ROOTS Zambia - Rights, oversight and transparency for Zambia's sustainable development

ROOTS Zambia EuropeAid is an EU action grant call with an overall indicative budget of €6,830,000 split into Lot 1 (€4,830,000; individual grants €1,600,000–€2,400,000) and Lot 2 (€2,000,000 single grant) to strengthen civil society participation, safeguards and extractive-sector accountability in Zambia. The call is a restricted two-stage procedure: concept note deadline 8 December 2026 at 18:00 Brussels time, with pre-selected lead applicants invited to submit full applications via PROSPECT and mandatory PADOR/PIC registration. Eligible lead applicants are non-profit civil society organisations (with required co-applicant arrangements and affiliated entity rules), actions must be implemented in Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, Lusaka or North-Western provinces, and Lot 1 must allocate at least 35% of the grant budget to financial support to third parties (normally capped at €60,000 per recipient unless justified). Awards are conditional on availability of appropriations for Lot 1 and on a financing agreement with the Republic of Zambia for Lot 2, and applicants must comply with EU safeguards, inclusion and visibility requirements and the full application templates and annexes published on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Quick facts

What this call funds

Grants to strengthen Zambian civil society and community participation in governance, transparency and oversight linked to Global Gateway priorities: critical raw materials, energy and just climate transition, sustainable transport and connectivity, and sustainable agriculture. Activities include capacity building, community-led safeguards, monitoring, advocacy, outreach and—where allowed—financial support to third parties.

Footnotes

1. 1Full guidelines, application forms, budget and logframe templates, and annexes are published on the call page and must be followed precisely. Official documents and downloads are available via the call dossier Call documents.

Opportunity summary

Basic facts and timetable

Programme objectives, priorities and scope

Lot-specific objectives and priorities:

Eligibility and applicant types

Funding modality and financial rules

Consortium requirement and geographic eligibility

Target sector and project stage

Project duration, locations and eligible activities

Application process and templates

Evaluation, selection and award

Compliance, safeguards and cross-cutting requirements

Templates and application form structure

Assessment of opportunity: key strengths, risks and preparation checklist

This opportunity is a high-value, strategic EU civil society funding window tailored to shape governance and safeguards in Zambia amid major investment agendas (Global Gateway). It funds large-scale CSO networks, community monitoring, advocacy and revenue transparency work with significant budgets per award. Applicants with strong local presence, proven technical capacity on extractives, environment, land rights and community engagement, and demonstrated fiscal and organisational management systems should prepare comprehensive concept notes and be ready to submit fully costed, realistic full applications when invited.

Templates: structure and guidance for applicants

Key application templates and structure (applicants must follow exactly):

Administrative & supporting documents required at full application stage (upload in PADOR or in PROSPECT as specified): lead applicant and co-applicant statutes/articles of association; declaration on honour (Annex H); copy of lead applicant’s latest accounts and external audit report when required (thresholds apply); mandates from co-applicants (Annex A.2 section 5); affiliated entity statements; PADOR forms or evidence of PADOR registration; proof of legal status and bank account details; SEA-H self-evaluation (Annex L) when requested for selected applicants.

How this opportunity works in practice — recommended applicant actions

Footnotes

1. 1Refer to Guidelines for grant applicants (published 23 October 2026) and Annexes A.1, A.2, B and C for precise financial ceilings, percentages, and budget template rules. Full guidance including thresholds for audit reports, PADOR and PROSPECT user manuals and SEA-H self-evaluation questionnaire are included in the published call documentation available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

ROOTS Zambia Funding Opportunity Report

Opportunity identification

ROOTS Zambia, Rights, oversight and transparency for Zambia's sustainable development is an EU action grant call for proposals under reference EuropeAid. The European Commission is the contracting authority. The call is geographically focused on Zambia and is designed for civil society organisations and their partners. The opportunity page identifies the call as open for submission and provides the official documents and submission service 1.

The call supports accountable, inclusive and sustainable development by strengthening the ability of Zambian civil society organisations, community-based organisations and affected communities to participate in policy, investment, governance, oversight and accountability processes.

The opportunity is particularly relevant to organisations working on mining and critical raw materials, energy and climate transition, sustainable transport and connectivity, agriculture, land rights, environmental and social safeguards, public finance, civic space, transparency, human rights and community participation.

Deadline and procedure

The deadline for submission of concept notes is 8 December 2026 at 18:00 Brussels time. The portal metadata expresses the closing time as 17:00:46 UTC, which is consistent with the Brussels deadline in the applicant guidelines 2.

This is a restricted call. Applicants must first submit a concept note. Only pre-selected lead applicants will subsequently be invited to submit a full application. The concept note must be submitted online through PROSPECT. Applications sent by email, fax, post or another delivery method will not be accepted 4.

The concept note stage requires an indicative EU contribution and indicative co-financing percentage, but not a detailed budget. A detailed budget, logical framework and supporting documentation are required at the full application stage.

The applicant guidelines provide for an online information session on 5 November 2026 at 10:00 Brussels time. Questions concerning the call must be submitted by 17 November 2026 at 18:00 Brussels time. The contracting authority indicates that replies should be issued by 27 November 2026 at 18:00 Brussels time.

Indicative timetable

The timetable is provisional except for the clarification and concept note deadlines. It may be changed by the contracting authority 7.

Strategic purpose and policy context

The global objective is to contribute to inclusive and accountable governance and development in Zambia by strengthening civil society organisations and local communities to participate meaningfully in development, policy reform, accountability, transparency and investment processes.

The call is linked to the EU Zambia Multi-Annual Indicative Programme for 2021 to 2027, the EU Thematic Programme for Civil Society Organisations, the EU Zambia engagement on public finance management and accountability, the EU Zambia civil society roadmap, the EU Gender Action Plan and the Global Gateway strategy.

The background to the call identifies opportunities and risks associated with Zambia's economic transformation, mining and critical raw materials, renewable energy, transport corridors, agriculture and large-scale investment. The guidance highlights the need for transparency in contracts and procurement, environmental and social safeguards, community participation, equitable benefit sharing, access to information, anti-corruption measures and protection of civic space.

Funding overview

The overall indicative call budget is €6,830,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

The balance of project costs must be financed from sources other than the general budget of the European Union or the European Development Fund. The co-financing requirement is therefore between 5 percent and 25 percent of total eligible action costs, depending on the EU contribution rate selected.

For illustration, a Lot 1 grant of €2,400,000 would imply total eligible costs of approximately €2,526,316 at a 95 percent EU contribution rate or €3,200,000 at a 75 percent rate. A Lot 2 grant of €2,000,000 would imply total eligible costs of approximately €2,105,263 at 95 percent or €2,666,667 at 75 percent. These calculations are indicative and must be confirmed through the final budget template and grant contract.

Lot 1: Civil society participation and safeguards

Lot 1 aims to strengthen the capacity and agency of civil society organisations, community-based organisations and local CSO networks for coordinated, evidence-based advocacy and meaningful participation in public policy and investment processes.

The four priority areas are critical raw materials, energy and just climate transition, sustainable transport and connectivity, and sustainable agriculture and agro-industrialisation.

Priority areas for Lot 1

The proposal should address at least one priority and should integrate several priorities where this creates a coherent intervention and meaningful synergies.

Examples of suitable Lot 1 activities include civil society observatories, public scorecards, community monitoring tools, access-to-information campaigns, policy dialogues, training for community monitors and paralegals, participatory land mapping, support for inclusive consultations, coalition building, joint research, public communications and accountability monitoring of public funds and social protection programmes.

Lot 1 proposals should show how affected communities will own or meaningfully control monitoring and advocacy processes. Additional value may arise from addressing displacement, land rights and resettlement risks linked to infrastructure investments.

Lot 2: Extractive sector transparency and accountability

Lot 2 aims to strengthen the capacity and independence of Zambian civil society organisations to represent and amplify the voices, experiences and evidence of mining affected communities in policy dialogue, governance and accountability processes.

The intended result is greater transparency, accountability and equitable benefit sharing in Zambia's extractive sector.

Priority areas for Lot 2

Lot 2 activities may include organisational strengthening of local CSOs and grassroots groups, financial management support, advocacy and media engagement, participation in the Zambia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative process, engagement with parliamentary committees, research on sub-national mining revenue transfers or state-owned enterprise accountability, community monitoring of revenue and benefit mechanisms, legal literacy, land and environmental rights work, and support for free, prior and informed consent processes.

Lot 2 proposals must demonstrate strong coordination and synergy with other EU-funded projects in Zambia, especially projects working with civil society organisations and communities in mining affected areas. Proposals must avoid duplication and show how community evidence will feed into national policy and advocacy work.

Eligible applicants

The lead applicant must be a legal person, non-profit-making, effectively established in Zambia, an EU Member State or another country eligible under Article 28 of Regulation 2021/947 establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument. It must be a civil society organisation or an association of civil society organisations and must be directly responsible for preparing and managing the action rather than acting as an intermediary.

The definition of civil society organisation is broad and includes non-state, non-profit, non-partisan and non-violent organisations. Potentially relevant categories include non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, advocacy organisations, organisations representing minorities or persons with disabilities, anti-corruption organisations, women's and youth organisations, environmental organisations, universities and research organisations, media organisations, trade unions, cooperatives, professional associations, churches and independent foundations, provided they satisfy the formal eligibility requirements.

Co-applicant requirements

A Zambian lead applicant must act with at least one eligible co-applicant. A non-Zambian lead applicant must act with at least one eligible co-applicant effectively established in Zambia. Non-Zambian lead applicants must demonstrate strong involvement of local CSOs in implementation and strategic steering and must explain how local and grassroots organisations will be strengthened.

For Lot 1, local authorities are also eligible as co-applicants in addition to eligible civil society organisations. Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action and become beneficiaries if the grant is awarded.

Affiliated entities, associates and contractors

Affiliated entities may participate where they have a qualifying structural link with the lead applicant or a co-applicant, such as control or membership within a network, federation or association. The structural link should normally exist independently of the proposed action.

Associates may participate and play a real role but generally cannot receive grant funding other than eligible travel costs and per diem. Contractors may be used subject to the procurement rules in the grant contract. An organisation should participate in only one role within an action to avoid conflicts of interest and uncertainty over responsibilities.

Geographic requirements

Eligible actions must be implemented in Zambia within Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, Lusaka and North-Western provinces.

Lot 1 may cover one or several of these provinces. The geographical scope must be justified by the objectives, the applicant's operational presence, relevant investment pipelines and existing relationships.

Lot 2 must select one province as the primary implementation area. Proposals covering more than one province will not be eligible under Lot 2. National advocacy, coalition and policy engagement may be carried out from or in Lusaka for both lots.

Minor and punctual activities outside Zambia may be accepted where they clearly benefit Zambia, such as regional experience sharing, peer learning, dissemination or networking.

Duration and implementation conditions

Lot 1 actions must last at least 36 months and no longer than 48 months. Lot 2 actions must last at least 36 months and no longer than 42 months.

Each proposal must be submitted under one lot only and must address the specific objective and at least one priority of that lot. A lead applicant may submit one proposal under each lot, meaning it may submit up to two applications in total if it submits one under Lot 1 and one under Lot 2.

The lead applicant may participate as a co-applicant or affiliated entity in another application for the same lot, subject to the rules in the guidelines. A lead applicant may not be awarded more than one grant per lot as lead applicant.

Financial support to third parties

Lot 1 applicants must include financial support to third parties as part of the action, and at least 35 percent of the grant budget must be implemented through this mechanism 6. Lot 2 applicants may include such support but are not required to do so.

The full application must define the objectives and outputs of the third-party support, eligible activities, eligible categories of recipients, selection criteria, criteria for calculating individual amounts and the maximum amount available to each recipient. Third-party recipients must not be subject to EU restrictive measures.

The normal maximum amount per third-party recipient is €60,000. A lower threshold may be set, and a higher amount may be justified where achieving the action objectives would otherwise be impossible or excessively difficult.

Eligible and ineligible activities

Eligible actions should contribute directly to the objectives and priorities of the relevant lot. They should use a rights-based approach and demonstrate clear links between needs, activities, outputs, outcomes and longer-term impact.

Ineligible actions include activities focused mainly on individual sponsorship for events, individual scholarships, actions that violate human rights or cause significant adverse environmental or climate effects, activities that breach EU values, discriminatory activities, actions where financial support to third parties is the main purpose and actions supporting political parties.

Financial management and eligible costs

Grants are based on reimbursement of eligible costs. The budget is both a cost estimate and an overall ceiling. Costs must comply with the standard grant contract and the practical guide for EU external actions.

A contingency reserve of no more than 5 percent of estimated direct eligible costs may be included and may be used only with prior written authorisation from the contracting authority.

Eligible indirect costs may be financed at a flat rate of no more than 7 percent of estimated total eligible direct costs, excluding volunteer costs and project office costs. Indirect costs cannot include costs already charged under another budget heading.

Ineligible costs include debts and interest, provisions for future liabilities, costs financed by another EU-funded action, purchases of land or buildings except in the limited circumstances allowed by the contract, currency exchange losses, in-kind contributions except authorised volunteer work, staff bonuses, negative bank interest, credit to third parties and salary costs of national administration personnel.

Co-financing may come from applicants' own resources or other donors, but the same costs cannot be financed by another EU grant. In-kind contributions generally cannot be counted as co-financing, although authorised volunteer work may be treated according to the applicable EU unit cost rules.

Application registration and documents

Lead applicants, co-applicants and affiliated entities that are organisations must register in PADOR and obtain or maintain their EuropeAid identification details. Lead and co-applicants must also register in the European Commission Participant Register and obtain a participant identification code where required for the future contract management system.

The concept note must be submitted in English through PROSPECT together with the lead applicant declaration. The full application stage requires the full application form, detailed budget, logical framework, declarations and supporting documents.

Typical supporting documents include statutes or articles of association, the declaration on honour on exclusion criteria, the latest accounts of the lead applicant, and an approved external audit report for action grants exceeding €750,000 where available or legally required. Where an external audit report is not required, the lead applicant must provide the applicable self-declaration concerning its accounts.

Applicants should allow sufficient time to obtain official documents, translate relevant documents into English where necessary, update PADOR records and resolve any registration or submission problems before the deadline.

Evaluation and selection

Concept notes are assessed for administrative compliance, relevance and design. The concept note evaluation has a maximum score of 50 points. Pre-selection requires a score of at least 80 percent, equivalent to 40 points. The number of concept notes may then be limited according to ranking and the objective of identifying applications representing at least 200 percent of the available budget for each relevant lot.

Full applications are assessed on financial and operational capacity, relevance, design, implementation approach, sustainability, budget quality and cost-effectiveness. The maximum score is 100 points.

The financial and operational capacity section has a maximum of 20 points. An application is rejected if it scores less than 12 points in that section or receives a score of 1 in any subsection. The assessment also verifies the applicant's project management experience, technical expertise, management capacity, financial resources and capacity to handle the proposed budget.

Evaluation priorities

Strong applications should demonstrate a clear intervention logic, credible baselines and targets, measurable indicators, realistic assumptions and risks, feasible work plans, effective monitoring and evaluation, sustainability beyond the grant period, strong local ownership and cost-effective use of funds.

Cross-cutting compliance requirements

All actions must respect EU values, human rights, equality, non-discrimination, environmental legislation and core labour standards. Applicants must have procedures addressing conflicts of interest, corruption, bribery, fraud, safeguarding and sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

The rights-based approach is a substantive design requirement rather than a narrative statement. Applicants should identify rights-holders and duty-bearers, explain how power imbalances will be addressed and show how women, youth, persons with disabilities, ethnic or linguistic minorities, artisanal and small-scale mining communities and other marginalised groups will participate in decision-making 9.

Successful projects must comply with EU visibility and communication requirements unless a derogation is agreed because of security, political sensitivity or another exceptional reason.

Important conditions and risks

Awards are conditional on the availability of appropriations for Lot 1 and on the prior conclusion of a financing agreement with the Republic of Zambia for Lot 2. The contracting authority may cancel the relevant procedure if these conditions are not satisfied 3.

The contracting authority may correct arithmetic errors, remove ineligible costs and require budget clarifications before contract signature. These corrections cannot increase the grant amount or the EU contribution percentage.

The contracting authority may decide not to award all available funding or to cancel the procedure. Applicants have no automatic right to compensation if the procedure is cancelled.

Applicants should monitor the live opportunity page, PROSPECT profile and published clarification notices because the timetable may change and the contracting authority will not normally provide individual opinions on the eligibility of a proposed applicant, partner or activity.

Applicant positioning and practical recommendations

The strongest candidates are likely to be established non-profit CSOs with demonstrated experience in Zambia, credible relationships with grassroots organisations and communities, strong safeguarding and financial systems, and a track record of policy engagement, evidence generation or community accountability.

A competitive proposal should select a clearly justified geographic focus, identify concrete investment or mining governance issues, demonstrate complementarity with EU-funded initiatives, assign meaningful decision-making roles to local and community partners, and connect community-level evidence to national advocacy and institutional reform.

For Lot 1, applicants should design a substantial and well-governed third-party support mechanism from the outset because the 35 percent minimum is mandatory. The mechanism should include transparent selection criteria, appropriate grant management, safeguarding, monitoring and proportionate reporting.

For Lot 2, applicants should concentrate on one province and show how evidence from mining affected communities will influence national extractive-sector governance, revenue transparency, regulatory reform and public accountability.

The logical framework should include baselines, targets, sources of verification and indicators that can be monitored over 36 to 48 months. Budgets should clearly link staff, fieldwork, community engagement, research, communications, safeguarding, monitoring, evaluation and third-party support to specific outputs and outcomes.

Overall assessment

This is a substantial, strategically focused civil society grant opportunity with a total indicative budget of €6,830,000. It is particularly suitable for experienced organisations able to combine local community engagement with evidence-based advocacy and national policy influence.

Lot 1 offers several grants within a range of €1,600,000 to €2,400,000 and requires a broad civil society and community participation approach across one or more eligible provinces. Lot 2 offers a single €2,000,000 grant focused on extractive-sector transparency and mining affected communities in one province.

The main application challenges are the restricted two-stage procedure, mandatory PROSPECT and PADOR processes, substantial co-financing requirement, demanding financial and operational capacity tests, strict geographic rules, the Lot 1 third-party funding requirement and the need to demonstrate practical rather than merely declaratory integration of rights, gender, inclusion, climate and safeguarding considerations.

Applicants should use the official guidelines and annexes as the controlling documents and verify the live portal before submission 510.

Footnotes

1. 1Primary official opportunity page: EU Funding and Tenders Portal opportunity. The detailed guidance and annexes are published through the official PROSPECT document service.
2. 2The deadline in the applicant guidelines is 8 December 2026 at 18:00 Brussels time. The portal metadata records 17:00:46 UTC, which is consistent with 18:00 Brussels time in December. Applicants should rely on the deadline displayed in PROSPECT at the time of submission.
3. 3The call guidelines state that Lot 2 is conditional on the prior conclusion of a financing agreement with the Republic of Zambia and that Lot 1 is conditional on the availability of appropriations for 2027. If these conditions are not met, the contracting authority may cancel the relevant award procedure.
4. 4The call is a restricted procedure. Applicants first submit a concept note. Only lead applicants whose concept notes are pre-selected may submit a full application.
5. 5The official applicant guidance, concept note form, full application form, budget template, logical framework template and contractual annexes are available from the opportunity page and PROSPECT.
6. 6The applicant guidelines require financial support to third parties under Lot 1 to represent at least 35 percent of the grant budget. The maximum amount normally available to an individual third-party recipient is €60,000, although the threshold may be exceeded where necessary to achieve the action objectives.
7. 7The indicative timetable gives 22 January 2027 for notification of the outcome of concept note evaluation, 9 March 2027 for full applications, 15 April 2027 for the award decision and 15 May 2027 for contract signature. These dates may be updated by the contracting authority.
8. 8Successful applicants receiving grants above €60,000 must complete the applicable self-evaluation questionnaire on sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. The requirement generally applies to the lead applicant, co-applicants and affiliated entities, subject to the exceptions in the guidelines.
9. 9Applications must demonstrate concrete integration of gender equality, participation of women and youth, disability inclusion, minority rights, human rights, climate and environmental sustainability, digitalisation and a rights-based approach. These elements should be reflected in activities, partnerships, indicators and budget allocations.
10. 10The information in this report is based on the official opportunity metadata and applicant guidance supplied for EuropeAid. Applicants should check the live portal and the latest published clarifications before submission.