CFPs: Innovation & High Impact in addressing the most Burning Issues in Online Child Safety

Deadline: 15-Sep-24

Safe Online is excited to announce a new USD 5 Million Global Open Call for Proposals to continue laying the groundwork for a safe internet globally, in line with the latest data and evidence from the field, technology developments and relevant frameworks addressing digital harms to children.

With this new Open Call, Safe Online will continue to invest in a ‘whole system’ approach for maximum impact by supporting the work across multiple sectors in a coordinated manner to advance solutions to address online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) and related forms of harms to children. The investment approach builds on the vast amount of knowledge generated through Safe Online’s investments, as well as the latest data and evidence in the field and wider digital harms ecosystem.

To invest most effectively in the most burning issues in the online CSEA ecosystem, the 2024 Open Call is focused on innovation and high impact.

Investment Pillars

• To be considered for this Open Call, all proposals must clearly fall under one of the three investment pillars:
  • Pillar A: Networks and Systems: 
    • Projects under this pillar strengthen systems, infrastructures and services across sectors and levels to enable effective action to prevent and respond to online CSEA and related harms to children. They also aim to create incentives for action through norms change, policies and advanced regulation.
    • The primary focus of this investment pillar is to strengthen country level capacity, cross-sector collaboration and international cooperation based on existing multi-stakeholder frameworks and networks, and in alignment with national efforts to tackle other forms of violence against children to enable more effective and coordinated prevention and response to online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) and related digital harms.
    • Objectives
      • Objective 1: Strengthen national, regional and global infrastructure to effectively prevent and respond to digital harms to children with a survivor-centred, inclusive and gender-sensitive approach (including boys) through coordinated law enforcement, criminal justice, industry and social care capacity as a necessary precursor to awareness raising and survivor support.
        • Initiatives include but are not limited to:
          • Targeted capacity building that drives the continued development of specialist police child protection units with adequate resources, online CSEA expertise, equipment and technical solutions, and psychological support Initiatives that seek to strengthen key actors’ capacities to respond more rapidly to newly emerging threats and trends (financial sexual extortion, GenAI, peer to peer risky or harmful behaviours, etc.) particularly encouraged.
          • Measures that optimise expedient investigations and prosecutions, such as those aimed at improving cross-border evidence gathering, access to data from communications service providers, and continuous knowledge building of the judiciary concerning online CSEA.
      • Objective 2: Prevent victimisation and strengthen survivors’ support via improving early intervention, targeted services for potential or actual offenders, and assisting in recovery through increased meaningful child-participation, coordinated and consistent services, and trauma-informed, well-trained personnel across institutions working on preventative and response services.
        • While all activities aimed at combating online CSEA have supported children and young people as their ultimate goal, there is a pressing need for targeted early intervention and response measures that assist in victim support and recovery, as well as services for potential or actual offenders. Building on more general primary prevention, these more targeted initiatives include but are not limited to:
          • Social behaviour change interventions, especially those that aim to prevent harm via working with potential or actual offenders, explore safe and innovative channels for help-seeking, reduce barriers to reporting (including stigma), and prevent and address peer-to-peer violence.
          • Upstream interventions that take public health approaches across key sectors to prevent and respond to online CSEA in the context of other forms of violence and digital agendas. Examples may include exploring the intersections of child online safety and mental health in promotion of children and adolescent wellbeing and thriving alongside prevention and response to harms. This includes but is not limited to support to front-line actors, organisations and interventions to create prevention services for potential or actual offenders and strengthen survivor-centred community-based service provision.
      • Objective 3: Engage families and caregivers who have a critical role to play in promoting healthy and positive digital behaviours, preventing the sexual abuse of children and peer to peer harmful or risky behaviours, as well as responding to harmful or otherwise unwanted experiences online and in-person and supporting children and young people after experiences of victimization.
        • Targeted initiatives which centre on building knowledge and skills for establishing ongoing communication with children about their lives online, sex and relationships are required. As such, they are seeking proposals with the following intended outcomes:
          • Help caregivers better understand the digital environment, so that they learn more about children’s online lives and are equipped to support them as they need help and guidance.
          • Empower caregivers to be more confident and knowledgeable with digital technologies.
    • Total funding envelope (estimated): $2.5million USD
    • Maximum project budget: $250,000 for private companies; $500,000 for not-for-profit entities (multilateral organisations, civil society organisations, NGOs, research institutes, think tanks, foundations, etc.)
  • Pillar B: Research and Data: 
    • Projects under this pillar generate action-oriented research and data insights on children’s and young people’s experiences online, emerging threats and trends in the technology space and on what works to tackle these issues. They also create and promote a global evidence base to support the ecosystem, increase alignments of efforts, improve investment targeting and maximise impact.
    • They will seek to fund academic and/or applied research or data initiatives which may draw from a range of quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods with topics of interest including but not limited to:
      • Greater understanding of the existing and emerging forms of online CSEA including risky behaviours, and the confluence of harms (e.g. victimisation/ perpetration, radicalisation/ online CSEA, etc.) as well as the effectiveness of prevention and response efforts to address them (e.g. early intervention, resilience building, peer-to-peer support, comprehensive sexuality education, services for actual or potential offenders, etc.). This could include but is not limited to impacts of exposure to sexually violent material on children, self-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), financial sexual extortion, sexual peer-to-peer verbal violence (e.g. cyberbullying, harassment), etc.
      • Robust multidisciplinary research, methodological approaches and increased evidence base on the intersections and influence of social media and digital platforms on the lives of children, adolescents and caregivers.
    • Evidence generation efforts should increase understanding across three specific areas of interventions of online CSEA and related forms of harms to children:
      • Prevention and deterrence of harm. To prevent harm to children they must identify ways to promote safety in digital environments and put in place deterrence measures that identify and disrupt risky situations before harm happens. Innovative education interventions beyond PSAs and research efforts more broadly are critical pieces of prevention work.
      • Detection and reporting of harm. Advancements in technology must both be leveraged to quickly and accurately identify and act on digital harm such as online CSEA as well as be better understood to disrupt potential new harms bad actors can exploit them for. This includes for example detecting CSAM within new technological environments as well as increasing the ability to detect complex interactions like grooming or solicitation. Alongside technological measures, effective reporting (by or on behalf of children) both to and by trusted adults, hotline and helplines, and technology companies is a crucial tool in identifying online abuse and exploitation and as well as identifying offenders.
      • Response and support to the full ecosystem, especially victims. Coordinated, collective response is necessary to maximise impact of interventions. Support systems and resources need to be accessible to victims in their differential experiences of online CSEA, children and families in navigating digital environments, professionals working with children’s digital safety (e.g. content moderators, law enforcement, direct service providers, etc.), as well as potential and actual offenders.
    • Total funding envelope (estimated): $1 million USD
    • Maximum project budget: $250,000 for private companies and for not-for-profit entities (multi-lateral organisations, civil society organisations, NGOs, research institutes, think tanks, foundations, etc.)
  • Pillar C: Technology Tools: 
    • Projects under this pillar design, test and develop technology solutions that can feed into the wider ecosystem and support the whole system approach. They also reduce barriers to access to cutting-edge technologies in the online safety space and promote tools that are shareable, adaptable and create efficiencies in online CSEA prevention and response efforts at all levels.
    • They are interested in solutions that apply technology in novel, ground-breaking ways that are scalable and globally applicable, enhancing the capacity of all stakeholders to address online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) and inter-related digital harms in order to make the internet safe for children. Solutions should be applied specifically to exact or related use cases for the Safe Online Open Call (e.g. if online CSEA data is not available for application, use cases such as adult material could be used instead).
    • They are looking for solutions that fall under one of the following approaches:
      • Design of a proof of concept that demonstrates an innovative use of technology to address a specific challenge with clear plans for further research and testing, for example:
        • Forward-looking solutions for detecting all forms of CSEA in emerging environments such as extended reality (XR)
        • Tools to demonstrate innovative ways to balance data protection and child protection in data sharing approaches
      • Development of new prototypes or products – including hardware/software/content components – or of new features within existing products or tools, such as:
        • Open access resources for different stakeholders – e.g. children and young people, parents and caregivers, frontline organisations, policymakers, governments and donors, industry, etc.
        • Applying new and emerging technology to tools to better detect, disrupt and report various forms of online abuse and exploitation
        • Creating tools for detecting suspected CSEA in different digital environments e.g. live streaming, e2ee and peer-to-peer environments
      • Adaptation or combination of existing tools to address current gaps, increase efficacy and/or effectiveness, or apply to new use cases. This can include:
        • Expansion and universalisation of effective technologies and standards.
        • Strengthening existing mechanisms for reporting and removing CSAM and/or other forms of online and offline CSEA with additional features or functionalities.
        • Establishing mechanisms in new contexts and for specific population groups for support services and reporting.
    • Total funding envelope (estimated): $1.5 million USD
    • Maximum project budget: $250,000 for private companies and for not-for-profit entities (multilateral organisations, civil society organisations, NGOs, research institutes, think tanks, foundations, etc.)

Grant Duration

• Maximum of 2 years.

What they fund?

• Non-profit and for-profit organisations with a demonstrated capacity to deliver results.
• Catalytic, innovative proposals that reflect new ways of working, pioneering approaches or creative methodologies, tools, or services.
• Projects that demonstrate understanding of the current state of the field based on the latest evidence, and add value to existing initiatives, research, or tools.
• Proposals that demonstrate some combination of being highly innovative and having potential for high impact.
• Proposals with specific and robust considerations of ethics, compliance with relevant legal frameworks, and risk mitigation measures.
• Proposals that have diverse teams and/or partnerships in place that are representative of the focus of the work.
• Proposals that have clearly articulated the budget need and how it aligns with key capacity, activities and outputs.

What they do not fund?

• Government entities and private individuals.
• Projects that duplicate existing initiatives or research.
• Prevalence or baselines studies that do not adopt innovative methodologies.
• “One-off” mass awareness raising campaigns or “one-off” trainings.
• Continuations of existing projects or initiatives, without any substantial innovations.
• Proposals that do not clearly align with one of the three pillars AND the focus area of this call (innovation & high impact).
• Proposals that do not sufficiently address ethical considerations or potential risks.
• Proposals that include capacity or budget allocations that do not align appropriately with the scope of work.

Principles

• Synergies and complementarities
  • Seek synergies and complementarities across the priority areas of investment (Networks and Systems, Research and Data, and Technology Tools) and the Safe Online portfolio.
• Add value
  • Add value and/or address gaps in the existing online CSEA ecosystem, does not duplicate, and/or builds upon and/or interacts with existing programmes/intervention, including strategic partnerships with Safe Online grantees and partners across levels and/or alignment with other relevant initiatives.
• Involve local partners
  • Seek applications with active involvement and leadership of local partners and authorities in the design and delivery of activities, with explicit and formal buy-in from necessary entities and communities.
• Be evidence-based
  • Apply an innovative, holistic and evidence-based approach, and address interlinkages between in global digital agendas including cybersecurity, gender-based violence online, image based sexual abuse, violent extremism online, etc. Components are child rights-centred, recognising and reflecting the full spectrum of human rights, including but not limited to privacy and safety.
• Transparent and accountable
  • Ensure transparency with accountability mechanisms to ensure governing principles are adhered to and communicated clearly. Projects create open-source outputs and engage in open working techniques to the extent possible.
• Representative and inclusive
  • Seek applications that are representative and inclusive, including countries of applicants and key partners, team profile, and population focus, and include clear consideration of downstream implications with nuanced understanding of contextual factors and differential user-experiences.
• Child safety is paramount
  • Require and support child safeguarding policy development, and must be compliant with the relevant/applicable legislative, regulatory and enforcement frameworks, including data protection policy in alignment with relevant laws/guidance.
• Capacity for work
  • Require alignment of project activities with team capacity and budget allocation for most effective and impactful use of resources.
• Match the funding
  • Seek applications with availability to match the funding, and a strong evaluation and impact assessment.

Geographic Scope

• There are no geographic restrictions to this Open Call. Proposals may be focused on a single country, multiple countries or global in reach.
• The majority of available funds under this Open Call aim to support projects implemented in countries eligible for ODA support, or projects that have a truly global reach and impact; only a small portion of the funds are not subject to this restriction.
• They particularly welcome proposals that will be implemented in regions that are under-served and underrepresented in the Safe Online portfolio such as: the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, and West and Central Africa.
• Please also note that the applicant organisation does not need to be based in the implementation country(ies), though in such cases, competitive proposals will meaningfully partner with organisations and experts in the implementation country(ies).

Eligibility Criteria

• Non-profit organisations, such as civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), international multilateral organisations, think tanks, and research and academic institutions. Youth-led organisations are particularly encouraged to apply.
• For-profit organisations, such as private companies.
• All organisations must be a legally registered entity within the country or countries of implementation, and must include relevant documentation in order to be considered eligible. In addition to this, letters of support from local authorities and organisations may also be required.
• Organisations must have demonstrated expertise and experience in addressing online CSEA and related harms to children. CVs of all proposed personnel are required. Applicants under Investment Pillar A: Networks and Systems must include a list of similar projects and at least three references from partners attesting to your organisation’s track record of implementing similar projects in similar contexts.
• Consortia of organisations with different strengths and expertise are highly encouraged to apply. Please note that the organisation submitting the application will be considered the main grantee, bearing all the contractual responsibilities vis-à-vis Safe Online.
• Current and former Safe Online grantees are eligible to apply, though please note that proposals that seek to continue existing projects are unlikely to be competitive.
• Please note that applications from individuals and government agencies and government institutions are not eligible at this time.
• Please note that an organisation may submit multiple proposals under different investment pillars, as long as the eligibility criteria are met for each proposal. However, consideration will be given to ensure diversity of grant recipients and therefore applications from the same institution will be carefully evaluated with this in mind.

For more information, visit Safe Online.