Deadline: 16 May 2022
The SAGE Fund invites two-page concept notes from organizations and movements primarily in the Global South piloting innovative efforts and building cross-movement power to hold economic actors accountable to human rights.
The SAGE Fund (Strengthening Accountability in the Global Economy) seeks to increase human rights accountability of powerful economic actors by supporting innovative approaches and building greater cross-movement and cross-field power among affected communities, workers, movements, and allied NGOs.
The Fund seeks to:
- Spur innovation in the approaches, strategies and tools used to hold all economic actors accountable for human rights violations and advance rights protection;
- Build knowledge and skills to analyze key challenges, craft strategies and mobilize new coalitions and constituencies; and
- Provide thought leadership and analysis on emerging issues and key challenges to human rights protection in the global economy.
Project Criteria
The Fund will make up to 5-7 grants of US $70,000 – $100,000 each, for 12-18 months, to organizations or partnerships with primary leadership in the Global South that are designed to achieve at least one of the following:
- Seed promising approaches for strengthening human rights accountability in the global economy, particularly for corporations, investors, and other non-state actors, by:
- Piloting a new tool or strategy;
- Developing the potential of an existing tool or strategy; or
- Applying a successful approach to a new context.
- Advance understanding of key challenges or emerging issues, and identify opportunities to strengthen the human rights framework in response, through:
- Research and analysis on challenges or barriers to accountability of economic actors, with potential for impact through pilot projects, advocacy, campaigns, or other responses;
- Scoping work and field convenings to develop consensus and a coordinated field agenda on key challenges and opportunities for leverage; or
- Education and outreach initiatives to create priorities for action and build constituencies across fields.
- Strengthen cross-movement collaboration to challenge corporate power and shift power to workers and communities, with the goal of ultimately transforming the global economy into a more equitable and sustainable one by:
- Deepening a new or existing collaboration between two or more coalitions, networks, or movements from across fields, including but not limited to the economic, labor, indigenous, gender, and climate justice movements; and
- Identifying key priorities, developing a common agenda, and/or building toward coordinated advocacy, campaigns, or other collective actions.
Geographical Scope: Projects may take place anywhere in the world.
Outside the Scope of Funding: Training and capacity-building may be included as part of a larger strategy but will not be funded as the primary focus of a project.
Language: Due to SAGE staffing constraints at this time, concept notes must be submitted in English. Grantee organizations or partnerships are very welcome to work in any language but must have one partner or someone within the partnership or organization that can communicate with the Fund in English.
Eligibility Criteria
- Civil society organizations and movements with a mission and programs strongly aligned with human rights are invited to apply, including:
- NGOs from the Global South;
- Movements (including affected communities, women’s movements, worker movements and unions);
- Networks, coalitions, and project partnerships (preference will be given to those with strong participation and leadership from the Global South); and
- Research centers with strong links to activist practice.
- Project proposals may be submitted by an individual organization or by two or more groups as project partners. International NGOs or anchor NGOs from the Global North may participate as a project partner but are not intended as a primary grantee and may not receive most of the funds. Prioritization will be given to proposals from organizations working closely with, or led by, affected communities and movements.
- Eligible organizations must either:
- Be a legally registered charity in the local country and have a bank account that can receive international wire transfers; or
- Designate an NGO that is legally registered in the country and has a local bank account that can receive international wire transfers to serve as the project’s fiscal agent.
For more information, visit https://www.sagefundrights.org/