UNDP/Kyrgyzstan: Civic Action Fund’s Cooperation Grants

Deadline: 9 October 2017

The United Nations Development Programme and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation are announcing call for project proposals within the framework of “Strong and inclusive parliamentary democracy project”.

Cooperation grants are awarded within the framework of the Civic Action Fund funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The main objective of grant scheme within the SIPD Civic Action Fund is to enable a diverse range of original domestic civil society initiatives aimed at influencing political processes and promoting civic education. Support will be provided to initiatives of civil society organizations aimed at developing, piloting and institutionalizing practices contributing to greater accountability, inclusion and responsiveness of state institutions, in particular the Parliament, improved collaboration between civil society, the Parliament and other state actors and better civic education. The results are intended to support inclusive, open and accountable democratic governance.

Cooperation grants will provide multi-year issue-based support including potential purpose-oriented institutional development (up to 30% of the total grant amount) for organizations to strengthen their work on systemic shortcomings and challenges of the democratic system and parliamentary accountability to the citizens. They will do so by contributing to improved exchanges of civil society, interest groups and citizens with the Parliament and to mutual trust building. Such multi-annual cooperation will be based on a mutually agreed Cooperation Plan: this Cooperation Plan will lay down the expected results of the partnerships, the process to get there with clear organizational milestones and outputs.

Funding Information

The maximum allowed budget amount per year is USD 72’000. Cooperation grants can have a total duration of four years but the grant legal agreements will be signed for 1 year only.

Areas of Action

In order for cooperation proposals to be eligible for this call, they must be in accordance with the goals of “Strong and inclusive parliamentary democracy” project and focus on the following themes:

Development and implementation of innovative and/or relevant solutions for improved monitoring and oversight of performance of Parliament and state bodies:
- Including those involving support to Public Councils activities;
- Including Parliament and state accountability bodies;
- Including local and municipal levels of governance, provided there is demonstrated potential to scale the impact and findings of the initiative at the national level, at least across several regions and districts of the Kyrgyz Republic and ideally as part of a larger, nationwide project.
Development and implementation of innovative and/or relevant solutions for better inclusion of diverse groups of citizens, especially women, youth, ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups, in decision-making done by the Parliament and other state bodies;
Development and implementation of innovative and/or relevant solutions for civic education;
Evidence-driven research and analysis with clear policy recommendations on civil society and citizen participation, challenges and opportunities in interacting with state institutions at national level, with conceptual and practical focus on accountability transparency, responsiveness and enforcement;
Support to development or improved functioning of civil society and media networks, which facilitate interaction, peer learning and joint activities, with focus on engagement of state institutions for greater accountability and improved collaboration.

Eligibility Criteria

Participation in this public call is open to all on an equal basis, for civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations (associations, foundations, and think tanks) established and registered on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

In order to qualify for the Cooperation Grant, the applicants must:

Legal regulations
- Be a legal non for profit entity established and registered in the KR, in accordance with valid legal regulations
Experience
- Have prior experience of at least 4 years in implementing projects within the suggested project areas of action with a track record of programmatic achievements that correspond to the mission, strategy, values and organizational capacity dynamics;
- Proven experience in implementing at least 3 projects within the suggested areas of action;
- Proven experience in delivering multiplier effects, benefiting a broader range of citizen groups or other CSOs.
Cooperation Team
- The cooperation team should comprise, at minimum, a Coordinator; and experienced programme and operations staff. CVs should be submitted as part of the proposal;
- The cooperation team should have experience in working with a broad range of stakeholders including government, Non-state Actors (NSAs) and civil society representatives;
- Knowledge and experience of conflict sensitivity and gender;
- Cooperation monitoring and reporting experience.
Partnerships and Partner Eligibility
- Applicants may apply individually or as a consortium with other organizations/institutions.
- Organizations shall submit a detailed plan of activities for the first year and an outline of activities for all subsequent years of the proposed cooperation.