DEMENA Youth Pool

DEMENA Youth Pool

As part of MS’ agreement with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Danish-Arab Partnership Programme (Det Arabiske Initiativ), MS ActionAid Denmark administrates the DEMENA Youth Pool. The pool is open for applications until December 2011 with a total budget of 4.5 million DKK over three years.

The pool supports cooperation between Danish NGOs and NGOs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) for projects that promote youth participation in democratic reform processes and intercultural understanding.

Projects must incorporate considerations on:

a) how the project promotes dialogue and intercultural understanding between Danish youth and youth from the MENA region

b) how the project promotes the active participation of young women

c) information activities in Denmark on the basis of obtained objectives and insights

Scope of projects
The pool supports projects of two scopes:

* Pilot projects (up to DKK 100 000)
* Partnership projects (up to DKK 1 million)

Who can apply?

Applications must be submitted by the Danish organisation that has developed a joint project proposal with a partner organisation in one or more of the countries in the MENA region. The applicant must be a non-governmental organisation and must not have a commercial purpose. For larger projects the applying organisation must have experience with work in the MENA region or be prepared to hire professional project staff with these skills. There is no limitation as to how many times an organisation can apply for funds from the DEMENA Youth Pool.

Local partner organization
Partnership projects must be prepared, organised and conducted in cooperation with a local partner in the MENA region that has the requisite skills, experiences, and capacity to carry out the activities. The partner must be a non-profit organized group: an association, institution, union, or an organization with the will to lead a dialogue on democratic principles, and the will to promote intercultural understanding. Please note that Pilot projects can be aimed at identifying or establishing a partnership between the Danish organisation and the MENA organisation as well as developing joint capacity to undertake larger joint youth projects.

Requirements to the project
The project must be conducted in one or more of the countries under the Danish-Arab Partnership Programme (Det Arabiske Initiativ). Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the Occupied Palestinian Territories will be given special consideration, but support can also be given to projects in other countries in the MENA region – Morocco, Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iran and Iraq.

The project must be targeted towards a representative group of young people (15-35 year-olds) of both sexes and include both Danes and Arabs (i.e. elements of cultural exchange). There should also be considerations on how to advance young women’s participation in the project.

Organizations applying for support must be actively involved in the project. The pool does not support projects solely conducted by other organizations (e.g. the applicant’s international organization). The applicants must also be willing to participate in coordination meetings with other actors working with young people under the Danish-Arab Partnership Programme.

Projects/activities that cannot be granted support

* Projects that are solely aimed at educational and advocacy work in Denmark
* Projects that one-sidedly support specific political parties or ideologies
* Religious missionary work
* Educational scholarships
* Humanitarian aid
* Renovation and shipping activities (you may instead apply with MS Recycling for Development)
* One-person organisations or organisations containing of one single family

Regarding budget lines, the pool supports

* Evaluation: max. 5 % of granted support
* Budget margin: 5 % of granted support
* Administration: max. 7 % of total costs
* Audit[1]

If support is granted, please note that preliminary payment is 80% of the amount applied for, while the remaining 20% will be disbursed when MS has received a final report and final account no later than 2 months after project finalisation.

Reporting
The grant holder is responsible for reporting. Final report should be submitted to MS no later than 2 months after project finalisation. For projects lasting more than 10 months, a midterm report should also be submitted. An electronic as well as a signed hard copy should be submitted to MS. The reporting formats can be found at www.ms.dk.

Application deadlines & procedures
There are 3 annual deadlines for applications: 1 January, 1 May and 1 September or the following working day in case this falls during the weekend. Applications for pilot project can be submitted any time.

To apply for funds through the Youth DEMENA Pool, please use the application form on www.ms.dk and complete the application in English, as the selection panel consists of both Danes and members from the MENA region.

Annexes or other enclosed documents must be in either Danish or English. Documents written in a third language must be translated into either Danish or English by the applicant, after which it is to be enclosed in its original language as well as in the translated version.

To submit an application, the following documents are required:

* Completed and signed application form
* Budget
* Your organization’s statutes, latest annual report, and minutes from the latest board meeting
* Documentation/declaration of cooperation signed by all partners
* List of organizations, institutions and/or other types of actors that support the project
* CVs of people participating in the project with specific expertise
* Different permits if applicable

The application form must be filled in electronically and a signed hard-copy sent to:

MS ActionAid Denmark
DEMENA Youth Pool
att. Mettine Due
Fælledvej 12
2100 Copenhagen N

An electronic version must also be sent by email to MENA Coordinator Mettine Due at mdu@ms.dk

Application processing
MS administrates the pool, but the applications will be assessed by a selection committee/panel appointed for this particular purpose. Support is granted based on a joint evaluation taking into account the criteria and principles described above. A 6 – 8 week processing period must be expected.

[1] For grants below 100.000 DKK auditing is not covered. Instead you can submit final accounts with the original bills.