CARE Deutschland e.V.
CERV Daphne Call 2025 – Proposal Writing Consultancy
Terms of Reference:
Purpose: CARE Ukraine together with CARE Deutschland is planning to submit a funding proposal under the Citizens, Equality, Rights, and Values (CERV) Programme – Daphne Strand. CARE Deutschland will be submitting a proposal to respond to the critical GBV needs of drought affected population in Ukraine under the Pillar for targeted actions for the protection of and support for victims and survivors of gender-based violence and domestic violence.
CARE is looking for a consultant to support the writing of the project proposal to EU.
Objective: To support proposal writing process using the CERV template.
Area of Focus: Ukraine
Duration: Between 14. April – 05. May 2025 (max 8 days, remote).
Background:
The call for proposals is part of the EU’s broader commitment under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Program (CERV), aiming to combat gender-based violence (GBV) and violence against children. This initiative falls under the 2023-2025 Work Program and is managed by the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST). It emphasizes addressing the deep-rooted issue of gender inequality, with a focus on reducing the societal and economic costs of gender-based violence. Gender-based violence remains a significant issue across Europe, with women and girls being the majority of victims. The call prioritizes measures to prevent and combat GBV in all forms, including domestic violence, sexual violence, and cyberviolence. The overall objectives include ensuring access to justice, protection, and support for victims, and tackling the root causes of violence. It also emphasizes the need for an intersectional approach, addressing various vulnerabilities based on gender, age, disability, ethnicity, and more.
Priority 2 specifically targets actions that provide direct protection and support for victims and survivors of gender-based and domestic violence. The call aims to develop and enhance support structures that address the complex needs of victims, particularly those in vulnerable or marginalized situations. Key goals under this priority include:
- One-Stop Support Centers: Establish or strengthen centers that offer coordinated services (legal, medical, psychological) for victims of GBV, including marginalized groups such as LGBTIQ persons, women with disabilities, and those from migrant or ethnic minorities.
- Rape Crisis and Referral Centers: Create or enhance accessible centers for immediate support to victims of sexual violence, in line with the VAW/DV Directive.
- Prevention of Femicide: Develop tools and training for authorities to identify and address domestic violence early, ensuring immediate protection for victims and preventing further harm.
- Intersectional Support: Focus on addressing the specific needs of those facing multiple forms of discrimination or vulnerability.
The projects under this priority aim to strengthen the ability of authorities and civil society organizations to provide timely, appropriate, and sustainable support to victims.
General Objective:
To develop a high-quality, donor-compliant, and strategically aligned funding proposal for the CERV Daphne Call, ensuring clarity, coherence, and adherence to EU funding priorities.
Specific Objectives are to
- Work with CARE Ukraine and CARE DE to develop a project proposal that responds to the current needs that CARE has identified in the targeted geographic areas and in line with CARE DE guidance using the CERV template.
- To ensure full compliance with the CERV Daphne Call guidelines, including technical, administrative and financial requirements.
- To write the proposal as per team design, making sure that lessons learnt from existing projects are taken into account, and contribute to other annexes and ensure the quality of proposal.
- To enhance the readability and impact of the proposal by employing donor-preferred language and formatting.
- Receive feedback from team during the review process and incorporate into final documents.
Purpose, Scope & Deliverables.
Purpose, Scope & Deliverables:
The Consultant will lead the proposal writing process following the requirements of CERV Daphne Call.
Scope and deliverables:
- Conduct an in-depth review of the CERV Daphne Call guidelines to ensure full compliance with technical and administrative requirements.
- Develop a high-quality, logically structured proposal that effectively addresses the funding call’s objectives and evaluation criteria based on input from the design workshops/meetings and review/edit sectoral specialists’ inputs.
- A finished proposal using the narrative CERV template provided by 05/05/2025 (submission to EC CERV by CARE Germany on 07/05/2025).
- A brief post-submission report summarizing key donor expectations, identified strengths and weaknesses in the proposal, and recommendations for future applications.
Timing and Duration
The consultancy will commence on or around 14 April 2025
Based on CARE’s experience, a total of 8 consultancy days should be sufficient to conduct all activities.
Responsibilities
In consultation with CARE staff, the consultant is responsible for:
- Leading the writing of the proposal based on the project design and key components provided by CARE, ensuring that it is structured, coherent, and aligned with the CERV Daphne Call’s priorities.
- Drafting all sections of the proposal, including the problem statement, objectives, methodology, expected results, activities, impact assessment, and sustainability strategy.
- Ensuring the proposal narrative clearly articulates the project’s alignment with the funding priorities and EU expectations.
- Incorporating all relevant technical and logistical details into the proposal to ensure full compliance with the CERV Daphne Call guidelines.
- Editing and refining the draft proposal to enhance readability, coherence, and alignment with donor expectations, ensuring that the language is persuasive and professional.
- Ensuring that the proposal aligns with the budget and work plan, resolving any inconsistencies or gaps between the narrative and financial components.
- Review and finalize the proposal to ensure it meets EU standards and is ready for submission.
Responsibility of CARE:
- Develop and define the project design.
- Provide information and technical input on the key contents of the proposal: target groups and number of beneficiaries, identified needs and proposed response strategy, intervention logic (results, activities and indicators), implementation modalities (partners/stakeholders at country and regional level, coordination mechanisms etc.) to ensure that proposed interventions are in line with existing needs, capacities and country-specific government rules and regulations on pre-positioning, deployments, use of cash or vouchers etc., and the country-specific humanitarian response mechanism.
- Coordinate with government and humanitarian actors and collect information required for the proposal.
- Provide the Consultant with all necessary documents and data relevant to the proposal, including reports, assessments, project evaluations, and any other information needed for the proposal development.
- Prepare the budget and finalize based on consultant’s review.
- Provide consolidated feedback on the draft proposal documents.
- Submit the project to EU via Tender & Funding Portal.
- Administer the contract and issue payments based on the agreed schedule.
Reporting lines:
The consultant will report to the Focal Points mentioned below:
Lara Dobriwolski, Program Development, CARE Deutschland
Qualifications & Preferred Skills
Education:
Required: University degree and relevant work experience with a NGO on proposal design.
Preferred: Master’s degree in a relevant field (Social Science, Public Administration, Business Administration, Developmental Studies)
Professional qualifications required:
- Minimum 6 years of technical experience in project development
- Previous experience developing EU-funded proposal, particularly under the CERV Program, including experience with, and understanding of CERV program design guidelines.
- Knowledge of the region is an asset
- Strong program design skills, including capacity to prepare logical, and consistent documents
- Ability to work efficiently and effectively with project members in various locations, including remotely writing and revising proposal documents.
- Ability to integrate different experiences, methodologies, and approaches from a diverse range of stakeholders, organizations, and technical experts from multiple sectors.
- Outstanding communication skills.
Safeguarding
Child protection: CARE is committed to protecting the rights of children. We reserve the right to conduct police/ reference checks and other screening procedures to ensure a child-safe environment.
Preventing Sexual Harassment, Exploitation, and Abuse: CARE staff are committed to each other and to the protection of the people we serve. We do not tolerate sexual misconduct within our organization or external to our organization. Protection from sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse is fundamental to CARE ’s relationships, including employment. Our recruitment practices are designed to ensure we recruit people who are committed to our work and the people we serve. We will use the recruitment and reference process to ensure all potential staff understand and are aligned with these expectations. To find out more, please contact the Human Resources Officer or read the CI PSEA and CP Policy (Click here).
Gender equality: CARE is committed to meeting the standards of the CARE International Gender Policy (2009). Through this policy, CARE seeks to promote the equal realization of dignity and human rights for girls, women, boys and men in all diversities, and the elimination of poverty and injustice. Specifically, this policy it seeks to improve the explicit incorporation of Gender in programmatic and organizational practices.
How to apply
How to apply:
The offer should consist of the following:
- Capacity statement (max. 3 pages) that outlines expertise (incl. operational presence and on-site experience) according to the TOR, proposed methodology and tools for this assessment, draft work plan clearly indicating the activity schedule; financial proposal providing assessment costs.
- CV with detailed information concerning experience in the field of assessments, research and analysis, as well as references.
- Contact details (name, email, phone number).
You are invited to submit a quotation for conducting this assignment only to vergaben@care.de with the subject line: Proposal Writer Consultant CERV until April 13th, 2025.
In case of any questions please contact us only on vergaben@care.de
Candidates are encouraged to submit their applications early, as these will be reviewed regularly.