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

The AFD is the main actor of French development aid. As part of a general review of public policy, the AFD now manages initiatives that were previously taken by the Mission Supporting International NGOs within the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. For any project which begins after 1 January 2009, the AFD implements the training, financing and technical and operational monitoring. In 2008, the AFD worked with 120 NGOs and dispersed €21 million. In the same year, the AFD spent €1 billion financing transactions in developing countries and €1 trillion overseas.

Field projects aim to contribute primarily to the strengthening of civil society and local capacity. The contribution of the AFD will support actions brought by a French NGO (and/or) local partner(s). The local partner assumes, in partnership with the French NGO, the responsibility for execution of co-financed project on the ground.¹

No grant size specified.

The applicant must contribute 15% of the total amount. The AFD and other partners may not exceed 50% of the total allocation.

Co-financing requested from AFD is granted in priority to organisations which are incorporated under the ‘Statute Law of 1901’, with all or part of their activities devoted to supporting development and international solidarity.

The organisation must:

• Be a French NGO
• Be able to demonstrate at least three years of activities devoted to development and international solidarity 
• Have a regular holding of general meetings, offices or committees; establish an annual moral report, a report of activities, balance sheet and an operating account
• Have a share of private resources of the organisation as well as membership and donors
• Have scope and quality of volunteers participating in the activities of the organisation
• Follow a firm base of ethical rules
• Demonstrate its technical and financial capacity to complete the project or programme for which it requests a grant of government (based on the previous three years)
• It is desirable that the organisation is involved in geographic clusters or themes such as collective and networks. 
• Not be persons acting individually, part of a national association or political party.

There are no formal conditions on the size of the project, its duration and the amount of financing. However, sustainability is paramount. Projects intended to provide a significant impact are preferred.

The concerted multiple-stakeholder programme has been established for groupings of at least three partner organisations, one of which is the lead organisation (chef de file). The others can be NGOs (including development NGOs involved in migration), territorial authorities, private actors, public institutions, actors in the social sector, and professional and consular organisations. In addition to the usual eligibility criteria for French NGO co-operation as described in FR1, the lead organisation must have received funds of at least € 200,000 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the previous three years.

The following project criteria must also be met:

• The project must be a development co-operation project in developing or transition countries or a project with special focus on development education in France.

• A description of the local partner and a report on its participation throughout the project must be provided. A project partner can be a local NGO acting as supporting agency for the beneficiaries; an NGO directly representing the beneficiaries; an NGO acting as implementing agent; a non-profit civil society organisation working within the sector of economic, social and cultural development which can be interested in the project without directly being an implementing agent.
• The project should pay special attention to capacity building of civil societies.
• The project should take place in co-operation with NGOs of developing or transition countries.

Guidelines can be found here.

Multi-year funding lasts three to four years in duration.

No deadline applies.

Application material is published on AFD’s website.

The application should follow this process:

• File a grant application by mail including: a letter specifying the amount requested and the reason for the request, duplicate administrative copies, duplicate financial and technical copies and one copy of the complete application on CD-ROM. 
• Email the receipt of the request by the NGO partnership Division
• Presentation of evidence by the NGO partnership Division
• NGO Committee chaired by the MAEE decides to award or refuse the request

The application must include a full description of any local partners that have an involvement in the project. AFD uses the following definition of "local partner" preferred by the European Union: it is a local organisation, in partnership with the NGO responsible for carrying out the co-financed project. It may be:

 

• A local NGO which works on the project as support 
• A grassroots organisation representing the direct beneficiaries of the project and be involved as a direct partner of the Northern NGOs or indirectly as a partner
• Local organisation implementing the project
• An organisation of civil society (non-governmental actor) that contributes to economic, social and cultural development, which has to
• interest in the project without being assigned to both an operational role.
• In the absence of any of the above, in exceptional cases the country in question may act as a local partner 

French

Coordination SUD can also be contacted for more general information on development cooperation and on accredited NGOs. 

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¹ Contact information can be found in the NGO Platform Contact Information section of this Guide.