The Quality Label for Humanitarian Aid Volunteering certifies that an organisation is able to carry out high quality solidarity activities in compliance with the principles, objectives and requirements of the action ‘European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps’. Obtaining this Quality Label is a precondition for participation in the action Humanitarian Aid Volunteering under the European Solidarity Corps.

More information about the call and the action is available here. The call is currently open in the Funding & tender opportunities portal.

Info Day for Organisations | Quality Label for Humanitarian Aid Volunteering

This event aims at providing organisations information and practical guidance to apply for the call ESC-HUMAID-2022-QUAL-LABEL, as well as to interact with potential partners and European Commission/EACEA colleagues.

The session will take place online (in Microsoft Teams) and will be recorded. The registration link to participate to the event and the agenda can be found on the following event webpage.

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Research on volunteer-based youth work

L'articolo Info Day for Organisations | Quality Label for Humanitarian Aid Volunteering proviene da Youth Networks.

Prior to read any further, you can check out the news on the ESC Internship & Jobs not being renovated or have a look at a general evaluation on the European Solidarity Corps Programme. 

Quality Label of the Lead Organisation 

The Quality Label as Lead Organisation is now mandatory to lead an ESC project.
Since its beginning, back in 2018, the European Solidarity Corps Programme has been allowing the more experienced organisations to apply for the “Volunteering Partnership”. Such feature consisted in submitting a 3-years plan about the ESC activities the organisation would had been in charge of, over that time. After approval, the organisations faced just one deadline per year to ask for funding to the activities to carry out on the following year. Such activities had to resonate with the ones on the 3-years plan. As a consequence, on the contributions’ request you could have found less boxes to fill out, as the qualitative selection happen backwards on the initial phase. 

What was optional in the two-years period 2018-2020, is now the only way forward to be applicant organisation for ESC projects. Therefore, what was once only for bigger organisations, is now is the one-option over either individual volunteering projects and volunteering teams. 

Such transformation comes from the new Quality Label: the one of the Lead Organisation, called “ESC50”. 

The New Procedure

To submit your request for contributions to fund ESC volunteering projects and volunteering teams is now necessary, firstly, to apply for the Quality Label ESC50. As a consequence, there is no need to own the accreditation before the deadline, but just to have submitted the request for accreditation
The further step is to proceed with the funding request through the code ESC51.

Such procedure is necessary for ESC volunteering projects and volunteering teams, contrary to the Solidarity Projects (no accreditation requested). 

Main features of the Quality Label as Lead Organisation

To submit the request ESC50, the applying organisation has to deliver a request similar to the one of the Erasmus+ accreditation. Similarly, the submission provides a multi-year plan of activities. It can cover from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 7 years.
The accreditation refers to the organisation in general, covering the management of volunteering activities hosted by the requesting organisation or coordinating activities by the hosting organisations.
As such, the new accreditation allows to be Lead Organisation being at the same time Host and Coordinating Organisation (as provided by the old European Voluntary Service). The Lead Organisation can request contributions with reference to hosting mobility and coordination in its country, but also to outgoing mobility and coordination to send volunteers abroad.

How To Get the Accreditation as Lead Organisation

A tricky feature is surely the Standard Activities description. 

This box needs to be filled out with the volunteering activities carried out by the volunteers hosted by the organisation itself. In other words, this is the room for activities of incoming mobility and not the coordinating activities upon other organisations (both in your country and abroad). Keep an eye on that, the queries on such activities are much and complex. Indeed, such queries replicate the accreditation process for the quality label as hosting entity. Pay extreme attention to this section, as it represents the prior evaluation. After that, all the organisations will have a multi-year plan. And once received the Quality Label, they won’t have to write articulate projects.

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A Glance Through The Erasmus+ Guide

L'articolo ESC 2021-2027: Quality Label of the Lead Organisation proviene da Youth Networks.

QUALITY LABEL

Under “What are the criteria used to assess a Quality Label” – Page 20:

Removal of “Duration – The whole duration of the programming period (2018-2020)”. The validity of the Quality Label is already covered under “How does it work” on page 16.

VOLUNTEERING

Under “Volunteering” – Page 24

NB: For individual volunteering activities, organisations involved as partners in projects need to be holding a valid Erasmus+ accreditation or Quality Label at the start of the activities they are involved in. It is especially important that they submit the application for Quality Label at least 2 months before the start of the activity. For application purposes, host organisations that will be identified in the application form will need to have at least submitted their Quality Label prior to the call deadline. In all cases, the applicant organisation must hold a valid Erasmus+ accreditation or Quality Label at the application deadline.

L'articolo CORRIGENDUM TO THE ESC GUIDE! proviene da Youth Networks.