The Danish Arab Partnership Programme (DAPP) (Det arabiske initiativ, red.) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a new programme to support cooperation between academic institutions in Denmark and the MENA region: the ‘Fund for Academic Cooperation and Exchange between Denmark and the Arab World' (FACE). Its geographical focus will be on the 7 DAPP focus countries (Jordan, Morocco, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Libya) or at a regional level.
The FACE-programme has 2 overall objectives:
- to promote critical and independent academia that supports reform and democratization processes, and
- to contribute to dialogue, understanding and cooperation between Danish and Arab academia.
Under the FACE-programme Danish academic institutions that have entered into formal collaboration with partners from the MENA region will be able to apply for funding of partnership projects. The activities shall take place in Denmark and in the Middle East and North Africa with focus on the DAPP focus countries.
This contract is for a ‘Host institution’, which will be responsible for the implementation, administration and monitoring of the FACE-programme.
To manage the FACE-programme, the Host Institution shall set up a FACE-secretariat in Denmark. The tasks of the secretariat will include:
- managing the fund in accordance with relevant guidelines and principles;
- screening grant applications, ensuring timely receipt of required progress reports from individual initiatives;
- using performance indicators to report on progress;
- summarise experiences and share lessons learnt;
- coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA);
- fulfil reporting requirements to the MFA such as preparing annual progress reports, financial accounts, and any other reporting requirements;
- ongoing coordination and exchange of experiences with relevant DAPP partners within other thematic areas, including those which manage similar funds/pools for small projects.
The Host Institution will also be responsible for facilitating the set-up of an external and independent Grant Committee. Its members will be appointed by the MFA (Udenrigsministeriet, red.) based on recommendations from Danish academic institutions.
The Fund is expected to provide grants for a total of DKK 11.000.000, whereas the contract for the Host institution has a maximum budget of DKK 4.200.000 including a fixed sum of DKK 550.000 to cover grant committee expenses and development of a web-site.
The initial 2-year pilot phase runs from 2015, while the Host Institution must continue its work until all projects are completed and the required reporting has been finalised by the end of 2017.
The FACE-programme can support projects with a budget of up to DKK 2.000.000 per year. A ‘fast track procedure' is to be established for grants below DKK 50.000. If the host institution, otherwise meets the grant criteria, it will be permitted to apply for grants on equal terms with other eligible organisations/institutions.
The Host Institution should preferably have experience with assessment of research applications, monitoring of academic research, cooperation between academic institutions, knowledge of the political, social and cultural developments in the MENA-region, as well as experience with administration of grants/funds.
Please note that the award of contract is subject to the final approval of the 'Fund for Academic Cooperation and Exchange between Denmark and the Arab World' (FACE) by the relevant authorities.
Læs mere og download materiale om udbuddet på udenrigsministeriets netsted.
