South Asia Collective COVID-19 Support Grants

Deadline: 23 April 2020

In response to these developments, the South Asia Collective is launching a sub-grant programme to support short-term projects which examine and address the specific issues that minorities are facing within the sub-region in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, this grant programme aims to support initiatives in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and/or Sri Lanka which align with the activities stipulated below. Please note that unfortunately this grant cannot be used to cover short-term humanitarian needs (e.g. delivery of food or medical supplies, housing needs, cash or income replacement).

This call is part of the project “Supporting Religious Pluralism across South Asia“, which is funded by the European Union. This content is the sole responsibility of Minority Rights Group and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

Possible Activities and Approaches

Below is a list of the types of initiatives this grant programme could support. This list is not complete, but if you are unsure if your idea fits the grant call please send an email at the address given on the website, with a short description before completing a full application.

• Documentation of, and advocacy on, the specific issues minorities face as a consequence of COVID-19, as well as the policy and social responses to it (e.g. gaps in access to emergency measures where they exist due to range of factors such as absence of documentation, geographic location, or wider discrimination; online and offline hate speech; discrimination in the design or implementation of COVID-19 containment or response mechanisms.
• Public campaigns to spread awareness about COVID-19, mitigation strategies, and access to support amongst minority communities (e.g. engagement with religious or other minority leaders where appropriate; translation of information into minority languages; public radio or other community campaigns).
• Engagement with media (traditional and/or social) to address and combat misinformation, or highlight minority dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. public information or counter-narrative campaigns through radio programmes or social media; sensitization of journalists; release and targeted distribution of press statements to raise awareness of the issues affecting minorities)
• Development of tracking mechanisms to monitor the spread of COVID-19 amongst remote, highly excluded, or hard to reach groups and to document effects of both of the virus and containment measures on minority communities. This can include the provision of basic mobile phones and data/credit in contexts where a whole community would have no other means of communication with the authorities and human rights defenders during a lock down.

Note: This grant can also be used to support pre-existing initiatives that align with its focus.

Initiatives which focus on the short-term provision of humanitarian support unfortunately cannot be funded by this grant.

Funding Information

• Grant size: The amount available for each project will be between 750 EUR to 1,000 EUR.
• Timeframe: Projects may run for a maximum of 3-months from the time they are issued (early May 2020).

Note: All projects should respect existing official guidance to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Geographic Scope

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Criteria

• Your proposal is eligible for consideration only if it complies with the following criteria.
  • Projects in the following countries are eligible under this call: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
  • All applicants should be registered as legal entities or be part of a registered entity/network in the respective country where they operate.
  • All applicants must have the ability to receive funding.
• SAC particularly encourages minority-led initiatives to apply.

For more information, visit https://minorityrights.org/2020/04/09/south-asia-collective-covid-19-support-grants/