Switzerland supports civic engagement by bulgarians by 10 millions swiss francs over five years   

Switzerland and Bulgaria have signed the Support Measure Agreement for the implementation of the Swiss-Bulgarian Civic Engagement and Transparency Facility (CETF). The CETF has a budget of 10 million Swiss francs and will run from 1^st of August 2024 until 31^st of May 2029. It implements the Framework Agreement of 2022 between our two countries in the field of civic engagement and transparency. The Support Measure Agreement was signed by Mr. Thomas Stauffer, Head of the Swiss Contribution Office, for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Mr. Ivan Ivanov, Director of the Central Coordination Directorate, for the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance. 

The overall goal of the Programme is for more Bulgarian citizens to actively engage and participate in a transparent and inclusive public debate. The Programme will empower civil society actors in Bulgaria, and raise the capacity and legitimacy of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). It recognises the crucial role of CSOs in shaping a vibrant and democratic civic space. To this end, the CETF comprises three interconnected components: capacity building, a grant fund and lighthouse projects. The lighthouse projects aim at having an impact at national level. They will promote sustainable use of natural resources and biodiversity management, encourage CSOs across Bulgaria to actively participate in advocacy, and nurture civic education at grassroot’s level. The grant fund will promote inclusive, participatory, and transparent decision-making processes, and will contribute to improving the fundraising capacity of CSOs through a learning-by-doing approach with a focus on less-developed regions. The capacity building component will help Bulgarian CSOs to be accountable, to develop their organisational potential, and to raise the impact of their activities.

The CETF will be managed by a consortium lead by the Balkan Institute for Labour and Social Policy, the Bulgarian Centre for Not-for-Profit Law, and INNOVABRIDGE foundation from Switzerland. Information on the calls for projects and the launch of the lighthouse projects will be available later this year.

For more information, please contact: sofia@eda.admin.ch.

Programme Operator of the Swiss-Bulgarian Civic Engagement and Transparency Facility (CETF) selected

SDC has successfully completed the selection procedure for a Programme Operator of the CETF in Bulgaria. The evaluation panel has evaluated the four tenders submitted on the basis of the published criteria in the Tender document.

The contract was awarded to consortium BILSP-BCNL-INNOVABRIDGE (Balkan Institute for Labour and Social Policy – Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law – INNOVABRIDGE). The tenderer was evaluated as the most advantageous and received the highest scores for the award criteria (AC).

The received proposals have been checked against formal requirements, eligibility criteria, and award criteria. Three out of four tenders were evaluated against 4 AC, namely: AC1. Composition of team, qualification and experience of nominated team; AC 2: Understanding of the programme and general approach; AC 3: Procedure and project organisation; AC 4: Financial proposal.

The most important elements of the decision of the evaluation committee are listed here:

AC1. Composition of team, qualification and experience of nominated team:

• The Team lead and the composition of the team proposed by the winning consortium had the best matching professional and educational background, institutional reputation, and distribution of roles;
• The tenderer demonstrated profound knowledge of and an established network within the civil society sector in Bulgaria, participation in relevant national and international networks, a track record in policy making activities, and capacity building of CSOs in particular at grass root;
• Swiss experiences, skills and approaches are secured by a Swiss partner.

AC 2: Understanding of the programme and general approach:

• The overall goal and the specific objectives of the CETF are addressed in the most structured and clear way;
• The general approach and the set-up of the 3 major components of the CETF contained in the proposal are well-established and complementary to one another. The lighthouse projects, the grants scheme and the capacity building components are elaborated in detail and have a specific focus on civic education and participation. One of the proposed lighthouse projects has a particularly convincing policy element.

AC 3: Procedure and project organisation:

• The selected proposal has the most credible timeline. The proposal offers the most suitable organisational structure, and coherent distribution of responsibilities, with established job descriptions and assigned team members.

AC 4: Financial proposal:

• The financial offer is the most advantegous and reflects the structure of the proposal.

The basis for this mandate is defined by the Framework Agreement between Switzerland and Bulgaria signed on 20 September 2022: (https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/bulgaria/en/home/schweizer-beitrag/second-swiss-contribution/bilaterales-rahmenabkommen.html).

SDC will work with the selected PO towards final approval of CETF. A Support measure agreement will be signed with the Bulgarian government in due time.

SDC, April 2024