Direct Assistance
Direct Assistance can be used as a flexible financing tool to respond to immediate, specific requests connected with VPA and non-VPA national strategy and needs, such as provision of training and technical assistance. Direct Assistance is available to governments and private sector organizations, and are accepted by the Programme on a rolling basis, for support up to EUR 50,000. Requests exceeding EUR 50 000 will be considered on a case-by-case basis and presented to the Steering Committee for a “no-objection”.
The Direct Assistance mechanism largely follows the same process in both VPA countries and countries not engaged in VPA:
- Project identification: direct assistance requests are developed through a collaborative dialogue between FAO, the relevant government agency, the European Union representatives and the beneficiary organization. The Programme will be responsible for final approval and oversight of Direct Assistance requests.
- Submission of Direct Assistance proposals: after the identification phase, interested proponents submit a short proposal to the Programme Management Unit (PMU).
Here you can find the latest guidelines for direct assistance requests and the budget form.