Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Agency for State Support to NGOs announce joint grant competition

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources together with the Agency for State Support to Non-governmental Organizations announces the Competition “International Initiatives related to COP29” for NGOs.

Submission of documents for the competition will start from July 16, 2024. The deadline for applications is August 16, 2024. After that, documents collected from NGOs will be examined and projects will be analyzed, in order to identify the winners.

The projects presented should be relevant to the topic of global climate change.

Upper limit of grant amount on Medium Grant Competition (MGC) is 30000 AZN (implementation period up to 6 months), while upper limit of grant amount for Large Grant Competition (LGC) - 50000 AZN (implementation period up to 6 months).

NGOs can only participate in the grant competition in the form of a coalition. The procedures are carried out in accordance with the decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated September 14, 2023, No. 327 and 328 (in relation to local NGOs).

The coalition must comply with the format “minimum 1 local NGO (having state registration in the Republic of Azerbaijan) + 1 foreign NGO”. Only a local NGO should be the main implementing party in the coalition. NGOs that have won large, medium and small grant competitions of the Agency for State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2024 and whose commitment is not completed by August 16, 2024, cannot be the main implementing party in the coalitions. 1 NGO can only be represented in 1 coalition;

Which criteria will be preferred in the competition:

• That the NGO which is the main implementing party itself or the organization participating as a foreign partner in the coalition has had an observer status at the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as have international experience related to previous COPs or climate change issues;

• That an organization with UNFCCC observer status participating as a foreign partner represents developing countries (DCs), especially least developed countries, small island developing states;

• Having a letter of support related to the submitted project from a foreign partner represented in the coalition.

The following projects are not admitted to the competition:

• Projects whose content contradicts with the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, laws and other normative legal acts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 327 and 328 dated September 14, 2023;

• Projects with the same content that had been financed from the state budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a result of previously held competitions;

• Projects of NGOs that have been deprived of the right to participate in the competition by the Agency for State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan for violating their obligations under the Grant Agreement, as well as those that have debts to the Agency.

The main implementing NGO submits the project electronically through a special section on the website of the Agency for State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan (https://ngoagency.gov.az/az) (the corresponding section will be active on the website of the Agency on July 16-August 16, 2024). Project proposal documents submitted in person, by mail or by e-mail are not accepted.