The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Deputy Secretary-General has approved a short list of 35 project proposals for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Democracy Fund¡¯s Fifteenth Round of Funding, amounting to over nine million dollars, in accordance with a recommendation by the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDEF Advisory Board. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDEF has contacted those short-listed.
As agreed with the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDEF Advisory Board, this Round particularly welcomed project proposals that address the challenges to civic space and democracy posed by the Covid-19 crisis. All the projects on the short list have direct relevance to the pandemic and its impact on civil society and democracy.
The fifteenth call for project proposals was open from 1 November 2020 to 6 December 2020, in all of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDEF¡¯s focus areas: women¡¯s empowerment; rule of law and human rights; youth engagement; strengthening civil society interaction with government; media and freedom of information; tools for knowledge; community activism and electoral processes. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDEF received 1,622 project proposals from organizations in 110 countries, the vast majority local civil society organizations in Africa, Arab States, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, despite the very real constraints posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Given the large volume of proposals, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDEF is not able to contact all applicants individually. Inclusion in the short list is a significant achievement, but it does not in itself mean that the project proposal will be approved for funding. Shortlisted applicants are now required to complete the final stage of the selection process: negotiating a formal project document with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDEF -- in effect a contract between the grantor and the grantee. This requires the applicant to provide a more elaborated project design, and involves comprehensive guidance, mentoring, input and review by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDEF¡¯s project officers. Only upon successful conclusion of this process will the project be approved for funding.