Profile of the Contracting Party
The previous Programme introduced a new element: the incorporation as Intermediary Bodies of the programme, in addition to relevant public bodies, of various social Organizations with recognised experience in working with collectives in which the programme actions are going to be concentrated and with management capacity. The implementation of and the work carried out in the Operational Programme Fight against Discrimination 2000-2006 has obtained good results and has been recognised as good practice in various forums at European level.
The European Social Fund Administration Unit has decided to continue this Operational Programme in the period 2007-2013, involving the participation, in drafting the Programme as well as its implementation and development, of five Nongovernmental Organizations, among them the ONCE Foundation.
The European Commission approved the Operational Programme “Fight against Discrimination 2007-2013” by means of Decision C(207) 6735 of 18th December 2007 and by which it appointed the ONCE Foundation as Intermediary Body for the development of the measures included in said programme.
The Operational Programme will include the development of actions such as integrated itineraries of socio-labour insertion, including employment support, self-employment aids, research, improvement of the competitiveness of the Sheltered Workplaces, promotion and awareness campaigns as well as promoting the use of new information and communication technologies.
In the interests of greater efficiency and in order to guarantee transparency in the management of the Operational Programme and therefore the financial resources contributed by the European Social Fund, the ONCE Foundation believes that the contracts for the services necessary to develop the actions contained in the Multiregional Operational Programme “Fight Against Discrimination 2007-2013” should be governed by a procedure which guarantees publicity, attendance and transparency for the tenders and adjudication of the services which will be the object of the contracts; hence the establishment by the ONCE Foundation of a “Profile of the Contracting Party” which provides publicity, transparency and legal security to the entities interested in the service contracts put out to public tender. This is the justification of the creation of the “Profile of the Contracting Party” by the ONCE Foundation.
The ONCE Foundation for Cooperation and the Social Integration of People with Disabilities (hereinafter the ONCE Foundation), constituted by Agreement of the ONCE General Council on 8th January 1988, and approved and evaluated by the then Ministry of Social Affairs as Private Charity Entity in the social services field, holds as one of its aims the promotion and development of programmes and actions directed towards cooperation and the full social integration of people with disabilities.
In the framework of the aims of the foundation, one of the principal objectives of the ONCE Foundation is to develop actions directed towards the promotion of training and employment of people with disabilities as an appropriate instrument for their socio-labour integration.
The European Social Fund Administration Unit (ESFAU) considers that the social aims and actions of the ONCE Foundation coincide with the priorities of the European Union policy on employment and social inclusion, consistent with the (EC) Regulation 1081/2006 regarding the European Social Fund, which in its article 5 regarding Good Governance and Cooperation in section 4 establishes that “The management authority of each one of the operational programmes will encourage access by nongovernmental organizations to the subsidised acts and their appropriate participation in the same, especially those related to social inclusion, equality between men and women and equal opportunities”. The ESFAU therefore intends to take advantage of the positive experience of the ONCE Foundation in the management of Structural Funds and agrees to the participation of this institution in the management and execution of the Multiregional Operational Programme “Fight against Discrimination 2007-2013”
Perfil Contratante Fundación ONCE