Deadline: 30-Nov-23
The Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI) team at CIVICUS is seeking five experienced and knowledgeable civil society organisations who can lead the co-design process for regional exploration and consensus-building to gain a comprehensive understanding of the DDI project’s target groups in five regions around the world and identify needs-based prototypes for strengthening the resourcing infrastructure for digital action on inclusive democracy.
The Digital Democracy Initiative, Enable & Amplify Project, led by CIVICUS in partnership with Global Focus, aims to see that inclusive democracy and civic space are expanded and protected through the improved use of digital technology for civic engagement. Its target groups are local civil society actors operating in restrictive contexts in the global south.
Funding Information
- US$50,000.00 per region.
Time Frame
- Selected partners will have three months between January to March 2024 to complete the work.
What they need?
- The Digital Democracy Initiative team is seeking five experienced and knowledgeable organisations who can lead the co-design process for regional exploration and consensus-building process in the following five regions: 1) Sub-Saharan Africa, 2) Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 3) Latin America and the Caribbean, 4) the Pacific, and 5) South Asia. One partner will be selected per region, but they are open to accepting joint proposals from two partner organisations leading a process in one region.
- The codesign process aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the project’s target groups in each of those five regions and identify needs-based protypes for strengthening the resourcing infrastructure for digital action on inclusive democracy. The selected partners will lead research and engagement activities with actors from local civil society in their respective region to:
- Map and engage the civil society ecosystem in each region working on/for: 1) inclusive democracy; 2) tech for good; and 3) across both areas.
- Identify which digital capacities and approaches are helping to advance/safeguard inclusive democracy in different contexts, and where there are gaps.
- Identify particular contexts where there are opportunities for using digital tools to consolidate and enhance inclusive democracy, and support for averting/countering risks of backsliding.
- Better understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing support mechanisms for local civil society actors working for inclusive democracy, especially in relation to harnessing digital technologies.
- Better understand which information, learning and knowledge sharing platforms approaches on the digital-democracy nexus are most effective/needed.
Deliverables
- Mapping of the civil society actors in the local ecosystem in each region who align with the target groups of the DDI and the relevant codesign process.
- Regional codesign process plan that includes online and in person sessions and aims to identify the support and resourcing needs of local actors relevant to the DDI target groups and codesign with them protypes of potential mechanisms for strengthening the support and resourcing infrastructure for civil society working on digital action on inclusive democracy.
- Comprehensive plan to engage relevant mapped actors in the regional codesign process.
- Online and in person codesign processes implemented. Cumulatively, both the online and in person sessions should have in attendance at least 60 different actors disaggregated as follows: 50% local civil society actors (local collaborators) representing broader local constituencies and 50% local civil society actors (local collaborators) representing marginalised groups (women, youth and LGBTQI+ groups).
- Synthesis report with clearly identified regional DDI relevant actors, their support and resourcing needs, list and describe the codesigned support and resourcing mechanism prototypes, and the lessons learned from the experience.
- Contribution to development of global DDI resourcing mechanism principles and procedures.
Location
- They are looking to engage 5 partners, one for each of the following regions: 1) Sub-Saharan Africa, 2) Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 3) Latin America and the Caribbean, 4) the Pacific, and 5) South Asia. Each partner must be based in the region for which they are applying.
Eligibility Criteria
- Examples of the type of organisations they are looking for:
- Must be based in the regions from where and for which they are applying.
- Must be based in a global south country receiving Official Development Assistance from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (countries known as OECD ODA recipients).
- Expertise in design thinking methodologies and a proven track record of delivering codesign processes, both online and in-person.
- Extensive network of and direct experience working with civil society, including DDI target groups in the regions where they are applying.
- Proven ability to convene civil society organisations and activists on a regional level.
- Extensive regional and national project implementation experience and reach.
- Formal legally registered organisations.
- Excellent written and verbal communication in English. While selected partners will implement all the work in the relevant local languages in their region, they will communicate and submit all deliverables to CIVICUS in English.
Desirable Requirements
- An application made by a consortium of organisations from the region that have come together to pool expertise and reach, to reach a wider audience and deliver a more comprehensive process.
- Direct experience working on the nexus between digital/tech for good and inclusive democracy.
- Knowledge and experience of civil society resourcing mechanisms, including an understanding of existing good practices and related barriers/gaps.
For more information, visit CIVICUS.