Criteria

1. Activities that are supported

The Foundation aims at:
• Supporting human rights in the Euro-Mediterranean region with strategic financial assistance,
• Providing financial support to regional, national and local human rights NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) and institutes as well as individuals who promote, support, protect and monitor the observance of human rights in the Euro-Mediterranean region, in particular:

Urgent relief of human rights organisations or members of human rights organisations under pressure or attack
Funds to support initiatives the timing of which is crucial for their success
Funds to cover basic costs and activities of organisations and groups that work in countries where explicit support by foreign donors may endanger these vis-à-vis their own authorities
Funds to support innovative projects
Funds to build capacity of ongoing (often innovative) activities or the setting up of structures by individuals or organisations who:
- Have not yet gained mainstream donor recognition,
- Do not have the capacity to maintain relations with these
- Work with issues that may be perceived too sensitive to receive main donors' support
- Fall outside mainstream donor categories, such as South human rights organisations in Diaspora working in support of human rights promotion and protection in their home country.

When evaluating an application, the Foundation will take into account potential financial support that could be obtained from other organizations or institutions involved at the national, regional or international level. In such cases, the Foundation will endeavour to refer the applications to such potential funding partners, especially concerning the following fields:

Urgent Alert
Legal monitoring and defence, political protection and solidarity
Appeals and interventions with intergovernmental mechanisms of the United Nations and regional instance in Europe, EuroMed and Africa
Information and public awareness campaigns on human rights, infringements of human rights and those of its victims

2. Grant Size and Period of Support

Grants are subject to a EUR 40.000 ceiling and typically range from EUR 1.000 to EUR 10.000.

The period of support may not exceed 12-18 months and will include an evaluation based on criteria established before providing the grant to ensure the effective and optimal use of funds from the Foundation.

3. Countries Eligible for Support

Human rights activities related to the following countries may receive support: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Israel.

Projects with positive spill-over effects located outside the region may eventually be funded.

4. Human Rights Organisations and Individuals Eligible for Support

The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders contains an enumeration of the areas of intervention by human rights defenders. Based on this reference to ‘all human rights and all fundamental freedoms’ the following potential beneficiaries of the Foundation are identified:

Defenders of human rights in their individual capacity, members of human rights associations, associations for women's rights, lawyers, journalists, judges, members of religious, ethnic and/or linguistic minorities, organisations for civic education and youths, associations working against different forms of discrimination, associations working against violence committed against women, members of organisations working for the rights of children, organisations working for the rehabilitation of torture victims, activists in the field of penal and prison reforms, associations for anti-corruption and good governance, activists around the theme of ‘human rights and international trade’, activists in the field of free and fair elections, organisations for the defence of migrants and refugees.

All these persons, associations and structures are eligible for support from the Foundation provided build on the principles of the ‘Code of Conduct’ of the Foundation (see Criteria 5)

There are other groups or organisations whose activities fall within the domain of promoting and protecting human rights, but who are ideally able to benefit from the support of specific international networks. These include:

Trade unionists, writers, members of parliament, environmental activists, activists for development (fight against poverty, urban rehabilitation, projects of rural integration, groups on income generating activities, etc) and activities in the area of health care and epidemics.

For this group of activists, their eligibility with the Foundation depends on a case by case assessment.

5. Code of Conduct upon which Eligible Activities should be built

The Foundation refers explicitly to a number of instruments and documents that serve both as legal and ethical guidelines for the Foundation and its beneficiaries.

These instruments and documents are the following:

UN instruments relating to Human Rights and in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the two international Covenants on Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the United Nations Conventions providing monitoring mechanisms (Torture, Racial Discrimination, Discrimination Against Women, the Rights of the Child); and the Conventions and Norms of the ILO.
The UN ‘Declaration on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders’.
The Resolution of the United Nations establishing the Mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders.
Founding documents, Guidelines and Action Plans of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network.

In addition, the principle of the code of conduct implies that, the applicant has to agree to a ‘non-violence clause’ excluding the use of violence to advance political aims.

Criteria

Deadline...