Guidelines for the Government of the Faroe Islands Official Development Assistance (ODA) grant

The purpose of the grant is to support projects that promote long-term solutions and capacity to self-sufficiently prevent poverty in civil societies in close collaboration with the participants that the projects intend to assist. A weighted preference is given to projects implemented in the OECD “Least Developed Countries”.

1.1. General remarks

The grant aims to support organisations that work towards improving living conditions in civil societies. The grant shall reinforce a strong, impartial, diverse and inclusive societal structure and assist project participants to improve own conditions and prevent poverty. The grant strives to advocate for sustainable development through empowering local members of civil societies to take ownership and responsibility to positively develop local conditions.

1.2. Sustainability

The guidelines define sustainable development as long-term, durable, or permanent positive impact and changes for the project participants and/or the local environment during and after the project implementation period has ended. The project proposal shall outline how the project will contribute to sustainable outcomes for the participants and local environment, including an exit strategy for how the project implementation builds the capacity of participants to self-sufficiently maintain the positive changes after the project ends.

1.3. Guiding principles for the ODA grant

The Official Development Assistance grant shall aim to support the eradication of structural causes for entrenched poverty; the strengthening of the implementation and enforcement of human rights; the promotion of equal rights and opportunities; and the access to participate in civic matters. The grant adopts these principles as fundamental for achieving sustainable development. The grant will promote these principles by endorsing the minimum standards of non-discrimination, active participation, openness and transparency, and accountability.

Non-discrimination is defined as making particular effort to reach vulnerable and marginalised communities, groups, or persons, and supporting their active participation in societal development and access to resources.

Active participation is defined as encouraging and empowering local collectives and individuals to have the decision-making power over matters concerning their own lives and local environment, and to respect and enable freedom of expression and the right to assemble.

Transparency is defined as the right of individuals to access information, and for grant recipients to actively promote anti-corruption in both theory and practice.

Accountability is defined as any individual or organisation acting on behalf of others, such as a grant recipient or implementing partner, can be held accountable for the outcome of any decision and/or action, both in human and environmental matters. Accountability shall be proportionate to the causal linkages between the intent, the implementation, and the consequences.

1.4. Capacity development

The ODA may be granted as regular project implementation or as a long-term partnership agreement based on a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Faroe Islands and the partnering organisation or institution.

Regular development project grants are intended to prevent poverty, promote health and wellbeing, and improve the capacities of vulnerable and marginalised members of civil societies. The targeted participants are individuals or groups that somehow face additional existential challenges, e.g. due to financial constraints, lack of educational access and work opportunities, unsustainable or environmentally degrading livelihood practices, climate change disruptions, poor health, discrimination, etc. The projects should aim to mitigate the structural causes for the challenges, and the project must fully include and empower the participants to assume ownership over the solutions after the project has ended.

Successful applicants may apply for continuations or top-ups of the same project for a total of three years. A new application must be submitted after each 12-month implementation period together with an interim report. Applications for continuation or top-ups are prioritised but not guaranteed funding in the new funding round. Multi-year applications must include a strong emphasis on the exit strategy after the project ends to highlight how the project has empowered participants to assume ownership and continue independently. The grant generally will not fund long-term projects with unknown end dates, as these are not seen as promoting the self-sufficiency and sustainability aims of the grant.

Partnership agreements are intended to strengthen the capacities of the partnering organisation or institution to utilise the organisational proficiency in an international humanitarian capacity to share Faroese knowledge and expertise for developmental purposes in the partnering country.

The partnership agreements are in practice available to larger public Faroese organisations and institutions to support their international humanitarian capacity building.

1.5. Grant criteria

The Government of the Faroe Islands grants projects that demonstrate sound technical, financial, administrative, and environmental considerations subject to the conditions present in the implementing country and area. The project’s long-term positive impact to the participants and local community must be substantiated. The aim of the project must be pre-approved and/or requested by the local partners and participants.

Projects that focus on localisation and localised capacity building, ownership and self-sufficiency of the implementing partner and the local participants will be prioritised. Projects may include activities to increase local managerial capacities within the partnering organisation to assume ownership over responsibilities and accountability with the aim of independence. Proposals must have included the implementing partner in framing ambitions, activities, targeting and goals for the project, and the scope and implementation plan must be adapted to the capacity of the partnering organisation to realistically and successfully implement it within 12 months.

1.6. Applicant criteria

• The applicant is registered as a humanitarian NGO or equivalent
• The applicant must have operated for at least one year
• The organisation must have minimum 30 members to apply for grants below 100,000 DKK and have minimum 50 members to apply for grants above 100,000 DKK
• The application must demonstrate knowledge of and insight into the local context in the implementation area
• The applicant must demonstrate experience and professional capacity to implement the intended activities
• The applicant must demonstrate the added value of what they can provide in the collaboration with the local implementing partner
• The applicant must demonstrate how the local implementing partner and participants increase their capacities through the project
• The organisation must have societal acceptance in the implementation area
• The applicant must demonstrate that the implementing partner has societal acceptance in the implementation area
• The applicant must demonstrate that the local partner is implementing the project
• The local partner must meaningfully participate in the planning, preparation, and initiation of the project
• None of the implementing partners may have a commercial interest in the project or otherwise gain an advantage from the project

1.7. Implementation country criteria

Weighted priority is given to countries according to their classification in the OECD “DAC List of ODA Recipients”. Projects implemented in countries categorised as “Least Developed” will be weighted with the highest priority, etc.

1.8. Implementing partner criteria

The project partners must structurally collaborate with the local area where the project is implemented. The partners must agree on clear roles and responsibilities to reach the mutually agreed-upon goals and objectives. The local partner must have had a central role in determining the activities, implementation, and intended outcomes. The project may include activities to increase the managerial and administrative capacity of the local partner.

1.9. Eligible costs

• Project proposals may apply for a maximum of 800,000 DKK per application round
• Direct project activity costs
• Salaries for local staff that are directly implementing the activities
  • g. a teacher, a social worker, a psychologist etc.
  • Project management staff that spends more than 75% of their time on implementing the project may be included as a direct salary cost
• Expenses for the local implementing partner to administer the project
  • The grant does not cover generalised shared costs / running costs / office costs, but hours that local administrative staff (e.g. finance etc.) spends directly on the project may be included as project expenses
• Local monitoring, evaluation, and reporting costs
  • The grant will not cover international travel to conduct M&E
• Maximum 2% of the overall budget for visibility, advertisement, and/or presentations in the Faroe Islands about the project
• Maximum 7.5% of the overall budget for admin costs
  • These are flexible expenses and do not have to be itemised in the proposal
• Auditing costs
  • Grants above 250,000 DKK are required to submit an authorised auditor’s approval after the completion of the project
  • Organisational audits are accepted (instead of project audits), in which case the budget line for the audit cost should be a shared cost

All project proposals must demonstrate minimum 20% in own funding or co-funding.

1.10. Ineligible costs

• Applications from private persons, corporations, public authorities, or academic institutions that are not part of a consortium or are otherwise collaborating with a partner or implementing partner with multiple years of experience operating in the project country
• Projects intending to disseminate any religious or political agenda or message, or projects that exclude any participants based on ethnic, political, religious, or other discriminatory conditions
• Infrastructure and inventory such as buildings, vehicles, laptops, etc.
  • Exceptions can be made if the equipment in question has a direct humanitarian purpose that is directly necessary to reach the impact goal of the project
• International travel
  • Exceptions might be granted based on consultation with the donor on the necessity of the travel to reach the goal of the project
• Emergency response, humanitarian relief, or short-term post-disaster recovery
  • Applications for such must be sent directly to the Ministry of Justice at lmr@lmr.fo and are awarded at the discretion of the Government of the Faroe Islands

2. Emergency humanitarian relief

The emergency humanitarian relief grant aims to provide immediate life-saving support to disaster-affected populations. The implementation window of the grant is normally up to six months after the disaster occurred. The grant may cover either emergency operation costs or deployment costs.

The grant is usually awarded upon the request of humanitarian organisations or international agencies to co-fund international emergency appeals. The Government of the Faroe Islands may also unilaterally agree to fund international emergency operations.

Applications to co-fund international emergency appeals should be sent directly to the Ministry of Justice at lmr@lmr.fo and justify:

• The reasoning for the need for emergency humanitarian relief
• The budget, implementation plan and targeted recipients for the applied funds
• The capacity of the local partner/s (fund recipients) to implement the humanitarian relief

Emergency humanitarian relief cannot be granted to responses intending to disseminate any religious or political agenda or message, or responses that exclude any participants based on ethnic, political, religious, or other discriminatory conditions.

The same fundamental principles of non-discrimination, active participation, openness and transparency, and accountability apply to the emergency humanitarian relief grant as the ODA grant.

3. Reporting requirements

Successful applicants of both ODA grants and emergency humanitarian relief grants must agree to submit a final narrative and financial report no later than 3 months after the funds have been spent. The maximum expenditure period for an ODA grant is 12 months, and for an emergency humanitarian relief grant is 6 months after the disaster occurred. Multi-year projects may submit interim reports during the project implementation using funds from the Faroe Islands ODA grant, and then the final report once the project is complete.

Grants above 250,000 DKK are required to submit an authorised auditor’s approval after the completion of the fiscal year/s where the Faroe Islands ODA funds were spent. Organisational audits are accepted instead of project audits depending on the organisation’s preference.

Applications from organisations that have previously been awarded an ODA or emergency humanitarian relief grant but have not submitted sufficient narrative and financial reports will not be reviewed until the reporting requirements of the previous grant are met.