CALL FOR PROPOSALS
ACP-EU CULTURE PROGRAM:
SUPPORT FOR CULTURAL AND
CREATIVE SECTORS IN WEST
AFRICA
AWA
GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS
The ACP-EU CULTURE PROGRAM: SUPPORT FOR THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE SECTORS IN WEST AFRICA) – AWA (Art in West Africa) is one of the six (06) regional projects selected under the ACP-EU Program Culture, a joint initiative of the European Union (EU) and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), through the establishment of the new decentralized regional mechanism intended to strengthen the competitiveness of cultural and creative industries in ACP countries.
The ACP-EU CULTURE PROGRAM: SUPPORT FOR THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE SECTORS IN WEST AFRICA-AWA has a double objective, namely: on the one hand, to support the revitalization of the competitiveness of the cultural and creative industries all along the value chain (creation, production and distribution) in the 16 West African countries and on the other hand, to help support the development of the digital economy in West Africa by supporting cultural and creative industries actors in their digital transition.
The program is implemented over a 40-month period (December 2020 – April 2024) by the consortium Institut français de Paris (IF) and Centre Culturel Kôrè de Ségou (CCK).
Thus, as part of the implementation of this project, a second call dedicated to support for the promotion of west African cultures is launched. The amount of the grant awarded under this call per project is a maximum of 25,000 euros for projects lasting one year, grant renewable at most once.
Objectives of the call
The objective of this call is to promote the cultural and creative contents of West Africa, by promoting support for creation and production, image education and the development of means of dissemination and distribution (physical and digital) of cultural goods.
Types of eligible entities / organizations
Artists or groups of artists, associations, NGOs, umbrella organizations of cultural organizations, foundations, private sector cultural companies, incubators, startups, all under local law which mainly carry out their activity in the cultural and creative sectors and that have a legal or administrative recognition or a legal existence and a fiscal and administrative address for at least two (2) years in one of the 16 target countries (Benin , Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) are eligible for this call.
Types of eligible activities
For this call, the following activities are eligible :
Axis 1: Creation / production of quality goods and services at a competitive cost, and in increased quantity
- Support for cultural projects in remote areas and audiences far from the cultural offer;
- Support for live performances (dance, theater, music, etc.), writing residencies and the creation of multimedia content (digital and video games);
- Cultural mediation projects in museums and cultural tourism sites;
- Support for the circulation of works and cultural content (traveling exhibitions, tours, etc.).
Axis 2: Access to markets at the national, regional and international levels, circulation / dissemination / promotion of ACP goods and services as widely as possible
- Projects supporting traditional distribution channels (theaters, cinemas, galleries, community radios, etc.) and innovative (digital platforms, web radio, social networks, etc.)
- Projects supporting digital media and television producing or broadcasting local cultural content (support for producers and broadcasters).
Axis 3 : Improved and extended image education
- Arts education and image education activities, especially for young audiences.
Duration of projects
Projects start on the date of signature of the contract for a period of one year. The grant can be renewed for a second year, after validation of the administrative and financial reporting of the initially funded project as well as the submission of an updated application file as part of the annual call (simplified procedure).
Note: For this call, film productions are not eligible or any other program / project or segment already funded by other EU / OACPS support mechanisms in the West African sub-region.
Visibility of the European Union and OACPS
Unless the European Commission requests or agrees otherwise, the beneficiary (ies) take all necessary measures to communicate that the European Union has financed or co-financed the action. These measures must comply with the communication and visibility requirements applicable to EU external actions, established and published by the European Commission, which can be found at the following address: https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/system/files/communication-visibility-requirements-2018_en.pdf
The use of the cultureXchange platform to disseminate the activities of beneficiaries is strongly recommended. https://culturexchange.eu
All communication media must include the logos of the European flag and the OACPS and the mention: “With the financial contribution of the European Union and the support of the Secretariat of the OACPS – Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States”
The title of the action must always be indicated as “ACP-EU CULTURE Program: Support for the cultural and creative sectors in West Africa – AWA
General conditions of eligibility of funding requests
- Eligibility
- Applications selection procedure
- Criteria for evaluating proposals
- Grant amount and terms of funding
- Indicative chronogram
- How to apply?
To be eligible, applicants must meet the following conditions:
- Being a cultural, artistic organization operating in one of the 16 target countries, and having at least two (02) years of legal existence and being functional (provide proof of legal existence)
- Having directly implemented, over the past two years at least one project in the cultural and creative sector, for an amount of at least 50% of the amount of the requested grant,
- Being directly responsible for the preparation and management of the funded activities;
- Providing activity reports and financial statements for at least one year over the last two years (2019 or 2020) of your organization.
- Providing your organization’s 2021-2022 action plan (A candidate cannot obtain the funding grant for the promotion of ACP cultures for more than two years in a row)
- Providing a letter of recommendation from at least one recognized reference person in the discipline exercised by the organization or a certificate of successful completion.
The selected candidates must submit the documents required above within a time limit following the selection notification, otherwise they will not be able to benefit from financial support.
Reminder of the exclusion criteria
The following types of actions are not eligible:
- Actions consisting solely or mainly of financing the participation of individuals in workshops, seminars, conferences and congresses;
- Actions consisting solely or mainly of financing individual scholarships for studies or training;
- Actions aimed at raising funds or promoting the visibility of the applicant or his partner / partners;
- Actions constituting discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, fortune, birth or any other status;
- Actions directly or indirectly supporting political parties or actions of a propaganda, proselytizing or pornographic nature or actions contrary to the policies of the European Union.
The third party must not be affected by any of the exclusion criteria referred to in point 2.6.10 of the PRAG (http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/document.do?nodeNumber=1).
Note: The selected third parties will be asked to sign a third party declaration. It should also be noted that that this call is subject to the terms of the EU grant award.
The applications selection procedure comprises five (05) steps:
- Registration and classification of applications.
- Administrative review of applications.
- Evaluation by the award committee (Jury).
- Approval of the list of selected projects.
- Approval of funding allocation.
Applications will be evaluated by an independent selection committee made up of professionals working in the cultural sector and familiar with the artistic realities of the West African region.
The selection committee evaluates the applications according to four (04) criteria.
- Organizational capacity of the organizational structure. (25 points)
- Involvement of local communities in the project; (25 points)
- Qualitative and quantitative improvement of local cultural and creative contents; (25 points)
- Contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 4 (education), Goal 5 (gender equality) and Goal 11 (sustainable city); (25 points)
A maximum amount of € 25,000 will be granted per beneficiary. The grant should be between 20% and 70% of the overall budget of the operation. It is capped at € 25,000 and will be paid in two installments, 80% upon signature of the contract and the balance upon presentation at the end of the financial year of reports and validated supporting documents. An expenditure verification report by an auditor will be provided in accordance with the ToR of the EU General Grant Conditions.
Activities | Deadline |
Announcement of the launch of the call | 1st April 2021 |
Deadline for admissibility of requests for clarification | 21 April 2021 |
Deadline for clarification | 30 April 2021 |
Deadline for submission of proposals | 15 May 2021 |
Announcement of the results of the evaluation by the selection jury | 30 June 2021 |
Notification of funding allocations | 07 July 2021 |
Signing of Grant Agreement Protocols | From July 10 2021 |
Start of projects | From July 10 2021 |
How to apply?
Applicants must complete an application form for funding (download here) and submit it online via the following link: https://koresegou.org/call-2-submission-of-funding-request-program-acp-ue-culture-awa/
- Applications sent by any other channel will not be accepted.
- Applications can be submitted in English or French.
- The deadline for submitting proposals is May 15, 2021 at midnight GMT.
- Incomplete requests will not be taken into account.
- The applicant will receive an automatic email acknowledgment of receipt once the application has been received.
- The results will be disseminated on the website and social networks of the consortium partners (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram).
Only successful candidates will be contacted. The latter must then provide all the previously mentioned administrative documents, within a maximum period of 10 days from the date of notification.
The Consortium of the ACP-EU CULTURE (West Africa) – AWA Program undertakes to implement the appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against, in particular, alteration, dissemination or unauthorized access, and to preserve their total confidentiality.