Call for Proposals for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa

Last date 21 August 2017

Baackground:GMES & Africa initiative is the crystallization of the longstanding cooperation between Africa and the European Union in the area of space science & technology and a key priority under the EU-Africa partnership. The Maputo Declaration of October 2006 called for a commitment to avail European infrastructure and facilities under the European GMES programme (pursued today by Copernicus) to Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. This commitment led to the launch of GMES & Africa process in Lisbon, Portugal, on 7th December 2007 during the 2nd EU-Africa Summit. The rationale of this long-term and strategic cooperation is to address the growing needs of African countries to access and use Earth Observation (EO) data for the implementation of sustainable development policies on the continent through the integration and deployment of African requirements and needs in Copernicus Services. This will, in the long run, enable the two continents to jointly solve and address global challenges and contribute to the attainment of their overarching development goals that include the AU agenda 2063 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The objectives of the GMES and Africa support programme are as followed:

The Delegation Agreement requires AUC to issue Grants to implement the Programme. The approach is a competitive process where successful Regional Implementation Centers will be identified through an Open Call for Proposals. The Guidelines attached provide detailed information on eligibility and procedures of submitting proposals.

The general objectives of the Call for proposal are:

1. Maintaining, improving and sustaininglocal, institutional, human and technical capacities for accessing and using EO data and services for sustainable socio-economic development,

 

2. Contributing to the implementation of the African Space Policy and Strategy, in particular on Earth Observation,

 

3. Providing decision-makers with information and tools needed for the implementation of sustainable socio-economic development at the continental, regional and national levels through their RECs and RICs

The specific objectives of the current Call for Proposals are the following:

 

1. Consolidating, extending and developing applications  for the Water and Natural Resources and the Marine & Coastal Areas Services to adequately provide information to policymakers, scientists, businesses and the public on real time basis,

 

2. Strengthening regional and national capacities to generate and apply EO-based and in-situ information for Water and Natural Resources and the Marine & Coastal Areas Services,

 

3. Raising public awareness on the critical role of Earth Observation in sustainable development, and

 

4. Developing a framework for promoting intra-African collaboration and open access to data for Water and Natural Resources and the Marine & Coastal Areas Services.

1) Geographical distribution of the grants

The call for proposals seeks to distribute Grants across the entire continent through Regional Implementation Centres (RICs), which act as regional outlets for the two services. Each RIC will have the responsibility to ensure that all countries in the region can benefit from the activity, unless the service is not relevant to some countries in the region. The geographic regions  are defined below:

 

1. North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Sahrawi Republic)

3. Central Africa (Chad, Central Africa, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo Brazzaville, Congo RDC, Burundi, Sao Tome & Principe)

5. East Africa (Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros)

 To achieve this objective, it is desirable that eligible institutions with regional and national mandates form consortia in the stated regions. For the purpose of the GMES & Africa grants, and in view of the nature of this programme (linked to environmental phenomena), the countries covered by a grant could be part of different regions (inter-regional or continental). 

For guidelines and other documents visit: https://www.au.int/web/en/GMESAfrica/2017call

Financial & Grants Management

Budget Preparation	Steps to be taken while Applying for Grants
Bank Reconciliation	Letter of Intent
AdvancesÂ	Capacity Building
Cost Effective Analysis	Concept Note
How to choosea Bank	Bank Accounts
Cash and Fund flowÂ	Asset RegisterÂ
Financial Statements	Cash and Acrual based AccountingÂ