HORIZON EUROPE - Understanding the forms of local democracy in low-income and low-middle income countries

HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-02 This call supports comparative and empirical research on how local democratic institutions and processes function in low-income and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). Projects should examine formal and informal governance structures, citizen participation, decentralisation, accountability mechanisms, and the conditions under which local democracy contributes to development outcomes. Cross-country and interdisciplinary methodologies are encouraged.

A minimum of three independent legal entities from three different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries is required (for most calls). African institutions, including UNIMA, are explicitly eligible and encouraged as consortium partners to receive EU funding directly. Coordination must be led by an EU/Associated Country organisation. Political scientists, sociologists, legal scholars, development economists, and anthropologists are all relevant. LMIC-based institutions are particularly encouraged.

• Law and governance
• Development studies

Proposals are submitted through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/). UNIMA's validated Participant Identification Code (PIC) is 999453275. The first step is to identify a European lead partner. UNIMA's existing collaborations with universities in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and other EU/Associated Countries are the natural starting point. EURAXESS Africa (https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/worldwide/africa) organises partner-matching webinars and publishes consortium-building notices for Africa Initiative calls.