Invitation to bid: Fund Operator for the Active Citizens Fund in Hungary

News
28.04.2021

The Financial Mechanism Office (FMO), the secretariat of the EEA and Norway Grants, is seeking a Fund Operator to develop and implement the Active Citizens Fund in Hungary, an EEA Grants programme for civil society. This is the invitation to bid.

Background information

The EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021 represent funding from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to reduce economic and social disparities and strengthen cooperation with 15 EU countries in Northern, Central and Southern Europe. For the period 2014-2021, a total contribution of €2.8 billion has been agreed.

As described in article 3.2.b of Protocol 38c of the EEA Agreement, funding shall be earmarked for support to civil society organisations in each of the 15 beneficiary states.

The tender for the role of Fund Operator of the Active Citizens Fund in Hungary has been relaunched with a new deadline, in line with section 5.3 of the Terms of Reference. In accordance with the Terms of Reference, consortia that submitted bids and were assessed in the first round will receive feedback on their bid and are entitled to re-submit their bid with changes.

Programme allocation and objective

In Hungary, the allocation to the Active Citizens Fund is €10,890,000. The overall objective of the programme is: ‘Civil society and active citizenship strengthened and vulnerable groups empowered’.

The Active Citizens Fund shall seek to develop the long-term sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector, with the aim of strengthening its role in promoting democratic participation, active citizenship and human rights. More information on the objectives, principles, thematic areas of support and design of the programmes can be found in the Terms of Reference (see link below). The Fund Operator will be responsible for the development and implementation the Active Citizens Fund in Hungary.

Information session

An online information session for potential bidders will be held on Monday 12 April 2021 at 11:00-12:30 CET. The session will be in English and will take the form of a presentation of the Terms of Reference and the Bid Form, followed by questions and answers.

Potential bidders may also register their interest in one-on-one meetings with representatives from the Financial Mechanism Office (FMO) to discuss the requirements for the Fund Operator role and the tender process.

If you are interested in attending an information session and/or would like to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please send an email to acf@efta.int, with your name and the name of your organisation. Please register at least one day prior to the information session you would like to attend.

Please note that the information sessions and meetings will only provide information about the Terms of Reference. No information on funding for projects will be available until after a Fund Operator has been contracted.

Please find the presentation slides from the information session on 12 April 2021 here.

Questions and answers

Please consult the Q&A document for answers to questions already received by the FMO concerning tenders for the Fund Operator role. All new questions raised in the information session, one-on-one meetings and by email will be anonymized and added to this document.

Questions can be addressed to acf@efta.int. Please specify the country and organisation name in the subject line of your email (see section 6.4 of the Terms of Reference for further information on submission of and responses to questions).

Submission of bid

The Terms of Reference, Bid Form and annexes are provided in the links below. The deadline for submission of bids is 10 May 2021 at 12:00 CET.