Your project has to be submitted directly to the ALF by the leader of the project which must be a member of the ALF national networks. Please refer to article 5.2 of the guidelines for the call.

Information related to project proposals application is obtainable from our website www.euromedalex.org

All relevant documents are available under the Call for Proposals icon on the home page. Please read carefully the Guidelines for applicants in particular section 5 “Procedures for the submission of the proposals”

Any application received after the deadline will be automatically rejected.

The deadline for receiving the application by ALF is the1st of November 2010 at 16.00 hrs Egypt time.

This deadline applies for both online applications and hard copy applications regardless the date of sending the application.

No. the proposals should be submitted in English or French languages only.  Please refer to  article 5.1 in the Guidelines

Any application received by ALF after the deadline, will be automatically rejected, even if the postmark indicates a date preceding the deadline or if the delay is due to the private courier/postal service.

ALF encourage applicants  to apply online

If a person is working full time for the project, 100% of his salary can be put in the overall budget as eligible cost only if the cost is realistic in terms of normal practices in the concerned eligible country.

Any action linked to the preparation of the project proposal will be covered by the Grant only if incurred during the period from the launch of the call to the deadline for submission of the proposal. The expenses must be detailed in the proposed budget.  Lump sum amount is not accepted. Preparation (max.3%) of the cost will have to be duly justified with financial supporting documents. Please refer to article 4.5.6 of the guidelines.

The applicant (Project Leader) must be a member of one of the 43 ALF National Networks. 

Therefore if your institution is not yet a member of the ALF network (i.e in case you could not meet the deadline for Membership on 20^th of September 2010), you can still be a partner in the project. Please note that partners do not have to apply or fill in separate proposals.

In case the proposal is awarded, a partnership statement must be signed by the leader and his partners (template provided : Annex J to the guidelines) and provided to ALF in a later stage prior to the signature of the contract.

No, Individual/persons applications are non-eligible. Please refer to 4.2 of the Guidelines

In order to ensure a fair treatment of all applicants, the ALF will not give any opinion on the eligibility, or indeed quality, of a proposal. Answers can only be for clarifying the guidelines or the evaluation process to applicants.  Clarifications cannot be given about a given proposal.  Applicants are requested to read carefully the objectives of the call and the eligibility for the proposed project.

No, Individual scholarships for studies or training courses are not eligible. Please refer to article 4.1 of the guidelines.

Organizations which are members of ALF national network in one of the following Euromed countries : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Monaco, Montenegro, Mauritania, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.

Leaders, partners and countries hosting the activities must be from the above exclusive list.

Please note that upon contract signature, selected applicants must provide ALF with bank account details which must be in the name of the applicant’s institution and the bank must be located in the country where the applicant is registered in the ALF Network.

The project leader (applicant) is the one who is responsible for: the submission of  the proposal, signature of the contract, the preparation for the project, and the operational and financial management of the project.

However, these dates are only indicative and not definitive.

Yes. If the budget is not in Euros, your proposal will be disqualified.

The budget should be presented according to the template (Annex C to the guidelines)  and must be as detailed as possible. You are not allowed to put lump sums except for Administrative cost (please refer to Q 3.3). Always breakdown the cost into its elements. Please refer to the tips on how to fill the budget at the bottom of the budget template.

Administrative costs correspond to general overhead costs, which are not otherwise included as specific project costs in other budget lines of the project cost, for example, main office rent, electricity, telecommunication charges, consumables, copying costs, bank charges etc. This is the only lump sum allowed in the project budget up to a maximum of 4%. The applicant is not requested to specify in the budget what kind of expenses will be included under administrative costs, however all the expenditure must be justified by the corresponding financial supporting documents  (such as: telephone bills, rental contract, invoices..etc)

The evidence of co-financing may be requested by the ALF if the project is awarded a grant. However, the applicant must declare in the proposed budget whether the co-financing is requested or confirmed at the time of submitting the proposal. The applicant declares that it will cover the contribution from other sources in case these contributions were not available at the start of the project.

Co-financing in a project is necessary for the viability of the project. It is in the interest of the applicant and its partners to have secured co-financing.

If the co-financing is not secured, the applicant and its partners will have to find other sources of funds in case the project is awarded.  Problems of co-financing negatively affect the implementation of the project activities and hence hinder the achievement of the project objectives. 

Yes, this format must be used. As for units, here are  two examples:

For salaries:

•           the unit  is the type of salary i.e. if it is monthly, you write  “per month”

•           the number of units is the number of months the persons work

(i.e. : for a full time position in 6 month project, you write “6”, while for half time position in 6 months project, you write (6*50%) which means that the percentage should be inserted in the column # of units and not the "unit rate"

•           the unit rate is the amount of salary - the person receives each month for a full time position, you write for example “EURO 1,000”

Per diem is the daily subsistence allowance.  It is calculated/estimated  based on a system of daily allowance which must not exceed the rates published by the European Commission on:

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/per_diems/documents/perdiem_200812.pdf

It shall consist of lodging, breakfast, lunch, dinner, intra-city transportation, transportation to and from airport and other sundry expenses to cover internet and telecommunication charges.

Yes, but costs have to be always incurred in one of the 43 eligible countries and must be reasonable within the overall budget.

For this call for proposals, yes.

Methodology refers to the methods used to achieve the aim and objectives of the project, to ensure and efficient implementation of the activities, to reach the expected results.

Activities refer to the set of process of decomposing a project into a number of tasks which are needed to complete the deliverables and achieve the goals.

The target groups are the people who will ultimately benefit from the project activities and results. It is the group(s) the leader and partner(s) want to address directly, during and after the project.

The beneficiaries are the specific and determined group(s) of people who will be selected according to particular criteria to be involve directly in the implementation process of the project

Yes, it must be included in the budget. Projects awarded by the ALF must be audited for their final financial reports. Therefore the applicant should investigate the realistic audit cost that would be included in the proposed budget.  Under-estimated audit cost may result in lack of funds for audit verification at the end of the project.

These amounts refer to ALF financial contribution to the final global budgetof the project provided that the amount requested does not exceed 60% of the total eligible costs of the action for applicants from European countries and 70% for applicants from Mediterranean partner countries. (please refer to the footnote on page 7 of the guidelines).

ALF Preserves the right to negotiate the budget with the awarded applicants.  Please find below example for reasons to negotiate the budget:

• If miscalculations are found  in the proposed budget
• If some clarifications are required or more itemization and details of the cost are needed
• If the cost of some items are considered overestimated.

The final financial contribution of the ALF to the global project budget will be calculated based on the percentage of contribution agreed in the contract between the ALF and the applicant.

The remaining balance in the project proposed budget must be financed from:

• The applicant’s own financial resources (compulsory financial contribution);
• The partners' own financial resources (not compulsory financial contribution);
• Sources other than the ALF (such as European Commission etc.) (not compulsory financial contribution).

One global budget is required for each proposal including the total estimated cost of the project and including all sources of funds by the leader, the ALF and the partners (please refer to the section“Sources of Funds” included in Annex _C to the guidelines).

The leader of the project shall establish/sign a Partnership Statement with its partners in line with Annex J to the guidelines.  The leader shall include provisions as appropriate in its partnership agreement with them.

The leader alone shall be accountable to ALF for the implementation of the project and the management of the grant.  ALF shall transfer the funds to the leader of the project.

Costs incurred by the partner(s) are subject to the same eligibility criteria applicable to the leader.

Transfers of funds from ALF to the beneficiary or from the beneficiary to its partners should be made to legal persons and NOT to individuals.

Taxes, including VAT are ineligible cost, unless the Beneficiary (or, where applicable, its partners) can show that they cannot reclaim such tax and applicable regulations authorise coverage of taxes.          

Brand new organizations are eligible to apply and they shall leave the field of the application form which relates to revenue and turnover blank.  This factor: “brand new organization” will be assessed in one of the sections of the evaluation grid (please refer to the evaluation grid published on page 17 of the guidelines)

However, it would be helpful to fill in previous project experiences of the people from the organization who will be involved in the project. The description of the project, its aim and objectives, the methodology will be also assessed in the evaluation grid.

Under section 4 of the budget template “Communication/ Visibility Costs”, you can include all cost elements related to this production.

Contribution in kind is a non-cash input by the Leader or the Partners for the execution of the project. It can be given a cash value based on reasonable assessment.  However it cannot be included in the cash elements of the budget.  Instead it has to be declared separately in the last section of the Budget (expected sources of funding for the project) and must not be included in the overall cash contributions, it does not represent actual expenditure and is not part of the total eligible costs of the action and is not subject to audit verification.

It is important to highlight that the budget must represent only the cash elements of the total eligible costs of the Action (ALF financial contribution + applicant financial contribution + financial contributions from other sources + expected income, if any). These elements must not include contribution in kind.

Only the cost of staff assigned to the project may be considered as co-financing in the Budget of the project when paid by the Beneficiary or its partners. (please refer to tips on how to fill the budget at the bottom of Annex C to the Guidelines).

Yes.

Any travel costs within the 43 member states are eligible (refer to Q 2.7).

Per diem cost shall be calculated/estimated  based on a system of daily allowance which must not exceed the rates published on:

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/per_diems/documents/perdiem_200812.pdf, which correspond to the scales published by the European Commission.  Per diem cost must be duly justified by the hotel accommodation and meals invoices.

The per diem amount from the EC scales are indicative and applicant can decide to allocate smaller amount for per diem if they judge it adequate.

Any publication including its preparation is part of the visibility costs.

Please consult our Website: www.euromedalex.org to find information on our mission and objectives, background, programmes, events, publications and many other relevant information.

The Guidelines uploaded on our Website: www.euromedalex.orgshould be read carefully as  they are the basis for preparing a proposal. Applications must be submitted  by filling the application form ,the budget  and the work plan annexed to these Guidelines. Applicants should stick to the format of the application and fill in the pages in the order of the numbered sections.

Applicants must apply in English or French. Hand-written applications will not be accepted.

The application form should be completed carefully and as clearly as possible so that we can assess it properly. Be precise and provide enough detail to ensure the application is clear, particularly as to how the aims of the action will be achieved, the expected results and the way in which it is relevant to the programme's objectives.

We encourage applicant to apply online.

In the September 2010 ALF Newsletter(page 7) several links to online resources can be useful to help when writing an application.

No advice or reply of any kind can be given to issues related to the content of the proposal.  It would be against the principle of equal treatment that applies to this call.  Answers may only be on a clarification of the guidelines for applicants or the evaluation process.

Answers to questions must be on points of clarification to the guidelines for applicants. They cannot give an appreciation on the eligibility or quality of a proposal. It is forbidden to the ALF staff to help a specific applicant fill in his application form or to correct a form.

Please refer to article 4.4 of the guidelines of the call.

The involvement of more partners does not affect the formula.

The ALF supports ONLY multilateral projects built upon a 1+1 partnership formula according to the following:

- at least one organisation from one of the following European countries:

Albania Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom; AND

- at least one organisation from one of the following Mediterranean partner countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey.

Applicants (Leaders) will be informed in writing of the ALF's decision concerning their application. A list of the awarded projects/programmes will be posted on ALF website.

Unfortunately, the project would be ineligible for funding.

Yes.

No, you should submit either an online application or hard copy application. However it is strongly recommended to apply online.

Yes, the global budget of the project is subject to audit and not only the part covered by ALF.

You may contact the Head of the National Network in your country.

You may also check:

• “search for partners” on http://www.euromedalex.org/partner-search
•  “Project ideas” http://www.euromedalex.org/proposals

Based on previous proposals awarded by the ALF it is highly recommended to establish solid partnership with clear division of tasks and responsibilities within the project design in order to avoid changing partners once the contract is signed or to avoid termination of the project.

The total amount of money the organisation worked with during the financial year.  In other words, it is the total shown in the Balance Sheet.

The audit certificate, must be produced by an external approved auditor who meets at least one of the following conditions:

• The Auditor and/or the firm is registered as a statutory auditor in the public register in the concerned country and this register is subject to principles of public oversight as set out in the legislation of the country concerned
• The Auditor and/or the firm is a member of a national accounting or auditing body or institution which in turn is member of an internationally-recognized supervisory body for statutory auditing (for example : the International Federation of Accountants - IFAC);

This condition applies to all institutions even public institutions. Applicant is requested to include the foreseen audit cost within the global project budget. Please refer to Q 3.11

As the Anna Lindh Networks are independent and autonomous, the decision about admission of your membership application will be taken by the concerned Heads of Network to whom your application will be sent. You can expect to be contacted by email within six weeks from the day of registration. According to Network guidelines (3.1.7) an application is considered automatically accepted if the relevant Head of Network has not replied within six weeks.

For more information about the status of your membership request (approve or decline), please contact the Head of Network in your country.

We cannot answer any question concerning the content of any project, sorry.

It is up to the applicant to choose the target groups, the methodology as well as all the elements for a project.

Projects which have already started before applying to the call are considered ineligible.

Yes.

It is up to the applicant to choose the approach, the methodology as well as all the elements for a project

The term “Special Conditions” refer to the standard grant contract which is annexed to the guidelines (please refer to the link for the standard grant contract in section 8.2 of the guidelines for the call)

It is possible to do it virtually.

Evaluation of a project is as important as all the other steps in a project for the leader and partners and for the funding sources and should be considered carefully from the beginning.

As a sponsor contributes to the budget, it is good. Please indicate if the contribution is in cash or in kind.  If it is in kind contribution, then it should be listed separately and must not be included in the cash elements of the budget nor in the global cost of the project (please refer to Q 4.18)