Philippines: The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives

Deadline: 3-May-22

The Embassy of Canada in the Philippines is pleased to launch its annual call for proposals for the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).

The CFLI is a program designed to support small-scale, high-impact projects in developing countries, which align with Global Affairs Canada’s thematic priority areas for engagement. The program is directed at projects conceived and designed predominantly by local partners. Projects are selected and approved by the relevant Canadian embassy or high commission. The CFLI also serves to support positive bilateral relations between Canada and recipient countries and their civil societies, by deepening contacts and supporting local endeavors.

Thematic Priorities

All projects must align with at least one of the following CFLI thematic priorities:
- Environment and climate action, potential areas include climate change adaptation and mitigation, coastal biodiversity, watershed area preservation, and supporting sustainable practices of indigenous peoples.
- Peace and security, with a focus on conflict prevention and building peace in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), dispute resolution in the West Philippine Sea, and implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security and Youth Peace and Security agendas.
- Inclusive governance, including LGBTQ2 rights, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. This may also include freedom of information or combatting disinformation, in alignment with Canada’s chairing of the Freedom Online Coalition in 2022.
- Human dignity and gender equality, with a focus on the empowerment of women and girls, in particular supporting women’s political participation and combatting gender-based violence.

Gender-Based Analysis

In 2017, Canada adopted its Feminist International Assistance Policy to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as the most effective way to reduce poverty and build a more inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous world. In alignment with this policy, the CFLI project application process now requires a gender-based analysis (GBA). The purpose of this change is to enhance the gender equality outcomes of the CFLI program.
A GBA will require applicants to:
- consider how women, girls, men, and boys are affected differently by the problem their project is aiming to address, ensuring, at the same time, that the project does not cause harm
- consult women and/or girls in the development of their project proposal
- ensure that the views of those women and/or girls inform the project’s design
Note that consultations can include, but are not limited to, speaking to women and girls from the local community, women and other individuals who work for civil society organizations that have worked in the local community, and female and male decision and change-makers who have knowledge of the local community.
Inadequate completion of a GBA may affect the consideration of your proposal.

Funding Information

The average CFLI contribution is $50,000 Canadian Dollars.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible recipients include:
- Local non-governmental, community, and not-for-profit organizations,
- Local academic institutions working on local projects,
- International non-governmental organizations working on local development activities,
- Intergovernmental, multilateral and regional institutions, organizations, and agencies working on local development activities,
- Municipal, regional or national government institutions or agencies of the recipient country working on local projects, and
- Canadian non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations that are working on local development activities.
The majority of CFLI funding is to be directed toward local civil society organizations (including non-governmental organizations) and other institutions working at the local level.
Other entities, such as international, intergovernmental, multilateral, and regional organizations may be eligible for funding, provided they are working with local partners and on local projects that are consistent with the objectives of the CFLI.
Similarly, municipal, regional and national government institutions may receive funding, provided that their projects are essentially local in nature.
The CFLI is always looking to fund innovative projects that deliver measurable results.