1

GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS

MEASURE “IMPROVING THE ACCESSIBILITY AND QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN MUNICIPALITIES BY IMPLEMENTING THE MODEL FOR PROVISION OF YOUTH-FRIENDLY HEALTH CARE SERVICES“

UNDER THE PROGRAMME LT11 “PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVES”

OF THE NORWEGIAN FINANCIAL MECHANISM 2009-2014

i. GENERAL PROVISIONS

  1. The Guidelines for applicants of the measure “Improving the accessibility and quality of health care services in municipalities by implementing the model for provision of youth-friendly health care services“under the Programme LT11 “Public Health Initiatives” of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009−2014 (hereinafter – the Guidelines) is a document of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania establishing the requirements for the applications and applicants intending to submit project applications of the small grant scheme measure “Improving the accessibility and quality of health care services in municipalities by implementing the model for provision of youth-friendly health care services“(hereinafter – the Measure) under the Programme LT11 “Public Health Initiatives” (hereinafter – the Programme) of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009−2014, and the procedure of the submission, assessment and selection of applications and adoption of the decision on awarding the grant, filing and examination of complaints, implementation of projects, supervision of the implementation of projects and payment for the granted funds of the co-financing of the Republic of Lithuania and financial contributions of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.
  2. The Guidelines have been drafted in observance of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on 5 April 2011 between the Republic of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Norway on the implementation of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009–2014 (hereinafter – the Memorandum of Understanding), the Regulation on the implementation of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009–2014 (hereinafter – the Regulation) approved by resolution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway of 11 February 2011, Resolution No 57 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 18 January 2012 on the administration of the European Economic Area and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2009−2014 in Lithuania, the Rules on financing and implementation of the European Economic Area and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms, programmes and projects (hereinafter – the Rules), the Description of functions of the institutions responsible for management and control of the European Economic Area and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2009−2014 in Lithuania (hereinafter – the Description of Functions), and the Description of the procedure of conducting and supervising the procurement of legal entities, who are not contracting authorities within the meaning of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Public Procurement, in implementing the projects of the European Economic Area and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2009–2014 approved by Order No 1K-135 of 11 April 2012 of the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania on the implementation of the European Economic Area and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2009−2014 in Lithuania (hereinafter – the Description of Execution and Supervision), the Programme Agreement of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of 16 April 2013, and the Agreement No NOR-LT11-SAM/1S-41/S-80/2013/4-9-5 on the implementation of the Programme LT11 “Public Health Initiatives” of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, the Ministry of Heath of the Republic of Lithuania and the PI Central Project Management Agency of 3 June 2013.
  3. The Programme is aimed at facilitating the reduction of economic and social inequalities in the European Economic Area and strengthening of bilateral relations between Norway and Lithuania, and at improving public health and reducing heath inequalities in Lithuania. The Programme contributes to the implementation of the objective “to improve the health of individuals through the development of the prevention of diseases and reduction of the impact of dangerous factors” of the Programme “Improvement of Public Health” of the Strategic Action Plan of the Ministry of Health.
  4. The information about the Programme is published on website of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter – the Ministry of Health) at on the website of the Central Project Management Agency (hereinafter − the CPMA) at and on the main website of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism at
  5. The Guidelines are intended for the applicants, partners and institutions, which will carry out the assessment and select the projects to receive funding.
  6. Terms used in the Guidelines:
  7. Young person (youth) – means a person (persons) of 14–29 years of age.
  8. Youth organisation – means an association registered in accordance with the procedure set by laws in which at least 2/3 of members are young people and (or) which includes at least 2/3 of associations with young people accounting for at least 2/3 of their members.
  9. Youth-friendly health care services (YFHCS) means a set of health care services satisfying the needs of youth covering the services of health improvement, prevention, treatment, monitoring and consulting services and complying with the following criteria specified by the World Health Organisation (WHO):
  10. accessibility – accessible to youth – free or affordable services with quick and easy registration or without registration, short waiting time from the registration to the provision of a service;
  11. non-discriminating;
  12. guaranteeing confidentiality and privacy;
  13. meeting the physical, social and psychological needs of the health and development of each young person
  14. services provided by competent staff;
  15. safe environment meeting the needs of the youth.
  16. Model for the provision of YFHCS (the "Model") means the entirety of provisions, structures and functions which meets the WHO YFHCS provision criteria, good practice recommendations, YFHCS system vision, principles, goals and objectives in the provision of youth-friendly health improvement, prevention, treatment, monitoring and consulting services according to the highest standards of organisation, quality assurance, management and financing of the provision of services.

6.5.Applicant means a legal entity registered in the Republic of Lithuania who files an application for the implementation of the project.

6.6. Partner means a legal entity registered in the Republic of Lithuania or in the Kingdom of Norway, with whom the applicant concludes a Joint activity (partnership) agreement, cooperates work and (or) know-how and undertakes to act jointly for the benefit of the project implementation activities.

6.7. Priority areas of the YFHCS provision:

6.7.1. improvement of sexual and reproductive health;

6.7.2. promotion of a healthy diet, prevention of eating disorders and physical activity;

6.7.3. mental health improvement;

6.7.4. prevention of injuries and accidents (preventable deaths);

6.8.Project means the activity for the implementation of the Model in the municipality.

6.9. Project promoter means an applicant who has signed the project contract.

6.10. Health care means the personal and public health care.

6.11. Health problem solution algorithm (the "Algorithm") means a detailed sequence of the solution of a health problem with the description of individual steps of problem solution, sources of legal, written and visual methodological information and list of service providers.

6.12. Other terms used in the Guidelines shall have the meaning assigned to them in the Regulation, the Rules, the Description of functions and other legal acts specified in paragraph 2 of the Guidelines.

ii. REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS AND PARTNERS

  1. Applicant – municipal administration.
  2. Applicant may also file the application jointly with a partner (partners).
  3. Partner(s) can be an institution(s) and/or organisation(s) and/or a company/companies registered in the Republic of Lithuania and/or Kingdom of Norway, e.g. a public health bureau operating in the applicant's municipality or a public health bureau of another municipality that has an agreement on the provision of public health care services and YFHCS signed with the applicant's municipality, health care institution, youth organisation, non-governmental organisation.
  4. Activities carried out by the partner(s) must be related to the project activity (-ies).
  5. The involvement of the partner(s) in the project shall be justified in the project application. An applicant shall choose as partners only such legal entities that will actually contribute (with human, financial resources, etc.) to the performance of the project activities. An applicant must assess the need for the partner(s) in the project and the risk of management and implementation of activities of the project arising from the partnership.
  6. Experience and competence of the applicant and partner(s) shall be described in a special form of Part (B) of the application for the financing of the project (hereinafter – Part (B) of the application) (Annex 5 to the Guidelines).
  7. The applicant and partner(s) must meet the eligibility requirements listed in the Methodology for the evaluation of project compliance with the general project selection criteria ("Annex 2 to the Guidelines").
  8. The applicant filing an application jointly with the partner(s) shall attach to it a declaration(s) signed by the partner(s) (paragraph 18 of the General Part (A) (Annex 9 to the Rules) of the Application for awarding the grant to the project from the European Economic Area or Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2009–2014 and co-financing funds) stating that the partner(s) has (have) got familiarised with the proposed project and with its (their) rights and obligations in implementing the project. The applicant and partner(s) filing an application shall submit a copy of a valid joint activity (partnership) agreement drafted in the Lithuanian language (if a partner(s) is (are) registered in the Register of Legal Entities of the Republic of Lithuania) or in the English language (if at least one partner is registered in the Kingdom of Norway in accordance with legal acts of the Kingdom of Norway).The joint activity (partnership) agreement shall be signed by the applicant and all project partners.
  9. The joint activity (partnership) agreement shall specify:
  10. persons representing the applicant and the partner(s);
  11. the objective of the agreement, division of project tasks between the applicant and the partner;
  12. a detailed budget of the project, provisions related to indirect expenditure and their calculation method;
  13. eligibility of incurred expenditures, sharing of eligible and ineligible expenditures between the applicant and the partnerand their payment, terms and procedure of settlement with the partner(s);
  14. currency exchange rules (for a project implemented jointly with Norwegian partners);
  15. the obligation of the partner(s) to create conditions for carrying out an audit of activities and documents related to the project for institutions authorised for that purpose in implementing the Programme. If the requests for payment during the project implementation will include the expenditure incurred by a partner from Norway, the partner from Norway must undertake to provide documentary proof of eligibility of the expenditure incurred to the project promoter in English or Lithuanian according to the procedure laid down in the Rules;
  16. the settlement of disputes;
  17. responsibilities and rights of the parties in relation to the project, liability of the parties, as well as the obligation to adhere to the main rules of good partnership referred to in paragraph 17 of the Guidelines;
  18. ownership / use / entrustment conditions for the assets created / acquired in the course of the project.
  19. The Joint activity (partnership) agreement may be amended before and after the entry into the project contract, provided that such amendment has not (would not have) materially affected the assessment of the project and (or) adoption of decision on the project financing and complies with the provisions of the Rules and the Guidelines. Amendments to the Joint activity (partnership) agreement shall be coordinated with the CPMA.
  20. During the implementation of the project the applicant shall regularly consult with the partner(s), keep the partner(s) informed about the progress of the project implementation and communicate to all project partners the copies of all reports submitted by the CPMA.
  21. The project partner(s) shall participate in the project implementation and shall use the project outcomes, but the responsibility for the proper implementation and coordination of the project and for the use of funds shall be vested in the / project promoter. If the grant is awarded to the project, the project contract shall be concluded with the applicant, who shall become the project promoter from the day of signing the project contract.
  22. The applicant may file only one application. If more than one application is filed, only the first application according to the date and time of its submission shall be assessed, and theremaining applications shall not be considered and shall be returned back to the applicant.
  23. The partner may conclude Joint activity (partnership) agreement with several applicants.

iii. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROJECTS

  1. The projects implemented under the Measure shall:
  2. comply with the general objective of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009–2014 – to reduce economic and social differences in the European Economic Area;
  3. comply with the objective of the Programme – to improve public health and reduce health inequalities;
  4. comply with the purpose of the Measure – to implement the Model in accordance with the needs of the municipality (Description of the model for the provision of youth-friendly health care services, "Annex 9 to the Guidelines");
  5. be continuous (applicants and partners shall ensure the continuity ofprojectsactivities for at least 1 year after projects implementation).
  6. Compulsory elements of the Model to be implemented:

22.1. establishment of the YFHCS coordinating centre / introduction of and support to the YFHCS coordinating and case management function;

22.2. administration of the Youth Health internet portal[1] at municipal level (preparation, publication, updating, adaptation, etc. of information);

22.3. adaptation and application of the Algorithm(s) in priority area(s) of the YFHCS provision at municipal level.

23. Supported project activities:

23.1. the activities necessary for the implementation of the compulsory elements of the Model specified in paragraphs 22.1 to 22.3 of the Guidelines;

23.2. the activities necessary for the implementation in the municipality of the recommended YFHCS good practice examples specified in paragraph 8 of Annex 9 to the Guidelines;

23.3. other initiatives meeting the definition and criteria of the YFHCS provided in paragraph 6.3 of the Guidelines;

23.4. events, training, research, surveys, etc. necessary for the implementation of the Model in the municipality.

24. After the projects are implemented under the Measure, the monitoring output indicator provided for in the Programme must be achieved, i.e. the number of municipalities involved in the implementation of the developed Model must be 10 (ten), and the monitoring outcome indicator provided for in the Programme must be achieved, i.e. the number of developed[2] and implemented Models in accordance with the needs of municipalities must be 1 (one). More detailed information about the measurement and calculation of project monitoring indicators is provided in the methodology for the measurement and calculation of monitoring indicators for the implementation of measure “Improvement of accessibility to and quality of youth-friendly health care services in municipalities through the implementation of the model for the provision of youth-friendly health care services” under the Programme LT11 “Public Health Initiatives” of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009−2014 (Annex 6 to the Guidelines).

25. Project implementation period: from the day of entry into force of the project contract until the date specified in the project contract, but no later than by the timeline fixed in paragraph 126 of the Rules:

25.1. the activities of the YFHCS coordinating centre must be started and a YFHCS coordinator(s) must be hired within 10 working days after the date of entry into force of the project implementation agreement;

25.2. the provision of the YFHCS must be started using the recommendations of the Model and adapted Algorithm(s) within 1 month after the date of entry into force of the project implementation agreement;

25.3. the time limits laid down in paragraphs 25.1 and 25.2 of the Guidelines may only be extended subject to consent of the Ministry of Health and the CPMA.

26. During the preparation of applications and implementation of projects, the municipalities shall receive consultations on the Model implementation from the developer of the Model, which is UAB Sveikatos Ekonomikos Centras, with its partners: the Centre for Health Education and Disease Prevention, Rokiškis Primary Personal Health Care Centre and Public Health Bureau of the Rokiškis District Municipality.

27.During the Model implementation, training on the administration of the Youth Health internet portal at municipal level will be organised for the municipalities implementing the Model.

28. During the Model implementation at the municipality:

28.1. account must be taken of the needs of youth, youth health problems and youth health risk factors in the municipality;

28.2. it is necessary to seek that the Model covers the broadest possible share of the youth;

28.3. it is necessary to seek that the YFHCS are provided in an acceptable form and a safe and attractive environment which meets the needs of the youth.

  1. The implemented Model must be adapted for infrastructure solutions functioning in the municipality and the activities and services provided by the applicant and partner(s) must be carried out and provided according to the provisions of the laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania.
  2. The percentage of young people (youths) aged between 14 and 29 must be at least 15% of the total population of the applicant’smunicipality in 2014.
  3. The project must be prepared according to Rules and the Guidelines. The project must meet the administrative compliance evaluation requirements specified in the Methodology for the evaluation of project administrative compliance ("Annex 1 to the Guidelines"), general project selection criteria specified in Annex 2 to the Guidelines and must seek to comply with the special project selection criteria specified in the Project benefit and quality evaluation methodology ("Annex 3 to the Guidelines").
  4. The project shall meet the requirements related to the implementation of the horizontal policy areas – comply with the provisions of the policy of sustainable development, good governance, gender equality and equal opportunities. The applicant’s substantiation of project compliance with sustainable development, good governance, gender equality and equal opportunities provisions shall be presented in the Part (A) of the application.The impact of the project on these principles may not be negative.
  5. The project and its activities may not have been or be financed and, after having awarded the grant, the financing of such project activities may not be sought under other programmes financed from the State Budget, European Union or other international assistance funds as well as funds of other programmes of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009–2014, if due to that the eligible expenditures of the project or its part may be financed several times.

IV. PROGRAMME GRANT AMOUNT AND RATE

  1. The total amount of funding earmarked for the implementation of the Measure is EUR 859,967 (eight hundred fifty nine thousand nine hundred sixty seven euro). The contribution from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism will comprise up to EUR 730,971.95 (seven hundred thirty thousand nine hundred seventy one euro and ninety five euro cents) and the co-financing contribution of the Republic of Lithuania will be up to 128,995.05 (one hundred twenty eight thousand nine hundred ninety five euro and five euro cents).
  2. The minimum amount of funding requested in the application shall be EUR 37,005 (thirty seven thousand and five euro) and the maximum amount of funding requested in the application shall be EUR 85,996 (eighty five thousand nine hundred ninety six euro).
  3. The grant and co-financing funds make up 100 per cent of the total eligible project expenditures.
  4. The project shall clearly define the use of the funds and make a clear distinction between eligible and non-eligible costs (if any). It should be provided for that any non-eligible costs are to be financed with the project promoter’s and/or partner’s (partners’) funds. Funding sources of non-eligible costs shall be clearly defined reliable and appropriately planned.
  5. All other eligible project expenditures, which exceed the maximum possible grant amount, shall be paid by the applicant and (or) partner(s) from their own funds.
  6. The amount of the project financing shall be established as the maximum amount of funds necessary for the implementation of the project. During the assessment of the administrative compliance and eligibility the amount of financing shall be established considering the validity, necessity and eligibility of the project expenditures.
  7. In the cases provided for in the project contract, the financing of the project may be reduced, suspended or discontinued. When the decision to discontinue the financing and to repay the funds is made, the project promoter must repay the funds.

V. ELIGIBLE AND INELIGIBLE PROJECT EXPENDITURES

  1. The categories of expenditures eligible for the financing under the Guidelines are provided below: