European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) 

About the Program

The program is carried out by European Union institutions. The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), launched in 1994, was further developed in 2006. The total budget of EIDHR around the world for the period 2007-2013 is 1,104 million Euros. The EIDHR is designed to help civil society become an effective force for political reform and the defense of human rights.

Today, the EIDHR is the main instrument in supporting civil society work in the field of human rights and democracy in third world countries. The EIDHR support complements other tools used to implement EU policies on democracy and human rights.

There are three different grant programs.
"Global Grant Schemes" open to all eligible countries (including Turkey), implemented worldwide, and directly announced by the European Commission's EuropeAid Office for Development and Cooperation. Projects to be funded under the Grant Scheme are selected by the European Commission, in consultation with the country Delegations.
Special grant programs only for our country announced by the European Union Delegation to Turkey ("Country Based Support Scheme"). It supports local projects to strengthen the role of civil society in promoting human rights and democratic reforms, to facilitate peaceful reconciliation of various groups, and to consolidate political participation and representation.
Direct Support to Human Rights Defenders Through Small Grants: In cases where a rapid response through small and focused actions is required, the European Commission can provide special grants up to 10,000 Euros to human rights defenders in need of urgent support through its headquarters in Brussels or the country's EU Delegations.

Priority Areas

Dialogue on human rights, human rights defenders, death penalty, torture, armed conflict and violence against children and women.

About Application

Although the beneficiaries of the projects supported under the program vary according to the goals, it is necessary to be a civil society organization (within the scope of both Global and Country-Based Programs), non-profit public or private sector organization (rather within the scope of the Global Program), national, regional and international parliamentary structure (rather within the scope of the Global Program), an international and regional intergovernmental organization (for very large global studies or in partnership under Global and Country-Based Programs), a natural person and non-legal entity (only in certain exceptional cases) in order to apply for the program. The detailed application conditions are explained in the “Guiding Principles for Applicants”, which are published with each call for proposals under the Global and Country-Based support programs.

Although the rules are determined by the application guides published every year, the applications are generally made in two stages with the "limited application" method. This method works by selecting projects in two stages. In order to apply for a project, organizations need to register to the internet-based PADOR (Potential Applicant Data Online Registration) database and update their information if they have registered before.

In accordance with the program application call and the grant guide, applicants must first prepare a "conceptual note" (pre-application), which is a summary of their projects. After the evaluations made by the European Union, organizations whose conceptual grades have passed the pre-selection are required to make full applications. The full applications accepted as a result of the evaluation are deemed to be conditionally accepted, and after the completion of the supporting documents, the grant agreement preparation phase begins between the relevant institution and the European Commission.

For further information:

https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/human-rights/index_en.htm

Contact

Email: [email protected]