Support to Civil Society Organization in Eritrea

European Commission action grant EuropeAid funds Support to Civil Society Organisation in Eritrea to strengthen local CSOs as actors of good governance and development with emphasis on private sector engagement, climate-smart agriculture, digital solutions and economic empowerment of women and youth. The single fixed-amount grant is €459,000, covering up to 90% of eligible costs with applicants required to secure at least 10% co-financing; project duration must be between 24 and 36 months and activities must be implemented in Eritrea. Eligible lead applicants are non-profit legal persons (NGOs, public sector operators or local authorities) effectively established in an EU Member State or in Eritrea, with non-Eritrea-based leads required to demonstrate prior experience in the country. Applications must be submitted in English online via PROSPECT with mandatory PADOR/Participant Register registration by 08 July 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time, following the call guidelines and annexes on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

What it funds

Scope and priorities

Action grants to strengthen local civil society organisations (CSOs) in Eritrea to act as independent actors of good governance and development, with a focus on supporting private sector actors. Eligible activities include capacity building (climate-smart and nature-based approaches), business skills and networking for SMEs, economic empowerment of women and youth, digital solutions for businesses, and promotion of sustainable value chains.

Funding available:One single award: €459,000 total budget; grants may cover up to 90% of total eligible costs ¹.

1. 1Who can apply: non-profit legal persons (e.g., NGOs, public sector operators, local authorities) established in an EU Member State or in Eritrea; international organisations may be eligible under specific rules.
2. 2Where the action takes place: Eritrea only; proposed action duration must be 24–36 months.
3. 3Submission and process: registration in PADOR and application via PROSPECT; concept note evaluated first, shortlisted applicants invited to submit full application.

Key compliance and documentation:applicants must register in PADOR, provide statutory and financial documents, sign declarations on exclusion and SEA-H self-evaluation where applicable; procurement, visibility and reporting rules follow the standard grant contract (Annexes include guidelines, budget template, logframe and standard contract).

Footnotes

1. 1Full guidelines, templates and procedural details are in the call documentation on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Guidelines and application documents.

Administrative summary

Title:Support to Civil Society Organisation in Eritrea. Reference: EuropeAid. Contracting authority: European Commission (DG International Partnerships). Instrument: Action Grants (call for proposals). Publication date: 09 April 2026. Deadline for submission (Brussels time): 08 July 2026 at 17:00. Submission channel: mandatory online submission via PROSPECT, registration in PADOR and the Participant Register is required. Budget available under the call: €459,000. Type of call: open call for proposals where concept note and full application are submitted together; only concept notes are initially evaluated and successful concept note applicants are invited to submit full applications. The grant size permitted under this call is a single grant only: minimum €459,000 and maximum €459,000 (therefore exactly €459,000 requested per successful proposal).

Deadline and key dates:Deadline for full application submission (PROSPECT): 08 July 2026, 17:00 Brussels time. Clarification request deadline: 17 June 2026, 17:00. Responses to clarifications published by 27 June 2026. Notification of opening/administrative checks and concept note evaluation: 22 July 2026. Notification of award decision: 19 August 2026. Expected contract signature by 31 December 2026 ¹.

Purpose, scope and priorities

Global objective:to strengthen Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as independent actors of good governance and development. Specific objective: to strengthen local CSOs engagement as actors of development at country level, in particular in terms of support to private sector actors. Geographic scope: activities must take place in Eritrea. Thematic sector: Civil Society and Democratic Governance with focus on enabling environment and participation of CSOs in economic development. Priority areas of the call: enhanced CSO capacity on climate-smart agriculture and nature-based green approaches; CSO capacity to provide business skills and networking to the private sector; economic empowerment of women and youth in Eritrea’s private economy; CSO capacity to deliver digital solutions for businesses and vulnerable groups; promotion of sustainable value chains and economic growth.

Who can apply (eligibility of applicants)

Lead applicant eligibility:must be a legal person, non-profit-making, such as a non-governmental organisation, public sector operator or local authority; effectively established in a Member State of the European Union or in Eritrea. International organisations are eligible without the requirement of establishment in the EU or Eritrea. Lead applicants not established in Eritrea must demonstrate prior experience implementing at least one project in Eritrea. The lead applicant will be directly responsible for preparation and management of the action and will act as coordinator if awarded the grant.

Co-applicants and affiliated entities:co-applicants participate in design and implementation and must meet the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant. Affiliated entities are entities having a structural legal/capital link with the applicant (control or membership) and must sign an affiliated entity statement. Associates, contractors and recipients of financial support (third parties) are distinct categories and have specific roles and restrictions as described in the guidelines.

Eligible action types and activities

Action duration:minimum 24 months, maximum 36 months. Eligible actions: activities promoting sustainable economic growth with active participation of youth, women and disadvantaged populations in Eritrea. Examples of eligible activities include capacity-building workshops (business skills, climate-smart agriculture), digital tools and technology transfer to micro and small enterprises, networking events, market information and research support, support to programme delivery capacities of associations, and financial support to third parties where authorised (maximum per third party generally €60,000 unless otherwise justified). Actions must comply with EU values, human rights, gender equality, environmental legislation and labour standards. Visibility of EU financing is required unless derogation for security or sensitivity is granted and documented.

Ineligible actions and activities:Actions primarily limited to individual sponsorships or scholarships; actions violating human rights or EU values; activities causing significant environmental or climate harm; activities that breach EU reputational policy.

Funding modalities and financial rules

Form of grant:reimbursement of eligible costs (actual costs and/or one or more simplified cost options including single lump sums) as specified in Article 14 and related guidance. Total indicative amount available under this call: €459,000. Any single grant requested must equal €459,000 (min and max identical). The contracting authority may award up to 90% of total eligible costs; therefore co-financing from other sources must normally finance the remaining minimum 10% (exceptions where full grant is justified and assessed during evaluation). Where in-kind contributions and/or non-eligible taxes are included in the budget they must be limited to 5% of the estimated total accepted costs. Indirect costs: flat rate up to 7% of eligible direct costs (excluding volunteers' work and project office costs). Contingency reserve: up to 5% of estimated direct eligible costs and only used with prior written approval of the contracting authority.

1. 1Total budget available under the call: €459,000 (single grant amount).
2. 2Maximum EU co-financing rate: 90% of total eligible costs (typical expectation: 10% co-financing).
3. 3Eligible cost types include personnel, travel, equipment, office costs, services and other costs as per Annex B budget template.
4. 4Simplified cost options and single lump sums can be proposed; detailed justification required and evaluated.
5. 5Financial support to third parties is allowed under conditions and must be described in the full application (objectives, eligibility, selection criteria, maximum amounts).

Application process and required documents

Mandatory online systems and registrations:applicants must register organisations in PADOR (or submit offline PADOR form if registration impossible for technical/security reasons) to obtain EuropeAid ID, must register in the EU Participant Register (PIC) and submit the application through PROSPECT. Applications must be submitted in English. The call uses a two-step evaluation where the concept note is assessed first; pre-selected lead applicants are invited to submit full applications (although in this call concept note and full application are submitted together, only concept notes are initially evaluated). Supporting documents to be uploaded in PADOR include statutes/articles of association, declaration of honour on exclusion criteria (Annex H), financial documents for financial capacity assessment (accounts, audit reports where applicable), identification forms (Annex D), logical framework (Annex C), budget (Annex B), and other annexes listed in the guidelines. If online submission is impossible, a sealed paper submission procedure is described in the guidelines with explicit postal and hand-delivery addresses in Asmara, Eritrea.

Application forms and templates provided:The call publishes the Guidelines for Applicants, Grant application form (Annex A) with Concept Note (A.1) and Full Application (A.2) templates, Budget template (Annex B), Logical Framework template (Annex C), identification forms for public law bodies, private bodies and natural persons (Annex D), PADOR registration form (Annex F), Standard Grant Contract (Annex G) and its annexes including General Conditions, procurement rules (Annex IV), model reports, financial guarantee model (Annex VIII) and SEA-H self-evaluation questionnaire (Annex L). Applicants must use these templates exactly as provided and the subject matter/title will be used as the contract subject in the Financial Transparency System if selected.

Evaluation and selection procedure

Step 1:Opening & administrative checks and concept note evaluation. Concept notes that pass administrative checks receive a score out of 50 based on relevance and design. Minimum score for pre-selection is 30. Pre-selection shortlist is restricted to concept notes whose summed requested contributions equal 200% of available budget. Step 2: Evaluation of full application for pre-selected applicants, including selection criteria (financial and operational capacity of applicants) and award criteria (quality, relevance, design, implementation approach, sustainability and budget efficiency). Section 1 (financial and operational capacity) has a pass threshold; if the lead applicant scores less than 12 in Section 1 the application will be rejected. Step 3: Verification of eligibility of applicants and affiliated entities with supporting documents for provisionally selected applications. Final award decision by contracting authority and notification to applicants. A reserve list will be created.

1. 1Step 1: Concept note administrative check and evaluation (score grid with sub-criteria; minimum 30/50 to be pre-selected).
2. 2Step 2: Full application evaluation (100-point grid covering financial & operational capacity, relevance, design, implementation, sustainability and budget efficiency).
3. 3Step 3: Eligibility checks and supporting document verification for provisionally selected applicants.

Consortium requirement and partnership rules

The lead applicant may apply alone or with co-applicant(s). Therefore a consortium is optional and not mandatory for this call. Co-applicants participate in design and implementation; they must sign mandate forms and are treated as beneficiaries if the grant is awarded. Affiliated entities can participate but do not become signatories of the grant contract; their costs may be accepted as eligible when structural links are demonstrated. Associates, contractors and recipients of financial support are different roles and cannot act simultaneously in conflicting roles (e.g. be both contractor and recipient of financial support). A lead applicant may not submit more than one application and may not be a co-applicant or affiliated entity on another application under this call.

Eligible applicant types (summary)

Eligible applicant types explicitly stated in the guidelines include:non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs), public sector operators, local authorities, international organisations (with specific provisions), and other non-profit legal entities. Natural persons are only permitted where the guidelines explicitly allow; this call targets CSOs and similar legal persons. Co-applicants and affiliated entities must meet the same eligibility criteria and sign appropriate mandates.

Geographic eligibility

Lead applicants must be effectively established in an EU Member State or in Eritrea; international organisations are exempted from the establishment requirement where they are eligible. Actions must take place in Eritrea. Therefore eligible beneficiary geographic scope is: Eritrea for action implementation; lead applicants may be established in EU Member States or Eritrea; international organisations may also apply.

Target sector and project stage

Target sector:civil society and democratic governance with emphasis on private sector engagement, economic development, climate-smart agriculture, digital solutions for business and value chain development. Expected project maturity: implementation-ready capacity building and demonstration interventions (not basic research). The action is expected to deliver capacity strengthening, technology transfer, digital solution deployment, networking and value chain support for smallholder farmers, SMEs, youth and women, and therefore targets development, implementation, validation and demonstration stages toward sustainability and scale-up.

Funding type, nature of support and co-financing

Primary funding mechanism:grant (Action Grant). Beneficiaries will receive monetary funding (reimbursement of eligible costs and/or simplified cost options). Financial support to third parties (sub-grants) is allowed under conditions. Co-financing requirement: the grant may cover up to 90% of total eligible costs; the balance must be financed from other sources (minimum indicative co-financing 10%), unless full financing is justified and accepted in the application and verified during evaluation.

Application and selection logistics

Submission via PROSPECT is mandatory. PADOR registration is obligatory for organisations. Applicants should allow time to obtain and translate supporting documents and to register in the Participant Register (PIC). If PROSPECT or PADOR is unavailable, the guidelines provide an exceptional postal/hand-delivery procedure with a detailed checklist and address in Asmara. Technical IT support for PROSPECT is available via ec-external-relations-application-support@ec.europa.eu or the online support form in PROSPECT.

Evaluation stages and count

Number of application stages:Three main stages (1. Opening and administrative checks and concept note evaluation; 2. Evaluation of full application; 3. Verification of eligibility and supporting documents for provisionally selected applicants). The call uses an initial concept note screening and ranking, then full application quality and capacity assessment, then eligibility/document checks prior to award.

Success rates and competitiveness

The contracting authority does not publish fixed success rate figures. The methodology restricts progression to full application evaluation to concept notes scoring at least 30/50 and further reduces selections to cover an amount equal to 200% of available budget. Given a single grant of €459,000 and the above pre-selection restriction, competition is expected to be strong and the success rate correspondingly low. Applicants should prepare high-quality concept notes and robust full applications in order to be competitive.

Specific administrative and compliance obligations

Mandatory documentation at submission or upon request:statutes/articles of association, declaration on honour on exclusion criteria (Annex H) signed by lead applicant and co-applicants and affiliated entities, PADOR profile or offline PADOR registration form (Annex F) where necessary, proof of financial capacity (accounts and audit report for large grants as specified), logical framework (Annex C), budget justification (Annex B worksheets), identification forms (Annex D), SEA-H self-evaluation questionnaire for grants exceeding €60,000 (Annex L) and other specific annexes. The lead applicant must declare it is not acting as an intermediary and accepts contractual conditions of the standard grant contract (Annex G) if recommended for award.

Templates and application structure (how application forms look)

Main templates applicants must complete:Annex A.1 Concept Note (summary of action, two-page description, relevance, maturity, impact, contact details); Annex A.2 Full Application Form (detailed action description up to 13 pages, action plan, work packages, deliverables, logical framework Annex C, budget Annex B including cost-based worksheets 1a/€1Bor FNLC worksheets €1B/1c, supporting documents and financial identification). The budget must include detailed unit costs and justification worksheets and match the activities and logframe. If proposing FNLC (financing not linked to costs) applicants must mark FNLC indicators in the logframe and replicate them as headings and sub-headings in the budget (Annex K guidance). A checklist for completeness is included in the full application form; incomplete applications risk rejection.

1. 1Concept Note (Annex A.1): succinct summary, relevance, maturity, impact and cross-cutting issues.
2. 2Full Application (Annex A.2): narrative (max 13 pages), activity matrices, detailed work plan, risks and mitigation, management structures, sustainability, logical framework (Annex C), budget (Annex B) with justifications.
3. 3Budget justification worksheet (Annex B) and logical framework (Annex C) are mandatory and will be evaluated.
4. 4Identification Forms (Annex D) and PADOR registration (Annex F) or offline PADOR if applicable.
5. 5Declaration on honour on exclusion criteria (Annex H) signed and SEA-H self-evaluation (Annex L) submitted where applicable.

Compliance, ethics and safeguards

Applicants must respect EU values, human rights, environmental legislation and core labour standards. The European Commission applies a policy of zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEA-H). Organisations awarded grants must complete a SEA-H self-evaluation questionnaire (Annex L) where applicable. The contracting authority may suspend or cancel procedures or financing for fraud, corruption, breach of obligations, unusual commercial expenses or lack of transparency. The Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) may be used in case of exclusion grounds; personal data related to such cases may be processed and published according to rules in the practical guide and privacy statements.

Key application tips and mandatory checks

1. 1Register and update PADOR well before the deadline and ensure EuropeAid ID and PIC are available.
2. 2Prepare the concept note and full application to match the logframe and Annex B budget exactly; errors or inconsistencies may cause rejection or budget corrections.
3. 3Ensure the lead applicant demonstrates prior experience in Eritrea if not established there.
4. 4Provide clear justification if requesting full financing (100%) rather than standard co-financing; such requests will be assessed critically.
5. 5Respect visibility rules and include EU emblem and funding statement in project materials unless a derogation is requested and justified for security or sensitivity reasons.
6. 6Allow time to obtain, translate and upload all supporting documents (statutes, financial accounts, audit reports where applicable) into PADOR and PROSPECT before the deadline.

This notice summarises the principal elements of the call for proposals Support to Civil Society Organisation in Eritrea, reference EuropeAid. For full application instructions, required annexes, templates and legal and financial conditions, applicants must consult the published Guidelines for Grant Applicants, the standard grant contract and all annexes on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and follow all instructions for PADOR and PROSPECT registration and upload. The official guidance and forms referenced throughout must be used and are binding for application and contracting.

For detailed technical questions on PROSPECT or PADOR registration contact the IT helpdesk at ec-external-relations-application-support@ec.europa.eu. For substantive questions on the call send enquiries by email to: delegation-eritrea-calls-for-proposals@eeas.europa.eu no later than 21 days before the deadline. Published Q&A will be posted on the call webpage.

The guidelines, application forms and annexes referenced in this summary are the authoritative documents for preparing and submitting a proposal under this call Guidelines for applicants and Annexes PROSPECT user manual PADOR registration Participant Register (PIC) Communication and Visibility Requirements FNLC guidance and templates Time converter example EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Footnotes

1. 1Timetable and procedural steps, including deadline and indicative stages, are published in the Guidelines for applicants for EuropeAid/186130 and in the call documents. Applicants should refer to the official call webpage and the guidelines for any updates and clarifications.

Opportunity Overview

This is an action grant call for proposals issued by the European Commission to strengthen civil society organisations (CSOs) as independent actors of good governance and development in Eritrea. The call aims to enhance local CSOs' engagement as development actors, with particular emphasis on supporting private sector actors through capacity building and economic empowerment initiatives.

Reference Number:EuropeAid

Call Status:Open for Submission

Application Deadline:08 July 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time

Funding Details

Total Budget Available:€459,000

Grant Size:Fixed amount of €459,000 (minimum and maximum are the same)

Funding Rate:Maximum 90 percent of total eligible costs. Applicants must provide co-financing for the remaining 10 percent minimum.

Indirect Costs:Up to 7 percent of direct eligible costs (excluding project office costs and volunteer work)

Contingency Reserve:Maximum 5 percent of estimated direct eligible costs, requires prior written authorization from the contracting authority

Project Duration and Implementation

Duration:Between 24 and 36 months

Implementation Location:Eritrea only

Implementation Period Start:To be specified in the special conditions, typically the day following contract signature or when first pre-financing is received

Strategic Priorities and Objectives

The call focuses on strengthening CSOs as independent actors of good governance and development. The specific objective is to strengthen local CSOs' engagement as actors of development at country level, particularly in support of private sector actors.

Priority areas include:enhanced capacity of local CSOs to actively engage in climate-smart agriculture and nature-based green approaches with skills transfer to smallholder farmers and SMEs; enhanced capacity of CSOs to provide business skills and networking opportunities to the private sector; advanced economic empowerment of women and youth in Eritrea's private economy; enhanced capacity of CSOs to provide digital solutions to businesses and strengthen economic empowerment of youth, women and vulnerable groups; and promotion of economic growth and development of sustainable value chains.

Eligible Applicants

Lead applicants must be legal persons that are non-profit-making and fall into one of these categories: non-governmental organisations, public sector operators, or local authorities. They must be effectively established in a Member State of the European Union or in Eritrea.

Lead applicants not established in Eritrea must demonstrate previous experience working in Eritrea and have implemented at least one project in the country. This experience must be presented in the 'experience in similar actions' section of the full application form.

Co-applicants and affiliated entities must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant. A lead applicant may work individually or with co-applicants. Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those of the lead applicant.

Affiliated entities must have a structural link with applicants, either through control (parent, subsidiary, or sister company relationships) or through membership in networks, federations, or associations. The structural link should exist independently of the action and should have existed before the call for proposals.

Eligible Activities and Actions

Eligible activities include skill development workshops for cooperatives and business associations focusing on leadership, strategic planning, financial management and negotiation; provision of technology and digital tools for enhanced communication and collaboration; networking events and platforms connecting associations with local and international businesses; access to research and market information with capacity to analyse data and anticipate market changes; and assistance in developing capacity to deliver programmes and services to members.

CSOs must transfer acquired skills to final beneficiaries (smallholder farmers, women and youth, private sector actors) before the end of the action. Successful proposals must demonstrate this clearly with comprehensive workplans.

Activities must comply with EU policy interests and priorities including human rights-based approaches, gender equality, environment, and EU values. Activities involving capacity building, policy support, awareness raising, communication and dissemination must respect EU values and European Commission policy regarding reputational matters.

Ineligible Activities

• Actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops, seminars, conferences and congresses
• Actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses
• Actions and measures that may result in violation of human rights in partner countries or causing significant adverse effects on the environment or climate
• Actions that entail breach of EU values (human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights, including rights of minorities)

Eligible Costs

Eligible direct costs include human resources (salaries for local and international staff, per diems for missions and travel), travel (international and local), equipment and supplies, project office costs (rent, consumables, services), and other costs and services (publications, studies, evaluation, translation, financial services, conferences and seminars, communication activities).

Costs must be necessary for implementation of the action, reasonable, justified, identifiable and verifiable with supporting documentation, recorded in the accounting system, and compliant with applicable tax and social legislation. Only costs directly linked to action implementation are eligible.

Volunteers' work may be accepted as co-financing based on unit costs determined by the European Commission, comprising up to 50 percent of all sources of financing. In-kind contributions (except volunteers' work) are not eligible costs but may be accepted as co-financing under specific conditions.

Ineligible Costs

• Debts and debt service charges (interest)
• Provisions for losses or potential future liabilities
• Costs declared by beneficiary and financed by another action or work programme receiving EU grant
• Purchases of land or buildings except where necessary for direct implementation with ownership transfer
• Currency exchange losses
• In-kind contributions except volunteers' work
• Bonuses included in staff costs
• Negative interest charged by banks or financial institutions

Application Process and Requirements

Applications must be submitted online via PROSPECT following the instructions in the PROSPECT user manual. Lead applicants, co-applicants and affiliated entities (other than natural persons) must register in PADOR and ensure their profiles are up to date. Registration in the Participant Register is mandatory for lead and co-applicants.

The application consists of two phases:concept notes are evaluated first, and only pre-selected lead applicants proceed to full application evaluation. After evaluation of full applications, an eligibility check is performed for provisionally selected applications.

Applications must be submitted in English. The application form must be completed carefully and clearly following the format provided. The title of the proposal will become the subject matter of the grant contract and will be published in the Financial Transparency System.

Required Supporting Documents

• Statutes or articles of association of lead applicant, co-applicants and affiliated entities
• Declaration on honour signed by lead applicant, co-applicants and affiliated entities certifying they are not in exclusion situations (required if grant exceeds €15,000)
• For financial capacity evaluation: audit report by approved external auditor (for grants exceeding €750,000) or self-declaration signed by authorised representative (for other cases)
• Copy of lead applicant's profit and loss account and balance sheet for up to three last financial years
• Translations into English of relevant parts of documents not in official EU languages

Evaluation Criteria and Process

Concept notes are evaluated on relevance of the action (consistency with call objectives, relevance to country needs, target groups definition, added-value elements) and design of the action (intervention logic, context analysis, risks and assumptions, indicative activities, cross-cutting issues). Maximum score for concept notes is 50 points. Only concept notes scoring at least 30 points are considered for pre-selection.

Full applications are evaluated on financial and operational capacity (20 points), relevance (20 points transferred from concept note), design of action (15 points), implementation approach (15 points), sustainability (15 points), and budget and efficiency (15 points). Maximum total score is 100 points.

If the total score for financial and operational capacity is less than 12 points, or if any subsection scores 1 point, the application is rejected. The highest scoring applications are provisionally selected until available budget is reached, with a reserve list created for potential additional funding.

Key Conditions and Obligations

Beneficiaries must comply with environmental legislation including multilateral environmental agreements and core labour standards as defined in International Labour Organisation conventions. They must commit to and ensure respect of basic EU values including human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and human rights.

The European Commission applies zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. Successful applicants (other than natural persons, pillar-assessed entities and governments) must assess their internal policy against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment through a self-evaluation questionnaire. For grants of €60,000 or less, no self-evaluation is required.

Beneficiaries must ensure visibility of EU funding through correct and prominent display of the EU emblem and relevant funding statement. All communications and publications must include a statement that views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or contracting authority.

Beneficiaries must ensure no funds or economic resources are made available to entities designated by the EU as subject to EU restrictive measures. They must comply with all applicable laws relating to anti-bribery and anti-corruption.

Reporting and Payment Arrangements

Beneficiaries must provide narrative and financial reports describing implementation according to activities envisaged, difficulties encountered, changes introduced, and degree of achievement of results measured by corresponding indicators. Reports must cover the action as a whole regardless of which part is financed by the contracting authority.

The reporting period is twelve months unless otherwise specified. Interim reports must be submitted within 60 days following the end of the reporting period. The final report must be submitted no later than three months after the implementation period ends (six months if coordinator is not headquartered in the country where action is implemented).

For grants exceeding €100,000, a contractual expenditure verification report must be submitted with the final report, produced by a practitioner approved by the contracting authority. The contracting authority shall approve reports within 60 days of receipt (90 days in certain circumstances). Reports are deemed approved if no written reply is received within these deadlines.

Important Dates and Deadlines

All times are in Brussels time zone. Applicants are strongly advised not to wait until the last day to submit applications due to potential internet traffic issues or technical failures.

Contact and Further Information

Questions may be sent by email no later than 21 days before the application deadline to delegation-eritrea-calls-for-proposals@eeas.europa.eu. Replies will be provided no later than 11 days before the deadline. All questions and answers will be published on the DG International Partnerships website and the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Technical questions related to PADOR or PROSPECT registration and submission should be addressed to the IT helpdesk at ec-external-relations-application-support@ec.europa.eu via the online support form in PROSPECT. The IT support working languages are English, French and Spanish.

Applications must be submitted online via PROSPECT at PROSPECT. The official call documentation and guidelines are available on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal at EU Funding Portal.

Key Considerations for Applicants

Applicants should note that this is a single fixed-amount grant of €459,000 with no flexibility in the grant size. The 90 percent maximum funding rate means applicants must secure confirmed co-financing for at least 10 percent of total eligible costs before submission. Lead applicants not based in Eritrea must provide evidence of prior project implementation experience in the country.

The call emphasizes private sector engagement and economic empowerment, particularly for women and youth. Proposals should clearly demonstrate how CSOs will transfer skills to final beneficiaries and contribute to sustainable economic development. Climate-smart agriculture and digital solutions are highlighted as priority areas.

Applicants must ensure their proposals align with EU values and demonstrate commitment to human rights, gender equality, and environmental sustainability. The application must include a realistic and cost-effective budget with clear justification for all estimated costs. Incomplete applications may be rejected, so applicants should use the provided checklist to verify completeness before submission.