This programme allows for direct financing of NGOs from developing countries; however, it is limited to the partner countries of official Belgian co-operation. Information on how to apply is compiled on this webpage and can be downloaded here.

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

Belgium’s overall development co-operation – including its non-government programmes – is undergoing major reforms. However, the financing and control of non-government co-operation initiatives remain in the domain of the Directorate General for Development Co-operation (DGDC) which directly reports to the Federal Minister of Development Co-operation. Its role is to conceive development co-operation policy guidelines, to manage co-operation programmes, allocate funds and follow up and evaluate their use. The unit in charge of the ‘consolidation of society’ project line works under the responsibility of Directorate 2 Special Programmes, but most of the decision-making and follow-up process has been decentralised towards the Belgian embassies and their attachés.

Co-financing of NGOs from developing countries. This credit line allows for direct financing of NGOs from developing countries; however, it is limited to the partner countries of official Belgian co-operation.

The programme does not define a minimum and maximum grant size. However, so far, there have never been grants higher then € 500,000. Also, grants are disbursed in tranches of a maximum of € 125,000.

Whether an applicant should contribute to the project funding is not determined. In practice, the projects were mostly funded by grants of 100%.

The definition of funding priorities is decentralised. The attachés for international co-operation of the respective embassies draw up strategy papers for a five-year period which assess the situation of the country’s civil society and include thematic priorities. These documents are not published but can be obtained from the embassies. For example, the South African strategy paper determines four priorities:

a) public health, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis;
b) agricultural reform;
c) democratisation and conflict prevention; and
d) good governance and education.

Currently, the programme is very open and flexible. Few pre-determined criteria exist. Those included in the procedural note are very general and are applied to the respective recipient countries in different ways. However, at the time of writing this document, new guidelines with more exact standard procedures are being drafted and will be implemented in 2007.

Criteria to become a non-government partner:

• There are no restrictions concerning the activities of the NGO. The NGO can be specialised in both service delivery and production.
• The goals of the NGO must be in accordance with the objectives of the direct bilateral development co-operation policy.
• The NGO should not be active in fields contrary to those specified in the general convention for development co-operation signed by the recipient country with Belgium.
• There should be a confirmed or potential impact in the field targeted.
• Internally, the organisation must have a democratic structure.
• The experience of other donors with the NGO is relevant. These references represent a moral guarantee for the applicant organisation.
• Further, it must have enough financial credibility and possess its own financial funds to avoid a total financial dependency and to make sure a project is sustainable.

Project criteria:
Different types of interventions can be financed. These are operational activities and capacity building based on the training and supervising of local staff as well as general financial support for basic tasks and activities. The activities proposed must be coherent with the country’s strategy paper and development related. The selection process will also include an evaluation of the methodology proposed, the forecasted impact, the project’s sustainability, the capacity of the organisation and the transparency of its financial situation.

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The programme is based on a procedural note (Note de procedure A.B. 15 54 41 3525) prepared in March 2002, which is available at the DGDC. A new note is under way which reduces the imprecision of the previous text. This new text will contain more precise partner and project eligibility criteria as well as standardised application forms. For every partner country a 10-page strategy paper is prepared by the attaché for development co-operation. Although not having been published, these strategy papers can be obtained from the respective Belgian embassy or the DGDC.

There is no defined project duration.

The deadlines vary locally and depend on the respective attaché.

The NGO is in charge of preparing the project proposal. No particular application forms are provided, although this will change in 2007 with the new guidelines in place. There are some specifications on the content, however. The proposal has to include title, duration, summary, a short description of the organisation, a calendar comprising the objectives, expected results and the indicators for measuring success (this is the central part of the proposal), target groups, methodology, activities, sustainability, details about the investment in human resources and financial resources as well as their management, the budget (investment costs, operational costs, personal costs, possibly: audit and evaluation costs), and the organisation’s other sources of finance. It is good to add a logical framework to the proposal. For large projects an independent evaluation must be foreseen.

There is no standardised procedure on publicising available funds. Whether calls for proposals or publications about the programme are produced depends on the attaché for development co-operation. So far, Morocco has been the only case where the programme has been made public through newspapers. Information on the availability of funds is mostly disseminated by word of mouth. Any interested NGOs have to take the initiative to submit a project proposal, and they can be supported by the attaché for development co-operation. Indeed, the organisation’s responsibility for and ownership of the project – as well as its capacity to carry out and control the project activities – are more important than an impeccable application. However, the new guidelines will request more professional applications than before.

Requests should be introduced exclusively through the local Belgian embassy to the attaché for development co-operation. For selecting project proposals, the attaché has to consult at least one competent person (another NGO, a government partner, the CTB or independent experts) who is not allowed to foster any financial relationship or partnership with the applicant. The attaché can also organise a selection committee.

Once selected, a project agreement is prepared and signed by the applicant. The agreement is conditional upon the signature of the financial decree by the King of Belgium. Therefore, the attaché sends the project proposal, his own evaluation and the project agreement to the DGDC which assesses the quality of the documents and prepares a royal decree. Within two weeks, this decree is sent to the secretary of state via the finance department. If the DGDC has reservations about the proposal, these are transferred in parallel to the secretary of state and the attaché. The attaché will send his response directly to the secretary of state.

Not defined

The programme is very decentralised, and the management of the programme varies from country to country. As the attaché for development co-operation is key to the distribution of funds, it is important to foster a regular contact with him/her to obtain grants.

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