2003

HORIZONTI, THE FOUNDATION FOR THE THIRD SECTOR
IRIS GEORGIA
HUMAN RIGHTS ARE PART OF THE GEORGIAN CULTURE
GRANTS PROGRAM

Horizonti, the Foundation for the Third Sector upon the agreement with IRIS Georgia and with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development announces the “Human Rights are Part of the Georgian Culture” Grants Program, within the framework of which grants will be awarded on the competitive basis. While awarding the grants, the IRIS Georgia is guiding itself with the Law on Grants, other legislative acts, and also with particular acts adopted by its administration.

IRIS GEORGIA PROGRAM BACKGROUND:

I. THE GRANTS PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

One of the biggest barriers facing human rights activities is that a significant part of the population considers “human rights”, and other related liberal values as “foreign” and “imposed” concepts. Furthermore, due to the increasing anti-Western propaganda fueled by some individuals and interest groups many believe that there exists a fundamental conflict between such concepts and nation’s basic cultural values. One of the major objectives for an effective public awareness program is to destroy the unfounded beliefs that this fundamental conflict exists by demonstrating that human rights are based on the same basic values, which have inspired the prominent poets, writers, musicians, movie, makers, scientists, and public figures in Georgia. For instance, an average Georgian will understand the concept of equity before the rule of law if the most important decisions of the European Court of Human Rights are presented in the light of the respective works of the Georgian writers. The same would happen if prior to showing a classic movie on the freedom of expression, a relevant Georgian movie or fragments from such a movie were shown with pertinent commentaries provided by respected popular figures (not necessarily politicians, lawyers and human rights activists).

After an open grants competition an NGO (or NGOs) will be selected, which in its project will articulate one or several basic human rights utilizing well established and familiar stories, poems, novels, music, movies, and pictures of Georgian authors. Original projects based on the same concept will be also welcomed. An example might be organizing regional or national competitions among school pupils on identifying and drawing parallels between the values enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and those contained in the works of the Georgian literature. While assessing the project proposals, special attention will be given to the innovative ways of delivering the information to public at large, and to obtaining the involvement of well-known and popular public figures (singers, actors, musicians, sportsmen, etc.) in the project.

II. ELIGIBILITY, SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS:

 Resident non-entrepreneurial legal persons registered in a due procedure of law may participate in this Program.

Priority will be given to organizations that have:

• a relevant experience in the fields of human rights or public awareness raising;
• implemented at least three projects through the financing received from local or international donors;
• permanent staff including an accountant with relevant knowledge and skills.
 An eligible organization shall be allowed to submit only one proposal.
 An eligible organization should submit an individual project proposal. The projects may provide for recourse to human and technical resources of other partner organizations.
 The applicants are required to submit projects to the head office of the Horizonti Foundation through handing the proposal to authorized staff members of the Cross-sectoral Partnership Program. The project and supplementary documentation should be placed in a closed envelope. The Horizonti Foundation authorized staff shall not admit proposals from the moment of expiration of the deadline for submission of projects.
 Grantees to the IRIS Georgia shall not be eligible to submit a proposal within the framework of this Program until the previously funded projects are completed.
 Duration of the works envisaged by the submitted project is not to exceed 12 months.
 The budget of a submitted project should not be less than $15.000 and should not exceed $35.000 US. If the project cost exceeds the sum specified in this paragraph, applicant organization(s) should clearly indicate on the alternative sources of funding and present the documents supporting such a possibility.
 The Grants Review Committee of the Horizonti Foundation shall make the selection from among the submitted projects and shall recommend the selected proposals to the Country Office of IRIS Georgia for a final decision. IRIS Georgia shall implement programmatic and financial monitoring over the implementation of the successful projects.
 The applicants are required to submit projects to the Horizonti Foundation until 16:00 of June 6 2003.

III. PROJECT

The project is to be composed of the following sections:

I. Cover Page

The Cover Page should be composed in the following format:

Horizonti, the Foundation for the Third Sector

IRIS Georgia

Name of the Project: ________________________________

Applicant organization: ________________________________

Address: ________________________________

zip ___________city_______________

Str.___________No._______________

Telephone: ________________________________

Fax: ________________________________

E-mail: ________________________________

Author of the project: ________________________________

Address:: ________________________________

zip ___________city_______________

Str.___________No._______________

Director of the project: ________________________________

Address: ________________________________

zip ___________city_______________

Str.___________No._______________

Tel/Fax/E-mail: ________________________________


Date of launching the project (Day/Month/Year): _________________________

Date of finishing the project (Day/ Month/Year) _________________________

Funds requested from the Foundations (USD): _________________________

Funds raised from other sources (USD): _________________________

Total cost of the project (USD): _________________________

I, ___________________, Manager of the Organization, take an obligation to use any of the financial or material assets obtained from IRIS Georgia in the way it is provided for in the project. I agree to follow the rules of reporting laid down in the grant contract. If there are committed any breaches during execution of the project I agree to reimburse the funds obtained through a grant and return the property acquired from the respective funds to IRIS Georgia as required by its decision.

___________________________ ___________

Signature of the project director Date

________________________________ ______________

Signature of the Coordinator Date



2. Information concerning the applicant organization (one page maximum)

• Name of the organization, date of establishment and principal objectives;
• Address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address;
• Bank account number;
• Name of the project coordinator and his position in the organization;
• A brief summary of the projects and programs implemented in the areas of human rights or culture and education, respective sources of funding and project/program outcomes.

The applicants are also required to indicate if their projects were previously submitted to other foundations or donors for funding (please specify the name of the project and the date of submission).

3. Information concerning the governmental or business organizations involved in the project (one page maximum)

If the project provides for involvement of a governmental or business organization in the project the following information should be presented:

• Precise names of the governmental or business agencies;
• Fields of activities or operation;
• Addresses, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses;
• Names of the persons responsible for the execution of the project on the part of the respective authority, and their positions in the organizations;
• Past experiences of cooperation with NGOs.

4. Project Summary (one page maximum)

Applicant organizations are required to summarize the project objective(s), problems to be addressed, methodology to be used and the outcomes anticipated following the project implementation.

5. Project justification (two pages maximum)

Under this heading the applicants are required:

• to describe priority problem(s) for the respective project and ascertain its actuality;
• to prove the conformity of the project with IRIS/Georgia Grants Program priorities;
• (in case of a partnership project) to prove the necessity and reasonableness of cooperation between the respective NGOs and public authorities for resolution of the identified problem(s);
• to specify responsibilities of partner organizations in the project implementation.

6. Description of activities (five pages maximum)

Applicants are required to provide the title and a detailed description of each activity (i.e. how the activity will be implemented and who will participate in the implementation). In this respect, the detailed description of activities must not be confused with the work plan (Section 7).

7. Work plan

Applicants are required to propose the detailed work plan, which should be presented by a schedule divided in months. In particular, it is necessary to indicate as precisely as possible the time-frame of every substantial activity within the project. The work plan should be presented in the graphical format of a timetable as suggested in the sample work plan below.

Stage

Activity

MONTHS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

I

Preparatory works

Equipping the office

II

Announcemenet of the competition

Selecting the participants

III

IV

8. Expected results, efficiency assessment, sustainability indicators (two pages maximum)

Applicants are required to specify:

• the anticipated specific outputs of the project (whenever the output are measurable, please specify the numbers);
• the extent to which the project shall address the tasks prioritized by this RFA;
• criterions and indicators, that might be used for evaluating the success attained in the resolution of the problem(s) identified in the project;
• to which extent the project will maintain improving the situation in the area of intervention;
• how the financial sustainability of the project activities will be secured following the project completion;
• how the institutional sustainability of the project will be secured or how the respective activities will be continued following the project completion.

9. Budget

• The applicant organizations are required to present the financial scheme (detailed budget) of the project in US dollars.
• The sum requested in every category of the budget should be of reasonable amount and not exceed the market cost of the relevant item or service.
• While composing the project budget, the applicants are required to guide themselves with the budget sample forms attached to this announcement.

IV. OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

The following documents should be attached to each project:

• Copy of the registration certificate and that of the statute of the applicant organization;
• (In case of a partnership project) a letter of consent from the partner organization to participate in the project;
• Names and Curriculum Vitas of the project coordinator, other members of the executive team, participants and where relevant, volunteers, indicating their responsibilities within the project and in the applicant organization;
• CVs of the persons from partner governmental or business organizations, involved in the execution of the project;
• If a project provides for holding working meetings, discussions, seminars, or training, it is necessary to specify the topics, participants and methodology to be used;
• Where relevant, written consents of invited external specialists and contractors to participate in the project;
• If a project provides for publication of any material or periodicals, it is necessary to present their contents, number of copies, format, pages, periodicity of the publications, and mechanisms of their distribution.

Should any of the submitted applications fail to meet the requirements listed above, or if required documentation is not attached to the project, it will not be reviewed by the GRC.

V. PROJECT EVALUATION CRITERIONS

The submitted projects will be evaluated in the light of the following criterions:

 Conformity of the project with the Grants Program priorities and guidelines;
 Conformity of the project idea with the mission of the applicant organization;
 Adequate allocation of roles and responsibilities to the partner governmental agencies;
 Adequacy of the project methodologies and achievability of the project objectives;
 Realistic project evaluation criterions and sustainability indicators re presented;
 Relevance of the project work plan to the objectives sought;
 Relevance of the project work plan to its respective budget and rationality of the budget.

The criterions are not given in the order of priority.

Consultations for the potential applicant organizations will be held every Wednesday at 12:00 at the following address: 6th floor, No.2 Dolidze Str., Tbilisi, Georgia

For additional information please contact the Horizonti Foundation at N2 Dolidze str., Tel: 33-08-93, 33-43-87, Fax: 98-75-04, E-mail: grants@horizonti.org