Application Conditions and Required Documents

You can find Haklara Destek’s policy on the rights-based approach in the About Us section on our website. According to the United Nations, a rights-based approach is a “conceptual framework for the process of human development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights. It seeks to analyze inequalities at the heart of development problems and redress discriminatory practices and unjust distributions of power that impede development progress. Over the long term, in a manner that includes vulnerable and excluded groups through anti-discrimination work to include the gravest rights violations, it aims to define and increase the responsibilities of persons and institutions in the fields of human rights, animal rights and environmental rights, the reinforcement of the framework to claim rights, and the participation of rights holders in the process.”

First, we would kindly ask you to first check that the question you are asking is not already answered in the application guidelines, support videos, additional guidelines or the Frequently Asked Questions. If you can’t find an answer to your question in these resources, you can e-mail us at basvuru@haklaradestek.org. The deadline for asking questions by e-mail is June 20, and we will be responding to you by June 23 at the latest. There will also be a Support Desk, which will be available 4 days of the week, from Tuesday through Friday, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. by contacting 0546 903 0356.

The application should be made by a single organization. If accepted, only one organization can benefit from the grant and the capacity building support.

Unfortunately, municipal governments cannot apply for the program.

Unfortunately, bars cannot apply for the Haklara Destek Program.

The Haklara Destek Program is open for all human rights organizations based in Turkey. For the applicant organization to pass the administrative check, it must have undertaken at least 1 rights-based activity within the last year.

There will not be an information session on the program, but you can join us in our Q&A session that will be held on May 30, June 13 and June 20 and ask us any questions you may have on the application process. You can register for these meetings on our website, haklaradestek.org.

University research centers cannot apply to the program. The legal status of the applicants is limited to foundations, associations or cooperatives (where profits are not distributed to shareholders).

Working in the 2 prioritized areas is not a pre-requisite for CSOs for submitting an application, however organizations that focus on these areas will have an advantage.

Personal applications made to the program on behalf of organisations are not accepted.

Yes, if a branch is an independent legal entity, it can apply to the program. Although the number of applications organizations can make are unlimited, CSOs with 20 or fewer branches can receive funding for a maximum of 2 branches, and those with 21 or more branches can receive funding for a maximum of 3.

An organization can request a grant amount between 25,000 and 45,000 Euros. The requested amount may not exceed 90% of the organization’s expected total income for the grant period of 2 years.

Non-profit cooperatives must present a charter which includes an article that prohibits them from sharing profits with shareholders. If this article is not present, they will have to present a financial auditing report for the last three years that shows that profits were not distributed to shareholders. Additionally, it is mandatory that the cooperative’s board of directors took an irrevocable decision to not share profits with shareholders in the future.

The institutions with written approved date exception are expected to submit 2021 financial documents. Only institutions with income less then 2,265,000 TL in year 2021 will be evaluated.

Financial Section of the Application

Social security payments and other costs related to salaries are considered eligible costs. The Application Guide includes a list of eligible and ineligible costs.

There are no restrictions on how much can be reserved for human resources in your budget. Your whole budget can consist of the human resources item. If the severance package is paid and reported during the grant period, it becomes an eligible cost. Forward looking provisions are not considered eligible costs.

Educational activities and service procurement expenditures related to these activities are considered eligible costs and can be included in the budget.

In addition to the grant amount requested from the Haklara Destek Program, you must specify other sources of income you foresee for the grant period. Estimated additional income outside of the Haklara Destek fund can include membership fees, funds received from national and international funders, funds from public institutions, other donations, income from economic enterprises, financial income and rental income. You can refer to your organisation’s income sources in previous years to forecast the income of the grant period when filling out the Expected Income field.

To clarify this part, we ask that the applicant organisations find additional funding of at least 10% of the grant amount requested from Haklara Destek. Therefore, you must report an Expected Income of at least 10% of the grant amount. To give an example in numbers, an organisation that requests a grant of 25,000 Euros from the Haklara Destek Program must have a minimum income projection of 2,500 Euros during the grant period, excluding the Haklara Destek grant.

Value-Added Tax is among the ineligible costs for Haklara Destek. All goods and services purchased should be listed in the budget free of VAT. Also, other taxes, customs duties, import taxes and/or similar fees will not be financed as part of the program.

No, in-kind donations cannot be shown as expected income.

The activities of the CSO are expected to be mainly conducted in Turkey. However, if you are travelling to participate in a meeting organized by an international network you are part of, or visiting abroad for international advocacy work, such expenses can be financed.

The daily allowance includes meals and local transportation expenses arising from daily business trips that do not require overnight accommodation or from work related expenses within the same city.

There are no restrictions on how much can be reserved for human resources in your budget. You can even apply for a grant only for the human resources item.

Yes, it can.

If there is more than 1 professional staff member who is also part of the board, there might be some conflict of interest in the governance of the organization. If some of the staff members benefiting from this grant are also members of the board, please summarize the reason for this in the explanations part under the budget item.

The Haklara Destek Program is an organizational grant and capacity building program that covers 24 months. The activities you offer might last shorter than 24 months, however all beneficiaries are expected to participate in capacity support activities throughout the 24 months.

No, there is no such limitation for other budget items.

Haklara Destek is an operational grant. You can create a budget that does not include any activities, or create one for a single budget item (for example, the item of “Human Resources”)

All permanent employees (part-time or full-time) should be listed under the “Human Resources” item.

There is no specific format expected for this report. You can create a new report that is convenient for you or revise an old report you might already have that introduces your organisation’s activities. What is important is that the report lists all the activities conducted in 2021.

Once you send in your application by clicking on the “Submit the Application” button, you will not be allowed to make any changes to your application or add any documents. Therefore, we strongly suggest that you double check your application to confirm that the information you submitted is accurate and complete before clicking on the “Submit by Application” button.

“Charity works and humanitarian aid” are considered ineligible costs under this program. Therefore, aid distribution and similar activities are not financed.

You can include the current employees of your organization as well as future ones who will be employed during the grant period. The only rule is that you cannot request a grant from the Haklara Destek Program for budget items that are already funded by another organisation/grant program during the same period.

The activities of the CSO are expected to be mainly conducted in Turkey. However, if you are travelling to participate in a meeting organized by an international network you are a part of, or visiting abroad for international advocacy work, such expenses can be financed.

Having received grants in the past or having an ongoing grant from the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey does not block your eligibility for applying to the program. However, you cannot request a grant from the Haklara Destek Program for budget items that are already funded by another organisation/grant program during the same period.

Application System (BELLEK)

The BELLEK Grant Management System is an online platform designed for submitting applications to Haklara Destek and for managing the received grants. As many international funding organisations have switched to online application platforms, we have also done so to prevent paper waste and to benefit from the fast and efficient data collection advantages it provides. Applicants will create a user profile on www.haklaradestek.org/basvuru, add application forms and supporting documents, and submit their applications by following the directions in the system. To learn more about how the BELLEK Grant Management System works, please visit www.haklaradestek.org/Belgeler/BellekRehberi.

The application system saves your information at regular intervals. To secure your work, we recommend that you fill out your application from a location with stable internet connection and click on “SAVE” after completing each section.

Each CSO can have one user. The address you provide for the “contact person e-mail” will be the one we will use for all communications with regards to your application, and it will also be used to log into the BELLEK system. Therefore, this e-mail account should be checked regularly and often.

The authorized person must be someone with signatory authority, as this person’s signature will appear at each step of the process, from the application to the final contact. The contact person will be managing the application process. All communications with regards to the application (including the grant decision) will be sent to the e-mail address provided for the contact person.

Yes, but this person must have signatory authority.

You can reset your password if you forget your old one. You can send instructions to the e-mail we have on the system by clicking “I forgot my password” on the login page.