The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Malta invites local non-governmental organizations to submit funding requests for an open call before the 10th of September 2024.

The Embassy of the Netherlands in Malta works to strengthen bilateral relations with Malta and to represent the Netherlands in Malta. In addition, the Netherlands promotes active citizen and youth involvement in policy themes such as security and rule of law, sexual and reproductive health and rights, strengthening civil society, migration, and climate action. The Netherlands also pursues a feminist foreign policy to promote women’s rights and gender equality. 

The Embassy encourages organizations that work on any of the above policy themes, and who may wish to seek (additional) funding from an EU-Embassy in Malta, to submit an application for funding through this open call. 

What types of activities are eligible? 
 

For activity proposals to be eligible, they have to be in line with the above policy themes. To be eligible for support, activities should aim to have an impact in one of the following areas:

•    Promoting dialogue and strengthening civic engagement and civil society, in particular aimed at youths; 
•    Strengthening the rule of law and/or the fight against corruption; 
•    Strengthening transparency and accountability of public and justice institutions;
•    Strengthening press and media freedom, safety, and access to information; 
•    Protecting migrants and their rights, and combating human trafficking;
•    Strengthening the position of the LGBTI+ community, women and journalists;
•    Promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights for all; 
•    Promoting climate adaptation, sustainability, and circular economy. 

What are the minimum requirements? 
 

•    The applicant should be based in Malta;
•    Applications must be relevant to one of the specific objectives as highlighted above;
•    The activity must start in 2024 and can have a maximum duration of 12 months;
•    Applications are only taken into consideration when the Embassy provided format is used: Appendix A;
•    The proposal should include clear and feasible goals and sustainable outcomes;
•    If other donors are involved, you need to specify this in the application form. It needs to be clear which donor contribution goes to the different activities;
•    EUR 2000 per project is our maximum support;
•    Please do not send any attachments, such as letters of recommendation or other background documents, supporting your application as they will not be taken into consideration. Only the application form (Appendix A) will be reviewed. 

The grant cannot be used to fund: 

•    Commercial activities;
•    Overheads;
•    Extra FTE’s; 
•    Promotional gifts; 
•    Costs for travel and accommodation;
•    Daily allowances.

 

Co-financing with other donors is possible, provided that: 
 

•    A clear, transparent description is given of the division of activities and how the different donors contribute to these activities.

The application procedure 

•    The deadline for submitting funding requests is September 10, 2024. The Embassy exclusively considers applications submitted according to the format provided (only use Appendix A for the proposal);
•    Proposals must meet the minimum requirements as stated above;
•    Application must be submitted to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Malta via e-mail 
•    Subject of the e-mail should be “Application Open Call 2024 - (name of your organisation)”
•    The application should be submitted by the activity organisers themselves, though they may be assisted by third parties;
•    Applications should be submitted in English.

Assessment and selection
 

Due to the limited amount of funding available, meeting all formal criteria does not automatically mean selection of the proposal by the Embassy. In assessing the proposals the Embassy will inter alia take the following factors into account:

•    Relevance of the activity to the Maltese context and alignment with Dutch policy themes; 
•    The expected sustainable and tangible impact; 
•    Gender-sensitivity;
•    Risk awareness and realistic; 
•    Cost-effectiveness. 

The decision of the selected funding request(s) is final and cannot be contested. 

Approval, contract, payment and reporting 

If the funding request is selected and approved, the applicant will receive two copies of the contract, outlining the conditions of the grant. The allocated grant will be paid in full at the start of the activity. 
The maximum duration of the activity is one year (12 months). The applicant is required to submit a final report or record on the results achieved. The report or record has  to be submitted within one month after the finalisation of the activity. The report ideally should describe the activities carried out to date, problems encountered, achievements, lessons learned, etc. The Embassy reserves the right to inspect the project accounts and activities at any time.