Submission of proposals

• How to fill in the Single Form?
• What is a Letter of Intent?
• Would you like to know more about the eSingle Form?
• How and when to submit a proposal to DG ECHO?
• What should you annex to your action proposal?

In response to humanitarian emergencies, partners NGOs and international organisations can submit project proposals to DG ECHO. To do so, humanitarian organisations must get in contact with the relevant ECHO's geographical desks in Brussels and with ECHO technical assistants in the field (see contacts), in order to present their project. Guidance can be obtained by ECHO field staff in this matter. It is possible to be regularly informed on ECHO desks' missions in the field.

The Single Form (Annex I of the Framework Partnership Agreement) is the form which DG ECHO partners have to use to submit their Action proposal for Community funding.

If DG ECHO accepts the proposal, the Single Form, both parties will conclude a Grant Agreement (if the partner is an NGO) or a Contribution Agreement (if the partner is an International Organisation). The Single Form constitutes an integral part of this Agreement.

Actions shall only be eligible for Community funding if they respect international humanitarian law. Assistance to the affected people in the framework of the Actions must be guided by and comply with the fundamental humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.

Moreover, actions shall only be eligible for Community funding if they comply with the following criteria:

• The Actions fall within the objectives established in Articles 2 and 4 of the Humanitarian Aid Regulation.
• The Actions are implemented in accordance with the provisions of the financing decision.

The following implementation principles have to be taken into consideration when drafting a proposal:

• The Action shall be culturally appropriate, adequate for the needs of the affected persons and comply with applicable international law and national legislation of the country where the Action is implemented.
• The Partner shall implement the Action in accordance with the principles, provisions and procedures established in the FPA with Humanitarian Organisations for the financing of humanitarian aid Actions.
• The Action shall be properly prepared, with a clear and verifiable objective, which must be achieved within a given period; the results obtained should be assessed through specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound indicators.
• The Partner shall implement the Action with the requisite degree of care, efficiency, transparency and diligence, as required by best practice in the field, and in compliance with the Agreement.
• The Partner shall make every effort to mobilise all the financial, human and material resources required for the full implementation of the Action, as specified in Annex I to the Agreement, endeavouring to use local human and material resources.

Proposals are judged on their technical merits, in accordance with the strategy planned by ECHO in response to any given emergency and on the basis of the needs that have been identified. If ECHO staff at headquarters favourably assesses a proposal, in consultation with field experts, a grant agreement for the proposed humanitarian operation can be concluded between DG ECHO and the humanitarian organisation that made the proposal.



References and useful links:

• FPA with Humanitarian Organisations, Article 5
• General Conditions for NGOs, Article 1.1
• General Conditions for IOs and UN