As part of the 10th European Development Fund, the European Commission launched in February the second Water Facility endowed with a budget of 200 millions €. Two new calls for proposals opened to local/regional authorities from both the EU and ACP countries have been published.

The objectives of the Water Facility are :

• Objective 1 - To help to achieve water and sanitation Millenium Development Goals (to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation;
• Objective 2 - To contribute to improving water governance and management of water resources and to the sustainable development and maintenance of water infrastructure.

Each one of these objectives are adressed by two different calls for proposals :

1. "Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion" - adresses Objective 1, 110 millions € allocated (Ref.: EuropeAid/129510/C/ACT/Multi);
2. "Partnerships for Capacity Development" - adresses Objective 2, 40 millioms € allocated (Ref.: EuropeAid/129509/C/ACT/Multi).

The facility is part of the 10th European Development Fund. All the calls’ documents are available on the European Commission website.

Please find below a short description of both calls for proposals. Although the financial commitments implied by such types of projects are rather high for many local authorities, it seems important to circulate this information and have the opportunities of the Water Facility better known by the local authorities, which may be in capacity for applying.

1. CALL FOR PROPOSALS "WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE PROMOTION"

This is a one step call for proposals. A short concept note and full application form are to be submitted together before 2 June 2010.

Theme

There is one specific theme : "Improved safe drinking water supply and improved basic sanitation, and hygiene promotion, coupled with active involvement of local partners (NSAs and/or local government) in project identification, selection of activities and implementation."

Allocation of funds

Minimum amount of each proposal : 500 000 €
Maximum amount of each proposal : 2 500 000 €

No grant may exceed 75% of the total eligible costs of the action. 

Eligibility of applicants

Applicants must belong to one of the following categories : ACP and EU local authorities, non State actors and international organisations.

Eligibility of actions

Actions must take place in one or more of the ACP countries. The planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months and not exceed 60 months.

The types of actions must contain all the following activities:

• Construction/rehabilitation of improved safe drinking water supply ;
• Construction/rehabilitation of improved basic sanitation facilities ;
• Hygiene promotion.

PADOR

The prior registration in PADOR for applicants and their partners is obligatory, prior to the submission of the concept note.

Indicative calendar

2. CALL FOR PROPOSALS "PARTNERSHIPS FOR CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT"

This is a two step call for proposals. A short concept note must be submitted before 6 October 2010 and then a full application form is required for the applications selected.

Theme

There is one specific theme : "develop capacity of ACP water & sanitation utilities, ACP local authorities & other ACP water sector organisations (e.g. river basin organisations and training centres) in water & sanitation governance and management and sustainable development & maintenance of infrastructure".

Allocation of funds

Minimum amount of each proposal : 250 000 €
Maximum amount of each proposal : 1 000 000 €

No grant may exceed 75% of the total eligible costs of the action.

Eligibility of applicants

Applicants must belong to one of the following categories : ACP and EU water sanitation utilities, local authorities and other water sector actors.

Eligibility of actions

Actions must take place in EU or ACP countries. The planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months and not exceed 60 months.

The types of actions can be the following :

• Training, knowledge transfer, learning and other capacity development activities ;
• Supply and services.

PADOR

The prior registration in PADOR for applicants and their partners is obligatory, prior to the submission of the concept note.

Indicative calendar