Young people in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region are facing a number of common socio-economic challenges. Since the beginning of the transition to a market economy, the youth situation in labour market has worsened and youth transition to work has lengthened and become more uncertain. This is inter alia due to skills mismatches, insufficient business and managerial competences, non-inclusive education and training, and lack of active labour market policies and activation strategies. In this context, social entrepreneurship can be a pathway to a successful transition for many young people, while contributing to achieving wider social, environmental and community objectives.
Given this context, the European Commission has launched a Call for Proposals, aiming to contribute to realising the potential of young social entrepreneurs by developing their capacity, as well as by supporting the establishment of favourable ecosystem for social entrepreneurship.
The global objective of this call for proposals is to foster the entrepreneurial potential of young people from the EaP region in the field of social entrepreneurship, notably with a view to contributing to social cohesion, employment, inclusion and reduction of inequalities.
The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals is/are:
- To provide creative young people from the EaP region with the necessary knowledge and skills to set-up sustainably run social enterprises ;
- To support the development of a favourable ecosystem for social enterprises to develop and prosper in Eastern Partner Countries.
The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 6 million.
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
- minimum amount: EUR 750 000.
- maximum amount: EUR 1 500 000.
Eligibility:
- social cooperatives, private companies, mutual organisations, non-profit associations, voluntary organisations, charities and foundations established in an Eastern Partnership Country (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) or an EU Member State.
Projects must involve organisations (as lead applicant and/or co-applicants) established in at least two Eastern Partner Countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine). In other terms, any proposed action must be submitted by a grouping of minimum three entities (i.e. one lead applicant + minimum 2 co-applicant), with minimum two of these entities being registered in two different Eastern Partner Countries.
Types of eligible actions:
- Mentorship and training actions for young people in the field of social entrepreneurship, such as staff exchanges, workshops, seminars, capacity-building actions, train-the-trainer events, and the development of online training tools or other training modules.
- Actions aiming at the creation and improving of networks/partnerships among key stakeholders (policy makers, social enterprises, financial intermediaries, international donors), mutual learning, cooperation, awareness-raising and dissemination activities, such as (i) the identification of, and exchanges on, good practices, innovative approaches and experiences; (ii) the organisation of peer reviews and mutual learning; (iii) the organisation of conferences, seminars.
- Establishment of relevant business support structures (hubs, incubators, accelerators, labs, universities, research centres), including through financial support to third parties.
The deadline for submitting applications is the 29th of March 2019, 17:00 (Brussels date and time).
Find out more information here.
