European embassies in developing countries play an important role in the co-ordination of bilateral and multilateral development efforts. In addition to European development agencies, many European embassies outside of the EU have become key points of reference for both northern and southern civil society organisations.

The degree to which an embassy may be involved in an application process varies from country-to-country. For some countries, embassies are used in order to organise and implement a donor country’s bilateral aid. The Netherlands, for example, equips their embassies with staff specifically dedicated to priority sectors supported by Dutch development cooperation policies, such as the health and gender sectors.

Several donors, most notably Denmark, France, Germany and Norway, operate entire grant programmes through their diplomatic offices abroad¹.  Embassies that are provided with separate budgets specifically designated for NGO initiatives are usually also authorised to provide grants, determine eligibility criteria and monitor projects without consulting their Ministry at home.

Embassies can also act as key sources of information. Norweigan embassies offer information to Norwegian NGOs whom are interested in working with local partners; while in some cases, it is actually required for organisations interested in submitting country-specific grant applications to first consult an embassy in the relevant country-in-question and discuss their prospective application.

European embassies and diplomatic missions in recipient countries conduct a veriety of activities that equip them with country-specific knowledge that may be useful for grant-seekers; they liaise with the beneficiaries of their development assistance and locally coordinate activities with other donors. Civil society organisations can consult European embassies abroad as a potential resource towards implementing successful future projects that are harmonised with local development efforts.

 

 

¹ Some of these grant programmes are contained within this Guide, but this is not an exhaustive list. Interested organisations from the Global South should contact the respective embassies of European donors active in their country to explore the availability of local funding.