Deadline: 14-Sep-23
The ISDAO has launched the third cycle of the ASANKA Fund to encourage innovative advocacy, mobilization and movement-building strategies, including those aimed at changing narratives through literature, video, digital content production, photography, choreography, film, radio, painting, drawing, and all art forms in general at local and regional levels.
For ISDAO, for the purpose of this grant, creative initiatives are those that are not included in traditional forms of activism. This includes but is not limited to, all creative initiatives carried out by LGBTQI groups/organizations or individual LGBTQI activists in support of LGBTQI Activism in at least one of ISDAO’s focal countries. This could be, for example, the production of a mini-documentary, the editing of a book, a comic book, the creation of a web radio, the creation of a photo project, etc.
ISDAO is a West African activist-led fund for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people. It aims to strengthen and support a West African movement for gender diversity and sexual rights by adopting a flexible approach to grantmaking and developing a philanthropic culture committed to equality and social justice.
ISDAO stands for the following values:
- Equitable representation of the LGBTQI community
- Build and strengthen ideologically-based movements, based on recognition of unequal power relations.
- Autonomy, inclusion, diversity and intersectionality, enabling self-determination at all levels.
ISDAO provides flexible funding to support the overall coordination, operations and strengthening of groups/organizations and the initiatives/projects developed by these groups and organizations. For the Asanka Creative Initiatives pilot fund, this support is for LGBTQI groups/organizations and individual LGBTQI activists.
Funding Information
- Range of grants: Budget between $3,000 and $5,000
- Grant Timeline: 1 year (12 months) maximum period
Who do they fund?
- For the ASANKA Fund, ISDAO will only fund groups and organizations led by lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and individual LGBTQI activists based in or from one of the ISDAO focal countries whose work is rooted in and connected to the local movement in the region or in one of the ISDAO focal countries and involves local partners can submit a concept note for a creative project.
- ISDAO grants for ASANKA – Creative Initiatives Fund will be awarded:
- Organizations/groups/associations that are led by lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersex and trans* (LGBTQI) people, where these communities play a decision-making role, including defining the organization’s strategic and financial priorities, and represent at least 75% of staff, spokespeople and board members or other decision-making bodies; and based in at least one of the ISDAO focal countries.
- Individual LGBTQI activists based in one of ISDAO’s focal countries or from one of ISDAO’s focal countries whose work is rooted in and connected to the local movement in the region or in one of ISDAO’s focal countries and involves local partners can submit a concept note for a creative project.
- Please note that :
- ISDAO does not require a group to be legally registered to be eligible for funding.
- Individual initiatives are welcome for this pilot fund.
- Concept notes submitted by government institutions or political organizations are not eligible for funding.
Eligibility Criteria
- If your group/organization is a current ISDAO grantee you cannot apply for ASANKA.
- If you are in a leadership role (executive director, coordinator, president, program officer, etc.) in an LGBTQI identity group/organization, you may not submit a concept note for ASANKA as an individual activist.
For more information, visit ISDAO.