Deadline: 17-Feb-2025
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for a project that aims to build collective civil society resilience and enable better advocacy initiatives to create a thriving civic space in Sri Lanka.
Through this award, DRL aims to strengthen civil society’s effectiveness in advancing the goals of their community, human rights, and fundamental freedoms in the North and Eastern province.
Funding Information
- Total Funding Floor: $986,500
- Total Funding Ceiling: $986,500
- Period of Performance: 18-30 months
Eligible Activities
- Program activities can include but are not limited to:
- Advancing coordinated, multi-stakeholder advocacy among civil society in the North and East to encourage networking and learning;
- Strengthening the skills of civil society to plan coordinated advocacy, draft policy briefs, etc. to better engage with government counterparts;
- Increasing leadership and mentorship opportunities for civil society leaders, especially from marginalized populations including women, youth, and persons with disabilities;
- Connecting Sri Lankan civil society with regional and international organizations/mechanisms to increase pressure on government actors to bring conditions in the North and East in-line with international human rights standards;
- Engaging with government actors to remind them of international human rights standards as they pursue economic development.
- Supporting nascent civil society organizations in the North and East through financial and organizational capacity building.
Ineligible Activities
- Activities that are not typically allowed include, but are not limited to:
- The provision of humanitarian assistance;
- English language instruction;
- Development of high-tech computer or communications software and/or hardware;
- Purely academic exchanges or fellowships;
- External exchanges or fellowships lasting longer than six months;
- Off-shore activities that are not clearly linked to in-country initiatives and impact or are not necessary per security concerns;
- Theoretical explorations of human rights or democracy issues, including projects aimed primarily at research and evaluation that do not incorporate training or capacity-building for local civil society;
- Micro-loans or similar small business development initiatives;
- Initiatives directed towards a diaspora community rather than current residents of targeted countries.
Outcomes
- Program outcomes could include one or more of the following but are not limited to:
- Civil society (organizations and individuals) is operationally and financially strengthened;
- Civil society organizes and mobilizes communities, including the voices of the most marginalized, including women, youth, and persons with disabilities;
- Civil society engage stakeholders to more effectively advocate on key issues, especially as they relate to women and youth issues, as well as broader human rights issues.
Eligibility Criteria
- DRL welcomes applications from U.S.-based and foreign-based non-profit organizations/nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and public international organizations; private, public, or state institutions of higher education; and for-profit organizations or businesses. DRL’s preference is to work with non-profit entities; however, there may be some occasions when a for-profit entity is best suited.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.