Deadline: 29-Mar-23
USAID invites interested organizations to apply for Disability Funding to support programming in Disability-Inclusive Climate Action (DCA).
Theme: Disability-Inclusive Climate Action (DCA)
The intersections of climate change and larger societal inequalities experienced by persons with disabilities too often mean that:
- Climate change-related information, including early warning systems for extreme weather events, may be inaccessible to persons with disabilities.
- Persons with disabilities may be intentionally or effectively excluded from meaningful access to and inclusion in governance, finance, and decision-making processes related to climate action.
- Disability-based discrimination in education, employment, urban planning, agriculture, food security, health, disaster preparedness, and other contexts may leave persons with disabilities at risk of exclusion from measures related to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
- Persons with disabilities may be unable to evacuate in the face of extreme weather events, or to fully utilize migration as a climate change adaptive response due to inaccessibility of the built environment, transportation, emergency shelter facilities and poor access to financial and other resources, leading to increased risks of injuries and/or secondary disabilities or mortality.
- Perceptions of inherent vulnerability of persons with disabilities may result in persons with disabilities being forced into segregated settings, or otherwise limit their exercise of agency to generate climate change solutions of benefit to persons with disabilities and wider society.
As part of USAID’s commitment to advance Global Action for Climate Equity and USAID’s Global Disability Summit commitments, USAID/Tajikistan seeks concepts that will support persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in taking climate action to respond to climate change, bolstering their resilience to the effects of climate change, and situating them to contribute to climate action as positive agents of change and sources of solutions. Submitted concepts are asked to show how proposed interventions promote disability-inclusive climate action by persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in their country context. Illustrative activities are included as follows, however other innovative ideas are also welcome:
- Bolstering the resilience of persons with disabilities to the effects of climate change, including by:
- Promoting disability-inclusive approaches to disaster risk management, including meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities in the development and implementation of disaster risk reduction policies and strategies.
- Including persons with disabilities in the development of early warning systems for extreme weather events that are accessible to persons with disabilities.
- Facilitating participation of persons with disabilities in urban planning processes, and promoting resilient infrastructure and urban resilience measures adopted in response to climate change that incorporate accessibility standards and principles of universal design, and are inclusive of and responsive to the specific needs and perspectives of persons with disabilities.
- Including persons with disabilities in the design and implementation of financial protection strategies and instruments to ensure that persons with disabilities can withstand the costs of climate shocks and extreme weather events on an equal basis with others.
- Facilitating the participation of persons with disabilities in sustainable employment and economic empowerment activities that promote climate resilience, e.g. climate-sensitive agriculture and related activities that promote food security.
- Supporting the contribution of persons with disabilities to climate change response, including climate change mitigation, as positive agents of change and sources of solutions, including by:
- Promoting a “just transition” to a green economy for persons with disabilities on an equitable basis with others, including facilitating the participation of persons with disabilities in current and emerging “green jobs” that seek to de-carbonize the economy, bring down emissions of greenhouse gases, promote fuel efficiency and/or the use of renewable energy sources, or otherwise contribute to climate change mitigation.
- Promoting disability-inclusive approaches to climate change response, including meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities in the development of climate change response and mitigation policies, strategies, and activities at regional, national, and/or sub-national levels.
- Promoting the development of national disability action plans that are inclusive of climate action.
- Strengthening the advocacy capacity of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations to be climate leaders, effectively influence climate change response, and ensure that climate action by governments and other actors is informed by and responsive to the unique ideas and contributions of persons with disabilities.
- Promoting collaboration and coordination on climate change action between advocates with disabilities and climate activists.
Funding Information
Subject to funding availability, USAID intends to provide funding for individual projects ranging from $300,000 up to $1,000,000.00 in total. Submissions will be considered within the following two funding ranges:
- From $300,000 to $500,000, and
- From $500,001 to $1,000,000.
Actual funding amounts are subject to availability of funds. USAID intends to award one or two Cooperative Agreement(s) or Grant(s) pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity and after successful completion of the full application process. USAID reserves the right to not fund a Concept paper or Full Application submitted.
Eligibility Criteria
- Concept papers should be from qualified U.S. or non-U.S. entities, such as private, non-profit organizations (or for-profit companies willing to forego profits), faith- and local community-based organizations, private voluntary organizations, universities, research organizations, and professional associations.
- Local Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) are strongly encouraged to submit project concepts. Preference will be given to qualified DPOs and/or any of the above organization types that directly collaborate with and/or award sub-grants to DPOs while meeting the requirements for funding.
- In their submissions to Missions, mainstream (non-DPO) organizations must include letter(s) of signed support from local DPOs they wish to partner with for the purpose of the project. Such letters should demonstrate significant involvement of the DPO(s) in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the project.
- Public International Organizations (PIOs) are not eligible to apply for funding under this program.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.