Call: Call for proposals to promote equality and to fight against racism, xenophobia and discrimination

The general objective of the Programme is to protect and promote rights and values as enshrined in the Treaties, the Charter and the applicable international human rights conventions, in particular by supporting civil society organisations and other stakeholders active at local, regional, national and transnational level, and by encouraging civic and democratic participation, in order to sustain and further develop open, rights-based, democratic, equal and inclusive societies which are based on the rule of law.

Furthermore, the Programme shall have the following specific objectives, which correspond to strands:

1. to protect and promote Union values (Union values strand);
2. to promote rights, non-discrimination and equality, including gender equality, and to advance gender mainstreaming and the mainstreaming of non-discrimination (equality, rights and gender equality strand);
3. to promote citizens’ engagement and participation in the democratic life of the Union and exchanges between citizens of different Member States, and to raise awareness of their common European history (citizens’ engagement and participation strand);
4. to fight violence, including gender-based violence (Daphne strand).

Union values strand

The Union values strand shall focus on protecting, promoting and raising awareness of rights by providing financial support to civil society organisations which are active at local, regional, national and transnational level in promoting and cultivating those rights, thereby also strengthening the protection and promotion of Union values and respect for the rule of law and contributing to the construction of a more democratic Union, democratic dialogue, transparency and good governance.

Equality, rights and gender equality strand

The equality, rights and gender equality strand shall focus on:

1. promoting equality and preventing and combating inequalities and discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and respecting the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds provided for in Article 21 of the Charter;
2. supporting, advancing and implementing comprehensive policies aimed at:
   1. promoting women’s full enjoyment of rights; gender equality, including work-life balance; women’s empowerment; and gender mainstreaming;
   2. promoting non-discrimination and the mainstreaming thereof;
   3. combating racism, xenophobia and all forms of intolerance, including homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, interphobia and intolerance on the basis of gender identity, both online and offline;
   4. protecting and promoting the rights of the child;
   5. protecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities;
3. protecting and promoting Union citizenship rights and the right to the protection of personal data.

Citizens’ engagement and participation strand

The citizens’ engagement and participation strand shall focus on:

1. supporting projects aimed at remembering defining moments in modern European history, such as the coming to power of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, including the causes and consequences thereof, and projects aimed at raising awareness among European citizens of their common history, culture, cultural heritage and values, thereby enhancing their understanding of the Union, of its origins, purpose, diversity and achievements and of the importance of mutual understanding and tolerance;
2. promoting citizens’ and representative associations’ participation in and contribution to the democratic and civic life of the Union by enabling them to make known and publicly exchange their views in all areas of Union action;
3. promoting exchanges between citizens of different countries, in particular through town-twinning and networks of towns, so as to afford them practical experience of the richness and diversity of the common heritage of the Union and to make them aware that such richness and diversity constitute a solid foundation for a common future.

Daphne strand

The Daphne strand shall focus on:

1. preventing and combating at all levels all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls and domestic violence, including by promoting the standards laid down in the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention);
2. preventing and combating all forms of violence against children, young people and other groups at risk, such as LGBTIQ persons and persons with disabilities;
3. supporting and protecting all direct and indirect victims of the forms of violence referred to in points (1) and (2), such as the victims of domestic violence perpetrated within the family or within intimate relationships, including children orphaned as a result of domestic crimes, and supporting and ensuring the same level of protection throughout the Union for victims of gender-based violence.

Objectives:

The objective is to support a comprehensive and intersectional approach and specific actions to prevent and fight against intolerance, racism, xenophobia, and discrimination, in particular on grounds of racial or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, including when this manifests in the form of antigypsism, antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred, Afrophobia and LGBTIQ phobia, offline and online. In this context, the call for proposals can cover actions addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting these groups in terms of intolerance, racism, xenophobia, discrimination and hate.

Scope:

The following priorities will be financed:

1. Fighting against intolerance, racism, xenophobia, discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes
2. Promoting diversity management and inclusion at the workplace, both in the public and private sector
3. Fighting discrimination against LGBTIQ people and promoting LGBTIQ equality through the implementation of the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy
4. Preventing, reporting and countering hate speech online
5. Restricted to public authorities to improve their responses to (intersectional) discrimination, racism and xenophobia, in particular, based on racial or ethnic origin, religion, or colour as well on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics

Activities shall include:

• coalition and capacity building;
• training of professionals and victims of (multiple and intersectional) discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes;
• mutual learning, exchange of good practices, cooperation, including identifying best practices which may transferable to other participating countries and into public policies;
• designing and implementing anti-racism strategies or action plans, including with focus on specific grounds (e.g. on antisemitism, antigypsyism, anti-Muslim hatred or other specific forms of intolerance) and initiated at the local level;
• dissemination of information and awareness-raising campaigns, including on social media;
• studies and analytical activities, including intersectional analysis;
• promotion of digital skills and critical thinking;
• data recording, data collection, surveys, including data disaggregation;
• monitoring and reporting of incidents of discrimination, hate speech and hate crime, including analysis of patterns and trends, triggers and ecosystem of online hatred;
• victim empowerment and support with consideration

• be legal entities (public or private bodies)
• be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
  • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
  • non-EU countries: EEA countries and countries associated to the CERV Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature

• Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person).
• EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.

• Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the participants  and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online)
• Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the project (to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded)
• Part C (to be filled in directly online) containing additional project data including mandatory indicators
• mandatory annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded):
  • CVs (standard) of core project team
  • activity report of last year of the coordinator
  • list of previous projects (key projects for the last 4 years)
  • for participants with activities involving children: their child protection policy covering the four areas described in the Keeping Children Safe Child Safeguarding Standards

Technical Secretariat

For the  strands "Union Values" and "Citizens’ engagement and participation": Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).
Email: EACEA-CERV@ec.europa.eu

For the strands "Equality, rights and gender equality" and "Daphne": Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers of the European Commission.
Email: EC-CERV-CALLS@ec.europa