Background	Project Duration
Grant Size	Deadline
Own Contribution	Application Forms
Funding Priorities	Application & Procedures
Grantmaking Criteria	Languages
Guidelines	Tips

The Peace-Building Service was set up at the end of 2006 following the merger of two previously existing services: the Preventive Diplomacy Service and the Conflict Prevention Service, attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Development Cooperation, respectively.

The objective of the Peace-Building Service is to finance projects concerned with conflict prevention and peace building, in accordance with specific thematic and geographical priorities of Belgium’s foreign policy. To attain this goal, the Service has a fixed budget of € 31.1 million for 2009.

Within the DGCD, the unit in charge of the peace-building instrument is S3.1 Conflict Prevention and Peace-Building. With the aim of executing and reinforcing foreign policy, projects in the field of peace building can be funded throughout the world. More specifically, interventions before, during and after conflicts are possible. Projects financed out of the Preventive Diplomacy budget must focus on preventing or helping to resolve serious conflicts in the short term (generally one year), whereas projects funded out of the Conflict Prevention budget tend to last longer (usually three years) and set out to shore up political, socioeconomic, legal and cultural institutions.

On an annual basis: a minimum of €100,000 and a maximum €1,500,000.

Grants may cover up to 100% of project costs.

This budget line is supplementary to the other budget lines. The projects subsidised complement the initiatives that cannot be supported for reasons of status or procedure through geographical, multilateral or other cooperation channels.
Where the thematic focus is concerned, the Peace-Building Service is active in six main areas or ‘clusters’, namely:

• Establishing and strengthening the rule of law (including good governance, the defence of human rights, support for national institutions such as elections or  parliaments, transitional justice, and the fight against impunity)
• Supporting free speech 
• Efficiently and reasonably managing natural resources
• Backing peace processes (e.g. by supporting a peace mission, mediation, security sector reforms) 
• Promoting disarmament and mine clearance, combating the illegal spread of small arms and the use of anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs 
• Aiding civilian victims of conflicts (including the problems associated with child soldiers, victims of sexual violence, and so on)

Against the backdrop of the key issues listed above and in keeping with the provisions of the coalition agreement dated 18 March 2008, between 2008 and 2011 the Peace-Building Service will also concentrate primarily on the following issues where Central Africa is concerned:

• Problems of sexual violence and child soldiers
• Problems associated with natural resources 
• Reconstruction of the legal apparatus and transitional forms of justice
• Reforming the security sector
• Problems to do with small arms and mine clearance

Requests for financing of projects under the Peace-building budget line can be introduced by:
 

• Belgian, foreign and international NGOs and non-profit organisations with a legal status
• International or regional organisations, whether or not partner institutions of Belgium’s multilateral cooperation   
• Universities, higher education institutions and other research institutes

Private persons or commercial enterprises are not entitled to submit any proposals, although they can be put in charge of the execution of a project.

Each proposal is evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

• Coherence between submitted documentsRelevance to Belgium’s foreign policy with regard to conflict prevention and peace building
• Effectiveness: relationship between purpose and planned activities
• Efficiency: relationship between purpose and means
• Sustainability: results and lasting effect
• Synergy and complementarities with other projects and actors (local ownership)
• Ability of the part of the organisation to carry out the project and to manage the resources put at its disposal
• Financing will only be considered provided that a project proposal, together with a detailed budget is introduced

The Guidelines can be found on the Ministry’s website.

Maximum duration of 36 months.

Project proposals can be submitted from January 1st until June 30th. Taking into consideration the different procedural steps, it is recommended to submit the project six months prior to its planned starting date.

Application forms are provided by the DGCD. Each dossier must include:

• A project sheet 
• The actual project, including the justification of the request for financing under the Peace-building budget line 
• A global logical framework
• A detailed activity budget.
• Identity data on the applicant organisation and its partners (when applicable) 

Each application must be accompanied by:

• A copy of the current Articles of Association of the recipient organisation
• By a recent Annual Report or other report of activities or publications proving the applicant’s expertise in the field of peace-building.

Individually or in a consortium, the applicant first submits its project proposal to the unit S3.1, “Conflict Prevention and Peace Consolidation” of the DGCD. Upon receipt, the unit formulates a proposal and sends it, together with the Inspection of Finance’s advice, to the Development Cooperation policy officer with the suggestion:

• Either to approve the project and the funding request, and to grant the requested subsidy
• To approve the project and/or the funding request, in an amended form, and to grant the appropriate subsidy
• Not to approve the project and the funding request and not to grant any subsidy

It rests with the Development Cooperation Policy Officer to take the final decision as to funding, on the basis of the proposal set forth by the Peace-building Unit, accompanied by the Inspection of Finance’s advice.

French, Dutch or English

NGOs can submit joint programmes. Within these consortia, one NGO must take the lead. The law encourages such partnerships, and in practice they have received higher funding.

Non-Belgian NGOs can obtain support through a partnership with Belgian NGOs. ACODEV, the Belgian NGO platform, can also be contacted for more general information on development cooperation and on accredited NGOs.