The 7th RYCOnnecting Youth Open Call

The 7th RYCOnnecting Youth Open Call aims to strengthen youth-led reconciliation, intercultural learning, and regional cooperation across the Western Balkans by supporting high-quality, impact-oriented initiatives implemented by civil society organizations. The Call supports both emerging and experienced actors who contribute to fostering dialogue, trust, and cooperation among young people, and seeks to expand opportunities for youth engagement within the region through structured, inclusive, and sustainable initiatives.

Applicant

To be eligible for a grant, an applicant must:

1. Be a legal entity, and
2. Be a secondary school (private or public), established in the WB6, a minimum of one year prior to the launch of this Call for Proposal, and be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the projects with the partners, not acting as an intermediary, or
3. Be a non-profit-making CSO applying on behalf of a school, established in one of the WB6, a minimum of one year prior to the launch of this Call for Proposal

Acknowledging the legislative and regulatory differences within the WB6 (notably in Albania and Kosovo), in cases where public schools are facing administrative barriers to apply for grants directly, we encourage them to form a partnership with a CSO eligible under the above-mentioned criteria. CSO will be the lead applicant of the project proposal and will serve primarily as the financial manager of the project. The partnering school(s) are expected to retain a preponderant role in project implementation. The grant funds will be directed to the CSO.

Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations indicating that they are bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures; where their assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court; where it is in an arrangement with creditors; where their activities are suspended; or where they are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under national laws or regulations; they are in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions, in accordance with the law of the contracting party in which they are established.

CSOs that employ or are represented/overseen by members of RYCO statutory bodies (i.e. Governing Board or Advisory Board) are not allowed to apply for this Call for Project Proposals. These applications will be subject to conflict of interest policy and rejected.

Grants to individuals will not be considered. The Applicants must act with partner(s).

If awarded a grant contract, the Applicant will become a Beneficiary. It represents and acts on behalf of any other partners and coordinates the design and overall implementation of the project activities.

Number of applications and grants per Applicant:

An applicant may only submit one (1) application under this Call for Proposals and may be a partner in only one (1) other application under this Call for Proposals. Thus, at maximum, a single applicant can only appear in two applications, given it appears in one as applicant and another as a partner.

In case an applicant or a partner appears in more applications than allowed, either as applicants or as partners, all project proposals in which they participate will be automatically disqualified.

Alongside the Application Form, applicants must fill out, sign, stamp and upload the Declaration by the Applicant as defined in the List of Supporting Documents.

The funds to be allocated through these grants originate from the German federal budget. According to the German Federal Budget Regulation, applicants who are already receiving public funding originating from the German public budget (institutional funding or project funding for the project submitted following this call) are not eligible to apply for grants.

Partner(s)

Each applicant must apply with at least one other secondary school from a different WB6 Contracting Party(ies) as its partner.

Partners participate in design and implementation of all phases of the project, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the applicant. Also, partners should ensure that project activities and follow up are planned and implemented with young people and/or by young people or, in case of applications under Specific objective 3, they may be implemented with and by school teachers or administrators.

Partners are obliged, upon request of the applicant, to provide all relevant information deemed necessary for the purposes of applying for this Call for Project Proposals.

In addition to partnering with another secondary school from a different WB6 Contracting Party, the following are also eligible to be partners:

• cultural institutions (private and public) from the WB6, registered as legal entities established at least one year prior to the launch of this Call.

• sports associations and organizations in the field of sports from the WB6, registered as legal entities, established at least one year prior to the launch of this Call.

• trade unions from the WB6, registered as legal entities, established at least one year prior to the launch of this Call.

• educational institutions such as universities and institutes (public and private) from the WB6, registered as legal entities, established at least one year prior to the launch of this Call.

  Partners must fill out, sign, stamp and submit, together with the Application Form, the Declaration by the Partner as defined in the List of Supporting Documents.

  The funds to be allocated through these grants originate from the German federal budget. According to the German Federal Budget Regulation, CSOs or other institutions who are already receiving public funding originating from the German public budget (institutional funding) are not eligible to be partner organizations.

  Number of partnerships per applicant:

  There should be no more than 5 partners, with at least one from a different WB6 Contracting Party than the one of the Applicant. Having more than one partner from another WB6 Contracting Party will be considered an advantage.

  RYCO does not provide direct support to the applicants for creation of partnerships but provides information on platforms that serve the purpose of facilitating partnerships. RYCO has created a Facebook group “RYCO Meeting Point” that aims to support this process. During the promotion of this call for applications, RYCO will also provide prospective applicants with info-sessions, mentorship and networking opportunities across the Contracting Parties. Follow our website and social media channels for updates on such events and opportunities.

Eligible Activities

Definition:

A project is composed of a set of activities. Activities must fall under the set General and Specific Objectives of the Call (section 1.3.). Activities should also be implemented in the locations as defined in these Guidelines (section 2.4), have proper target groups (section 2.5.) and respond to the objectives of the Call and types of activities (section 2.6.)

Location (s)

All the project activities financed by RYCO must take place in the Western Balkans 6 Contracting Parties (WB6): Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

Target groups

This section refers to the target groups that will benefit directly from the project implementation.

Please note that eligible target group under this Call are young people, from 15 to 30 years old, from the WB6. Participation of teachers, youth workers, artists and decision makers, etc. over 30 years of age is also possible within planned activities, only if the purpose of that activity falls directly under the goals and objectives of this Call for Proposals. Please also note that under this Call, school teachers, administrators and youth workers in schools can also be beneficiaries of the projects, particularly those projects applying under specific objective 3, if such activities help strengthen capacities of schools and better equip their teams to provide meaningful exchange opportunities or other opportunities of relevance to RYCO‟s mandate to their students in the long-term.

The application form should indicate the exact number of targeted participants in the project, and classified by gender, if possible. It should also be described how the actors plan to include youth from the most excluded groups such as: NEETs (youth “not in education, employment or training”), young people with disabilities, marginalised groups based on ethnicity, religious identity, sexual orientation, etc. or youth with fewer opportunities (youth from rural/remote areas, youth with unprivileged educational and/or economic backgrounds, etc.). Significant involvement of the most excluded and vulnerable youth groups, particularly supporting their social inclusion and participation in decision-making, will be considered an advantage, especially the involvement of youth who did not have any opportunity to travel and participate in any similar projects. Please ensure gender balance in the selection of your target group (15-30 years old from WB6).

Participants from outside of WB6 can be included in project activities only if the purpose of that activity falls directly under the goals and objectives of this Call for Proposals. No direct budget allocations should be transferred to partners or participants from outside of WB6.

Types of activities

The activities in the project proposal should be planned and implemented in partnership, as described in 2.2.2. in these Guidelines.

The types of activities that may be financed under this Call for proposals are the following but not limited to:

• trainings, workshops, study visits, peer support groups, etc. for strengthening capacities of key youth actors,

• art, cultural and sports activities, use and development of ICT and media tools,

• activities aimed at inclusion of the most vulnerable or excluded groups (as described in section 2.5. 15-30 years old),

• joint regional capacity building activities and exchange of good practices between youth and stakeholders from the WB6 (conferences, forums etc.),

• local and regional events for promotion of equal access and rights, or advocacy campaigns,

• twinning between schools, learning activities and development of learning materials, resource-exchange platforms,

• camps, workshops, conferences, debates, round table events in formal and non-formal education, addressed to prevent intolerance among youth, support constructive dealing with the past and reconciliation, intercultural dialogue and learning, etc.,

• campaigns and trainings of educators and youth workers for enhancing intercultural competences,

• joint art and cultural performances, such as festivals, concerts, theatre plays, street performances, exhibitions, etc.,

• online platforms for learning, exchange and exhibition of joint artistic productions or promotion of learning material or artistic productions,

• supporting volunteering and volunteer services between the WB6,

• other activities in line with the Call‟s priorities and objectives.

This Call will also support new and innovative approaches in regional cooperation. RYCO welcomes new ideas and new types of activities, different from the ones typically funded by other donors in the region.

Visibility

If supported, the applicant must take all necessary steps by following the Visibility Guidelines to publicise the project results and the fact that RYCO has financed the project. Projects that are funded by RYCO must incorporate information and communication activities designed to raise the awareness of specific or general audiences of the reasons for the project and RYCO support for the project, in the Contracting Parties or region concerned, as well as the results and the impact of this support.

RYCO pays special focus on the quality of materials produced with the support of the organization. For the best quality of materials, grantees and partners, when developing them, should contact RYCO for inputs on design, photo selection, layout and use of logos of RYCO and other partners. Draft materials should be sent by email for comments or inputs to the RYCO staff before publishing.

RYCO keeps the right to use all the materials created within a supported project for promotion.

Safety and Protection

If supported, the applicants and partners will have to align their activities with the RYCO Safety and Protection Guidelines.

RYCO strongly believes that with quality safety procedure and responsible organisation of activities, risks can be mitigated and even neutralised. Likewise, it is very important to emphasize the core values of safety and protection for youth involved in any kind of processes. Some young people could be more vulnerable to abuse and other forms of discrimination and marginalisation on base of any of their characteristics. RYCO stands firmly against such violations and empowers its employees, associates and partners to prevent them, speak up against them, and when noticed, to immediately report them to the respective authority.

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this Call for Proposals must fall within the following range:

• Minimum grant amount: EUR 20,000
• Maximum grant amount: EUR 30,000