Description

The Small Projects Credit Line is an instrument of the Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO) that  accompanies  its long-term and larger scale development interventions, as well as contributes to the Swiss visibility in Tajikistan.

It shall also allow testing innovative ideas and new partners. The fund is  used to finance one-time actions  of limited duration (without commitments for subsequent phases).

Non-eligible proposals

Proposals concerning the following subjects are not eligible for funding:

  • Travel grants
  • Study tours
  • Charity events
  • Scholarships
  • Running costs of the applying organization, equipment and materials, when presented without activities.

 

Eligible applicants

  • Non-governmental and non-profit organizations
  • Professional associations and unions
  • Local offices of international organizations
  • Public institutions
  • Private Sector/Commercial entities

 

Timeframe

Duration of small projects is maximum 12 months (plus additional 30 calendar days for final reporting).

 

Submission process (step 1)

Applicants shall submit a brief description (max. 5 A4 page, Arial 10) of the project idea/project concept in English, in the electronic form (Word format). Proposals shall either be emailed to [email protected] or delivered in electronic form at the SCO at Tolstoy Str, 3 in Dushanbe.

No application are accepted after the deadline indicated in the Call for Proposal. No additional information provided at this stage. Applicants shall not contact directly the SCO for information about the status of their proposal.

 

Selection process

The SCO shall analyze the proposals according to its work plan. After the pre-selection, the shortlisted applicants will be interviewed for additional information and for validation. After this step, an applicant  will  be briefed in detail about all the requirements and requested to submit a full-fledged Project Proposal Package via email or delivered in electronic form at the SCO at Tolstoy Str, 3 in Dushanbe.

The SCO shall contact directly the pre-selected applicants.

 

Financing requirements

The SCO provides support in the form of a contribution of a maximum of 80% of the project amount for nonprofit organizations and 50% for commercial/for profit entities. Only applications providing a secured direct or third-party funding of at least 20% for non –profit (the latter cannot be financed by the Swiss governmental funds) and 50% for commercial/for profit of the contract amount shall be eligible. Grants will be issued exclusively in TJS (Tajik Somoni).

 

Submission process (step 2) Project Proposal Package (for pre-selected applicants only)

  • Complete Project Proposal highlighting secured/unsecured external funding and in-kind contributions
  • Detailed budget according to the SCO template with indication of all external contributions (in- kind and/or in cash), from the organization or by other supporters
  • Work plan/chronogram
  • Copy of a valid legal registration documents (for legal entities) or copy of passport/s (for individual applicants)
  • Copy of the organization’s charter or statute
  • Banking details
  • Resumes /CVs of the core project personnel and/or consultants/resource persons
  • Reference letters or other information on previous similar activities
  • Other document(s) related to the applicant or the project proposal

 

Further steps

The SCO shall analyze the Project Proposal Package and possibly require modifications and additions to the documents, the budget and the timeframe.

In the case the proposal is accepted, a contract shall be established between the SCO and the applicant. The SCO may reject the proposal at any time. No justification shall be provided for rejected applications.

The Project proposal template (with budget and implementation plan template) are attached to the Guidelines

Annex 1: Project Proposal Template

Project Proposal Summary Template

PROJECT PROPOSAL

For projects submitted by organisations/individuals to the Swiss Cooperation Office in Tajikistan for funding

  1. The applying organisation
    1. Background information of the applying organisation
      • Mission of the organisation
      • Founding date and founders of the organisation
      • Legal entity (NGO, association, government department, others)
  1. Main activities of the applying organization
  • Main projects and activities of the organisation
  • Results reached through these projects and activities
  • Partners: donors and partner organisations
  1. The proposed project
  1. Problem statement
    • Description of the specific problem(s)
    • Explanation of the root causes that lay behind these problems
    • The problem or critical issue which the proposal seeks to resolve
  2. Project goal
    • Overall purpose of the project (=proposed solution to the above mentioned problem)
  3. Expected results. Description of the overall results that the project is expected to accomplish and whether there may be unintended effects of the project, and how these possible challenges will be addressed.
  4. Project activities
  • Outline of the activities that will be undertaken in the frame of the project
  • Direct output of each of these activities (‘objectives’)
  • Explanation of how these activities will contribute to achieving the goal of the project
  1. Beneficiaries
    • Beneficiaries : number and characteristics of people that will directly benefit from the project 
    • Description of who and how many people are expected to benefit from the project, both directly and indirectly
  2. Partners
    • Other organisations (government, NGOs) addressing the above mentioned problem
    • How does your project complement their activities?
    • Other donors supporting your project
  3. Time frame
    • Plan of activities
    • Date of completion
  4. Budget
    • According to the SCO budget template
  5. Monitoring and Evaluation
    • How will you measure, if your activities produced the intended outputs?
    • How will you know, if the above mentioned situation (problem statement) was improved?
  6. What will happen to the problem after the end of your project? How do you guarantee, that the situation will not again get worse? (do no harm and sustainability)

Annexes to the Project Proposal

Annex 1.1: Budget

 

 Annex 1.2: Implementation Plan

 

Grant application guidelines and forms are available on the website:
https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/tajikistan/en/home/news/news.html/content/countries/tajikistan/en/meta/news/2021/july/call-for-proposals