. The call document and the Funding & Tenders Portal contain the current list of participating countries and any updates; applicants must check the Portal for the latest status before submission ¹.

Mentioned Countries:Explicit country-level lists are not provided in the topic excerpt; the document references EU Member States plus countries associated to CERV or in the process of association. The geographic eligibility should be interpreted as EU and associated CERV countries as confirmed on the Portal ¹.

Target Sector

Sectoral focus:social policies and rights, specifically gender equality, victim support, child protection, justice, education, digital safety and cyberviolence prevention. Thematic areas include prevention of gender-based violence (including cyberviolence), perpetrator programmes, media and audiovisual sector reforms to counter stereotypical portrayals, and integrated child protection systems. Cross-cutting sectors: public administration, law enforcement, health, social services, education, digital platforms and ICT for reporting/flagging tools, and civil society capacity building ¹.

Project Stage / Expected Maturity

Expected project maturity:development, implementation and demonstration of policy/practice interventions and services. The call prioritises practical projects implementing concrete measures, services, tools or programmes designed for sustainable systemic change. Research is allowed only as a supporting activity and cannot be the primary aim. Projects under Priority 1 include regranting and capacity-building to grassroots CSOs (operational delivery). Priorities 2–5 focus on implementation, capacity-building, service design, training, tools, and system strengthening (validation, demonstration and scale to national/transnational application) ¹.

Funding Amount (Indicative)

Call-level estimated total budget:€21 000 000 across all five priorities. Indicative funding per priority: Priority 1 (Regranting) €8 000 000; Priority 2 (Protection) €4 000 000; Priority 3 (Prevention) €4 000 000; Priority 4 (Convention/Directive support) €2 000 000; Priority 5 (Children) €3 000 000. Project-specific requested grant ranges and limits: Priority 1: minimum €1 000 000 and maximum €2 500 000 per project. Priorities 2, 3, 4, 5: minimum €200 000 and maximum €600 000 per project. In Priority 1 intermediaries should allocate typically about 60-70% of their grant to regrants to third parties. Maximum regrant per third party: €60 000. Third parties are not required to co-finance their projects. Projects are financed as lump sums with a funding rate of 90% used to set the lump sum amount in the grant agreement ¹.

Application Type

Open call via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Submission is an open public call for proposals with single-stage online application. The submission session for the topic is available through the Portal and applicants must use the templates and forms available in the Submission System (Part A and Part B, KPI tool and mandatory annexes) ¹.

Nature of Support

Mix of monetary support and non-monetary services:beneficiaries receive grants (money) in the form of lump sums. Under Priority 1 the intermediary will also provide financial support to third parties (monetary regrants) and capacity-building services (non-monetary: training, mentoring, helpdesk). Across priorities, non-monetary support includes training, development of tools, awareness campaigns, technical assistance, guidelines, and coordination activities ¹.

Application Stages

Number of stages in the application and award process:1 (single-stage submission), followed by evaluation, selection, invitation to grant preparation and signature. The process includes admissibility and eligibility checks, evaluation by experts against award criteria, ranking, invitation to grant preparation for successful proposals, legal and financial checks (legal entity validation, financial capacity, exclusion checks) before signing the Grant Agreement. Evaluation period is one step but administrative checks add subsequent stages during grant preparation ¹.

Success Rates

The call documentation does not publish a precise historical success rate for this specific call. Success likelihood depends on evaluation scores, available budget per priority and competition. Selection requires meeting the individual threshold for Relevance (25/40) and overall threshold of 70/100. Only proposals passing thresholds and ranked within available budgets are funded. Applicants should plan for competitive scoring under relevance, quality and impact criteria and be aware that not all available funds will necessarily be awarded ¹.

Co-funding Requirement

Co-funding:The call does not require mandatory co-financing from beneficiaries for the grant at the action level, except that applicants must ensure a balanced project budget and adequate own resources if needed. Third parties receiving regrants under Priority 1 cannot be required to provide co-financing. The lump sum model is set at a funding rate used to fix the lump sum; applicants must ensure proposed budgets are realistic proxies for actual costs and comply with eligibility conditions for EU grants. For some financial capacity checks and thresholds, additional guarantees or joint and several liability may be requested during grant preparation ¹.

Application Templates and Form Structure

Applicants must use the Portal Submission System forms:Part A (administrative data entered online), Part B (technical description uploaded as PDF using the standard application form template), KPI tool in the Portal and mandatory annexes. Required annexes include the detailed budget table (Excel .xlsx), CVs of core team, activity report of the coordinator and partners where mandatory, list of previous projects template (last 4 years), and child protection policy or declaration where activities involve children. For Priority 1 intermediary applicants, the Part B must describe the regranting mechanism, selection criteria, capacity-building programme, monitoring and management arrangements, identity fiche templates and public webpage arrangements for transparency. The call provides a standard application form (CERV) template and a detailed budget table (CERV LSII) plus other templates: Child Protection Policy Declaration, Lump Sum Model Grant Agreement, and supporting guidance documents in the Portal Reference Documents ¹.

1. 1Application Form Part A: administrative data entered in the Portal Submission System.
2. 2Application Form Part B: technical description template (PDF upload).
3. 3KPI tool: online in the Submission System, all sections to be completed.
4. 4Detailed budget table (Excel .xlsx) — mandatory for lump sum assessment and lump sum calculation.
5. 5CVs of core project team (mandatory).
6. 6Activity report of the last year of the coordinator (mandatory; public bodies exempt). For Priority 1, activity reports of partners are mandatory in consortium submissions.
7. 7List of previous projects template (last 4 years) — mandatory where required by the call.
8. 8Child Protection Policy or Child Protection Policy Declaration (mandatory where activities involve children).

Evaluation and Award

Evaluation criteria:Relevance (40 points, minimum 25), Quality (40 points), Impact (20 points). Overall threshold 70/100. Evaluators will assess eligibility and admissibility first; eligible proposals are scored and ranked. Tie-breaking uses Relevance, then Quality, then Impact scores. Only proposals meeting thresholds and within budget are invited to grant preparation. Grant preparation includes legal entity validation, financial capacity checks, exclusion checks and may require prefinancing guarantees or joint liability measures depending on the assessment ¹.

Mandatory deliverables and monitoring:All projects must define work packages and deliverables. Common deliverables include progress reports, the EU Survey on Justice, Rights and Values dissemination, and mandatory ethics and child protection safeguards where relevant. Priority 1 intermediaries must provide identity fiches for awarded third parties (both award and final), publish a dedicated webpage about regranting calls and maintain monitoring, reporting and due diligence systems for grantees. Regranting intermediaries must also provide an end-of-project impact report that analyses the regranting mechanism's effects on grassroots CSOs and the sector ¹.

Risk, Ethics and Compliance

Applicants must comply with EU values (Article 2 TEU, Article 21 Charter), GDPR, ethical standards and child safeguarding standards. For any activities involving children, private organisations must upload a full child protection policy aligned with Keeping Children Safe standards; public bodies may submit the Child Protection Policy Declaration template. Intermediaries with regranting responsibilities must implement robust management, control, risk mitigation, irregularity/fraud prevention and due diligence procedures and ensure that third parties respect EU values and do not cause reputational risk. The call emphasises non-discrimination, intersectional approaches and inclusive targeting in design, monitoring and evaluation ¹.

Practical and operational requirements

Key operational rules applicants must observe:register organisations in the Participant Register and obtain PICs before submission; ensure the coordinator is authorised to submit; upload all mandatory annexes in the correct slots; respect Part B page limits (70 pages for Priority 1, 45 pages for other priorities), formatting rules and font size; manage subcontracting proportionately and justify subcontracting over 30% if relevant; ensure transparency and avoid double funding; prepare to supply financial statements and accounting documents for legal/financial validation; incorporate AI usage transparency if generative AI is used to prepare the proposal; and maintain accessibility and readability of uploaded files. Consult Portal Online Manual and Topic Q&A for details ¹.

Templates and application form structure (how to complete)

The standard CERV application form comprises:Part A entries in the Portal (administrative, participants, budget summary), Part B technical narrative (download template, fill, convert to PDF and upload), KPI tool online and mandatory annexes. Part B includes sections on relevance (background, needs analysis, complementarity), quality (methodology, consortium, management, monitoring and evaluation, risk), impact (ambition, dissemination, sustainability), workplan and work packages (detailed WP description, milestones and deliverables), ethics and EU values and declarations. Annexes to attach include the detailed budget table (Excel), CVs, activity reports, list of previous projects and child protection policy/declaration where applicable. For Priority 1, Part B must include a detailed regranting design with eligibility and award criteria for third parties, maximum amounts, selection and monitoring procedures, capacity-building programme description and an estimated distribution of funds (e.g., typical 60-70% to regrants) ¹.

1. 1Part A — Fill online in the Submission System (administrative, participants, summary budget).
2. 2Part B — Use the downloadable CERV narrative template, complete all sections and upload as PDF (page limits apply).
3. 3KPI tool — Complete the online KPI tool in the Submission System.
4. 4Detailed budget table (annex 1, Excel .xlsx) — mandatory for lump sum assessment and lump sum calculation.
5. 5Mandatory annexes: CVs of core team, activity reports, list of previous projects, child protection policy/declaration for activities involving children.

How to design a compliant Priority 1 (Regranting) proposal — required content checklist

Priority 1 has specific mandatory elements. Intermediary applicants must include both:financial support to third parties and a capacity-building programme for CSOs. The regranting mechanism must be fully described and fully transparent; calls for proposals for third parties must be published in relevant EU languages for at least two months or be open-ended with clear procedures, selection and award criteria and appeal mechanisms. Intermediaries must ensure due diligence, publish outcomes, keep identity fiches, maintain a public webpage with grantee information and apply child safeguarding for third parties that involve children. Regranted project maximum per third party is €60 000, activities of third parties must occur within eligible countries and within the action duration, and third parties must be non-profit grassroots CSOs. The intermediary must explain how it will reach small and remote grassroots CSOs and allocate a major part of the budget to regrants (typically 60–70%) and provide a robust monitoring and evaluation framework for assessing impact on third parties and the sector ¹.

1. 1Detailed CSO landscape assessment and needs analysis.
2. 2Clear definition of types of third-party activities eligible (closed list) and maximum amounts.
3. 3Selection, award, and appeal procedures; conflict of interest prevention.
4. 4Capacity-building programme description and delivery plan (helpdesk, training, mentoring, on-the-job coaching).
5. 5Monitoring and reporting plan for third-party projects, identity fiche templates and final impact reporting.
6. 6Management and control system: risk management, fraud prevention, reputational risk mitigation, due diligence checks.
7. 7Public transparency measures: dedicated webpage, publication of awarded third parties and results.

Evaluation scoring priorities — what reviewers will prioritise

Evaluation focuses strongly on relevance to the call objectives and policy framework (VAW Directive, Istanbul Convention, Roadmap for Women’s Rights, EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030, Commission Recommendation on integrated child protection systems), the quality of methodology and consortium, and the impact and sustainability of results. For Priority 1 evaluators will review the clarity, transparency and feasibility of the regranting mechanism and the quality of proposed capacity-building to strengthen grassroots CSOs. For priorities addressing services or system strengthening, clear stakeholder involvement (including public authorities where recommended/required), gender and intersectional mainstreaming, and concrete deliverables for victim support, prevention and child protection are critical. Ethics, child safeguarding, and due diligence are scored under Quality and can reduce scores if insufficient ¹.

Summary: What is this opportunity about and how to approach it

This CERV-2026 topic funds practical, implementation-oriented projects that prevent gender-based violence with emphasis on rape prevention and consent, cyberviolence prevention and response, perpetrator programmes, media sector changes and systemic prevention measures. It is part of a broader CERV Daphne call that covers regranting, protection, implementation of the VAW Directive and child protection systems. Applicants should design projects that deliver measurable, sustainable outcomes, with strong gender and intersectional analysis, ethical safeguards and, where relevant, robust child protection policies. Priority 1 offers intermediaries an opportunity to regrant funds to grassroots CSOs combined with capacity-building to achieve structural change at local level. Applications must conform strictly to the templates and requirements in the Portal, clearly justify budgets and consortium composition and demonstrate operational and financial capacity. The application must be submitted electronically to the Funding & Tenders Portal before the deadline and should be prepared well in advance to allow for legal, financial and administrative validation and to mitigate administrative risks during grant preparation.

Footnotes

1. 1Call document and topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal contain full conditions, templates, lists of eligible countries, legal and financial rules, and guidance documents. Access the topic page and the Call Document on the Portal for official details: ec.europa.eu

Programme Overview and Call Context

This opportunity is Priority 3 of the CERV-2026-DAPHNE call under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme (2021-2027). It focuses on targeted actions to prevent gender-based violence (GBV), including domestic violence, cyber violence, and harmful practices, in alignment with the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030 and the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence (VAW Directive) ¹.

Who Should Apply and Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must form a consortium of at least two beneficiaries (public entities or private non-profit organisations). Profit-oriented organisations can only participate as partners alongside public or non-profit entities. The lead applicant must be a non-profit organisation. Public authority involvement is encouraged but not mandatory ².

Eligible Countries:EU Member States (including overseas territories), countries associated with CERV, and countries negotiating association agreements where the agreement enters force before grant signature.

Funding Details and Project Scope

Key Activities and Expected Impact

1. 1Measures to prevent rape and promote consent in sexual relationships (engaging men and boys)
2. 2Cyber violence prevention tools to strengthen digital literacy and positive gender narratives
3. 3Perpetrator programmes to prevent re-offending with a victim-centred approach
4. 4Measures to combat stereotypical media portrayals and prevent sexual harassment in the film industry

Expected impacts include increased awareness of gender stereotypes, greater involvement of men/boys in tackling GBV, improved capacity of professionals to address cyber violence, and a shift in attitudes towards lower tolerance for violence ³.

Submission Timeline and Deadlines

The call opened on July 7, 2026. The deadline for submission is November 3, 2026, at 17:00 CET (Brussels time). Evaluation results will be communicated in May 2027, with grant agreements signed between June and July 2027 ⁴.

Evaluation Criteria and Application Tips

Proposals are scored on Relevance (40 points), Quality (40 points), and Impact (20 points). A minimum of 25 points is required for Relevance and 70 points overall to pass. Applicants should include partners specialised in GBV and involve public authorities to boost Quality and Impact scores ⁵.

Applications must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Part B (technical description) is limited to 45 pages. Mandatory documents include a detailed budget table, CVs of core team members, and a Child Protection Policy if activities involve children ⁶.

Footnotes

1. 1Call Document CERV-2026-DAPHNE, Section 2: Objectives and Themes, European Commission, July 2026.
2. 2Call Document CERV-2026-DAPHNE, Section 6: Eligibility and Consortium Composition, European Commission, July 2026.
3. 3Call Document CERV-2026-DAPHNE, Section 2: Expected Impact for Priority 3, European Commission, July 2026.
4. 4Call Document CERV-2026-DAPHNE, Section 4: Timetable and Deadlines, European Commission, July 2026.
5. 5Call Document CERV-2026-DAPHNE, Section 9: Award Criteria, European Commission, July 2026.
6. 6Call Document CERV-2026-DAPHNE, Section 5: Admissibility and Documents, European Commission, July 2026.