Structured dialogue with people with lived experience of poverty

Home Funding Calls for proposals Structured dialogue with people with lived experience of poverty Structured dialogue with people with lived experience of poverty ESF-2027-PEP-ENGAGEMENT Topic Calls for proposals Internal navigation General information Topic description Topic updates Conditions and documents Budget overview Partner search announcements Start submission Topic Q&As Get support General information Programme European Social Fund (ESF) Call Structured dialogue with people with lived experience of poverty (ESF-2027-PEP-ENGAGEMENT) Type of action ESF-PJG ESF Project Grants Type of MGA ESF Action Grant Budget-Based [ESF-AG] Open For Submission Deadline model Single-stage Opening date 01 September 2026 Deadline date 29 October 2026 17:00:00 Brussels time Topic description Expected Outcome: The primary aim of this action is to create the conditions for a sustained dialogue between policymakers and individuals with lived experience of poverty, ensuring that those directly affected by poverty and/or social exclusion have a real and influential voice in the decisions that shape their lives. A core objective is to empower participants by providing them with the tools, confidence, and platforms needed to engage effectively in discussions on challenges related to combating poverty and social inclusion. This will come together with building trust and breaking down barriers between institutions and marginalised communities. The action will create a more inclusive and respectful exchange, where power imbalances are acknowledged and mitigated giving participants a clearer understanding of how policies are formed. Finally, the action will champion intersectionality: efforts will be made to amplify the voices of the most marginalised groups, ensuring that policies account for the diverse and overlapping challenges they face. By doing so, the initiative aims to create more equitable and inclusive solutions; ones that reflect the complexities of poverty and social exclusion. Scope: This call for proposals aims at selecting and financially supporting a consortium consisting of organisations with proven and relevant competence and experience, including at European and/or international level, in facilitating the engagement of people with lived experience of poverty in policy discussions on challenges related to combating poverty and social inclusion. The consortium should consist of applicants capable of developing active participatory approach for people who have lived experience of poverty and actively contributing to their involvement in the Commission’s structured dialogue. Show more Topic updates 18 September 2026 Dear Applicants, Please find below the links to the video recording and the PowerPoint slides presented during the online information session: Video: https://youtu.be/ESF-2027-PEP-ENGAGEMENT Slides: Info session ESF-2027-PEP-ENGAGEMENT - Slides Additionally, please note that the Q&A session —including the questions raised during the session— is being regularly updated. Kind regards, The call team 01 September 2026 The submission session is now available for: ESF-2027-PEP-ENGAGEMENT 19 August 2026 Registration for the info session - ESF-2027-PEP-ENGAGEMENT The Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion is organising an info session for the forthcoming call for proposals “Structured dialogue with people with lived experience of poverty”. The info session will take place online on 14 September 2026 at 15:00 pm (Brussels time / CET). The session is free-of-charge and open for everyone who has registered by filling in the details below. The link to the meeting will be shared afterwards and only with the registered participants. Please use the same email address as used in registration when joining the online session. Registration Please complete and submit the registration form by 11 September 2026, 17:00 (Brussels time / CET): https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/ESF-2027-PEP-ENGAGEMENT Show more Topic conditions and documents Conditions 1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout All admissibility conditions are described in the Call document. Applications must be submitted before the call deadline and electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper submissions are NOT possible. Applications (including annexes and supporting documents) must be submitted using the forms provided inside the Submission System. Applications must be complete and contain: Application Form (Part A) Application Form (Part B) Annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded as PDF files). Please see the list of annexes and supporting documents in the call document, point 11.b. At proposal submission, the lead applicant will have to confirm that it has the mandate to act for all applicants; that the information in the application is correct and complete and that the participants comply with the conditions for receiving EU funding (especially eligibility, financial and operational capacity, exclusion, etc.) Before signing the grant, each beneficiary and affiliated entity will have to confirm this again by signing a declaration of honour (DoH). Applications must be readable, accessible and printable, not exceeding 50 pages. 2. Eligible countries Described in the Call document, point 6: EU Member States (and their overseas countries and territories); EEA countries, in accordance with the EEA Agreement; EU acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidate countries, in line with the agreements concluded with them. Third countries having signed an agreement to participate in the strand or a third country listed in the EaSI work programme if necessary for the achievement of the objectives of an action. Do note that for certain calls only EU Member States and EEA countries are eligible. 3. Other eligibility conditions See in the Call document. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion See details in the Call document, point 7. 5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes See all details in the Call document, point 8. 5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds The award criteria for this call are described in the Call document, point 9. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement Deadline for submission: 29 October 2026 – 17:00:00 CET (Brussels) Evaluation: November–December 2026 Information on evaluation results: December 2026/January 2027 GA signature: January 2027 All details in the Call document, in point 4. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants See point 10 in the Call document. Call document and annexes: Call document Application form templates Standard application form (ESF and SOCPL) — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Model Grant Agreements (MGA) ESF and SOCPL MGA Additional documents: ESF+ Annual Work Programme ESF+ Regulation 2021/1057 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement Show more Budget overview Topic Budget year : 2027 Stages Opening date Deadline Contributions Indicative number of grants ESF-2027-PEP-ENGAGEMENT - ESF-PJG ESF Project Grants 900 000,00 € Single-stage 1 September 2026 29 October 2026 Items per page: 10 50 100 Showing 1–1 of 1 Partner search announcements 16 Searches of partners to collaborate on this topic View / Edit LEARs, Account Administrators or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into this Portal, as well as any user having an active public Person profile. Start submission Need help? To access the Electronic Submission Service, please click on the submission-button next to the type of action and the type of model grant agreement that corresponds to your proposal. You will then be asked to confirm your choice, as it cannot be changed in the submission system. Upon confirmation, you will be linked to the correct entry point. To access existing draft proposals for this topic, please login to the Funding & Tenders Portal and select the My Proposals page of the My Area section. Please select the type of your submission: ESF Project Grants [ESF-PJG], ESF Action Grant Budget-Based [ESF-AG] Start submission Topic Q&As3 item(s) found General FAQ Is there a definition of a 'person with lived experience of poverty'? The call document does not include a formal definition of a ‘person with lived experience of poverty’ because poverty is multidimensional and can take different forms in different co... Is an African NGO eligible to participate, or is this call only open to NGOs established in EU Member States? In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must comply with all the eligibility criteria laid down in the call document. As to the place of estab... According to the list of countries participating in ESF+, for the EaSI strand, North Macedonia has confirmed interest to participate. Are organizations from North Macedonia eligible to apply for this call? The European Commission has received the formal expression of interest of North Macedonia to participate in the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand of the European Social ... Get support Please read carefully all provisions below before the preparation of your application. Online Manual : This step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and submission to reporting on your ongoing project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes. (roles & access rights, proposal submission and evaluation, grant management, amendments, etc.). Each explanation leads to the corresponding “IT How to” page (see here after). IT How to - IT How To - Funding Tenders Opportunities (europa.eu) : Detailed instructions on how to apply for EU funding, from how to register your organisation, how to manage the roles and access rights to your organisations, proposals and to how to submit your proposal. It gives also detailed instructions on and on how to manage your grant if you are selected. Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ : FAQ on submission of proposals IT Helpdesk : Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. For help related to this call, please contact EMPL-ANTI-POVERTY@ec.europa.eu. For general questions on ESF+: EMPL-EaSI@ec.europa.eu