The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, General Directorate for Europe and International Trade Policy/DGUE, awards and allocates contributions for the implementation of initiatives within the framework of the provisions of art. 23 ter of DPR 18/67 (Presidential Decree), for aims related to Italian participation in peace and humanitarian initiatives at international level.
In accordance with the “Decree Criteria 2023“, eligible applicants for requesting for co-financing projects to be implemented in the Western Balkans region are:
- Italian public bodies (listed in the National Statistical Institute ISTAT register of public administrations);
- Foreign States;
- International organizations whose purpose is to maintain international peace and security and to implement humanitarian and human rights initiatives.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will allocate contributions taking into account the following criteria, in order to select the initiatives to be financed:
1) aims pursued by proposed projects:
- contribution to peace and security and humanitarian initiatives in the international arena;
- support of international bodies, Italian and foreign public administrations as well as private entities active in the issues of priority interest of Italy in the Western Balkans area including, first of all, the stabilization of the region, the strengthening of the bilateral and multilateral dialogue, the consolidation of democratic institutions and the rule of law, support to national and regional reconciliation processes, enhancement of opportunities for the young generations. Further areas of intervention will be: prevention of terrorism and extremism, reform of the justice sector and electoral systems, transparency and fight against corruption and organized crime;
- support of local authorities active in the promotion of peace and security in the international arena, with particular reference to twinning initiatives between municipalities aimed at social promotion, against marginalization and radicalization;
- strengthening the protection and promotion of human rights;
- promotion of the dissemination of and respect for international humanitarian haw.
2) characteristics of the beneficiaries and of the proposed initiatives:
- capacity to operate as well as structural, technical-organizational and economic-financial reliability;
- experience in the sector combined with achievements in previous initiatives, which may already have been beneficiaries of MAECI contributions;
- direct involvement of actors from the beneficiary country of the presented initiative;
- use of partnerships and consortia with other entities.
The resources available for Italian participation in public initiatives aimed at stabilizing the Balkans, in the form of co-financing 90% of the proposed budget, amount to around 1,300,000 euros. Requests for co-financing may be sent directly to the Directorate General for Europe and International Trade Policy or through the Embassy, in compliance with the formalities referred in art. 4 of the “2023 Criteria Decree”, by 31 October 2023.
Basic Rules for project proposal
1) The proposer must submit to the DGUE (Note: Directorate General for Europe and International Trade Policy at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation) – directly or through the competent Italian diplomatic representation – a letter of request for contribution with the handwritten or digital signature of the legal representative including:
- the project for which financial support is requested, with an indication of the purposes to be pursued (outcome), the activities to be carried out (output) and the resources to be used (inputs);
- the program of activities (time schedule) with an indication of the timing of their implementation;
- the financial statement describing in detail the expenses foreseen, broken down into costs borne by the proposing body and / or any other contributions and contributors and the costs borne by the MFA, with the relative percentage;
- the coordinates of the bank account, which must be in the name of the requesting institution, on which to credit the contribution. Any item relating to overheads must not exceed 8% of the subtotal costs of the initiative;
- the administrative data of the entity (company name, address, contact person, email address and, if Italian, the tax code and / or VAT number);
- any other documentation deemed useful for evaluating the initiative and the nature of the applicant.
2) The preliminary examination of the proposals submitted, in Italian or English, by the applicants is carried out by the DGUE, which may request additions or changes to the documentation presented.
3) Once approved, the grant can be assigned no more than 90% of the total value of the project activities.
4) The selection of the projects to be funded and the relative amount of contribution is determined by the DGUE according to the following elements:
a) relevance of the project with respect to these scopes:
– stabilization of the Western Balkans, strengthening of bilateral and multilateral dialogue within the region, consolidation of democratic institutions and the rule of law, support to national and regional reconciliation processes, creation of opportunities for youth. Further areas of intervention include prevention of terrorism and extremism, reform of the justice sector and electoral systems, transparency and fight against corruption and organized crime, general promotion of human rights and international humanitarian law;
b) opportunity to identify a number of projects consistent with the various geographical and thematic priorities referred to the Call (Western Balkans), and taking into account the available resources and the quality of the projects presented;
c) effective ability of the proposing party to carry out the activities even for a contribution lower than that requested.
5) The activities must begin or be in progress in the financial year in which the expenditure commitment is made (2023).
6) The grant can be paid in a single advance payment.
7) At the conclusion of the project / initiative, and in any case within three months, the beneficiary of the grant must communicate its closure and submit a report on the activities to the Offices / Units of the DGUE and a final financial report containing the summary of expenses, together with a report issued by an audit certification body, if available.
8) Any share-part of the contribution not used by the beneficiary at the conclusion of the initiative / project will be returned to the tax authorities.
