Deadline: 26-Nov-21
The Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) is pleased to announce a call for proposals for the seventeenth (17) grant round of the Kosovo Women’s Fund’s (KWF’s).
KWN invites women’s rights civil society organisations (WCSOs) and shelters to submit applications that will contribute to furthering women’s rights and gender equality.
Initiatives
The types of initiatives that will be prioritized for funding will include:
- Strengthening the Feminist Movement in Kosovo
- Building capacities and involving youth (young women and men) in advocating for women’s rights, particularly related to COVID-19 response measures;
- Mobilizing persons with disabilities, pensioners, persons from minority ethnic groups (within their municipality), and women from rural areas in advocating for their rights, particularly related to COVID-19 recovery;
- Collaborating with other KWN members to share knowledge and further other network members’ capacities in specific areas, as well as increase solidarity among women’s organizations in joint advocacy for an improved COVID-19 response;
- Utilize KWN’s research Where’s the Money for Women’s Rights? and other data available to inform advocacy and awareness raising for women’s rights, such as the allocation of permanent government budget lines for civil society towards enhancing the resilience and sustainability of women’s rights organisations.
- Women in Politics and Decision-making
- Involving women in identifying priorities towards gender equality in their municipalities and directly advocating to officials to address their priorities, related to the COVID-19 recovery;
- Involving women in reviewing draft policy documents at municipal or national levels and providing their input (e.g., budget documents, new municipal regulations, etc., particularly related to addressing COVID-19);
- Support municipalities and/or ministries in implementing gender-responsive budgeting particularly related to the COVID-19 response, including by building their capacities and supporting them to conduct gender analysis of who has benefitted from measures; and using this to set objective and activities for improving the distribution of state resources and services related to COVID-19 in the future;
- Women’s Right to Healthcare
- Involving women in advocating for improved access to quality healthcare, including taking actions to demand quality, affordable healthcare be provided and/or to report violations of women’s right to healthcare, particularly related to COVID-19 prevention and treatment;
- Collaborate with women to officially report abuses of their right to healthcare to the appropriate authorities (especially reproductive and maternal health), after raising their awareness about their rights;
- Utilize KWN’s research Access to Healthcare in Kosovo and other data available on women’s access to quality healthcare to inform advocacy and awareness raising;
- Provision of specific services, such as legal health services.
- A Life Free from Gender-based Violence
- Advocate to institutions for improved services for persons who have suffered gender-based violence (e.g., domestic violence, sexual harassment), particularly during COVID-19;
- Advocate to institutions for better rehabilitation and reintegration services for persons who suffered violence;
- Monitor court cases related to domestic violence and report incorrect application of the legal framework by courts, advocating to the appropriate institutions for these issues to be addressed;
- Strengthening capacities of individuals, communities and authorities to ensure safety of women and reduce domestic violence towards women and girls in the context of crisis;
- Support women and girls who have experienced sexual harassment at work, at school, or in the street by providing legal help to them and teaching them how to approach the correct institutions and seeking an address for these cases. Initiatives may also include informing citizens of their rights to address sexual harassment;
- Consult the research reports of KWN, such as From Laws to Action (2021), monitoring the institutional response to gender-based violence and the report on Sexual Harassment in Kosovo (2016), which monitors the implementation of relevant legal framework by responsible institutions, in order to inform advocacy that holds individual institutions accountable and improves their approach in addressing all forms of gender-based violence;
- Collaborate with local institutions and businesses to install mechanisms for addressing sexual harassment; Provide legal and psychological support to women who are victims of gender-based violence through tele-counselling and in person; advocate for sustained state support of these services based on lessons learned from this experience.
- Women’s Economic Empowerment
- Advocating to municipal or national authorities for policies that encourage and support women’s economic empowerment particularly amid COVID-19 recovery measures (e.g., more allocation of agricultural subsidies to women and men, more equal distribution of government grants for business development for women and men, the opening of more public day cares that will provide jobs for women and enable women to work);
- Providing legal aid, advice and assistance to women who’s labour rights were violated amid COVID-19 and helping them access justice;
- Working with Regional Employment Centres to encourage and help them to support more women in securing employment;
- Directly supporting women in claiming their rights to property and/or inheritance, as needed to qualify for state benefits related to COVID-19 response measures (this can follow awareness-raising, but must involve women actually registering property or claiming inheritance);
- Improving the gender perspective on reforms related to the EU accession process related to women’s employment, particularly amid COVID-19 recovery measures.
- Improving Access to Quality and Gender Sensitive Education
- Advocating at municipal and national levels for the government to allocate more resources for establishing more pre-schools and childcare centres, as essential amid COVID-19 relief measures;
Funding Information
- The grants distributed in this grant round will receive support through KWN’s initiative “Enhancing the Capacities and Resilience of CSOs Furthering Gender Equality Amid the COVID19 Pandemic” supported by the European Union Office in Kosovo (EU). The total amount expected to be distributed during this grant round is €280,000.
- The types of grants available.
- Diverse WCSOs: Maximum amount – €10,000
- WCSOs Shelters: Maximum amount – €10,000
- Initiatives are expected to begin on first week of February 2022 and can last up to a maximum of eighteen (18) months from the date of contract signature. KWN reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted, as well as to discuss with applicants allocating actions as needed within the aforementioned categories. Funding decisions will be made by KWF Grants Review Committee (GRC), elected by KWN members.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to apply, organizations must fulfil the following criteria:
- Plan and implement activities in accordance with their own organizational strategy;
- Undertake activities that contribute to the implementation of the KWN Strategy for 2019- 2022, including programs on:
- Strengthening the Feminist Movement in Kosovo;
- Women in Politics and Decision-making;
- Women’s Rights to Healthcare;
- A life-free from Gender-based Violence;
- Women’s Economic Empowerment;
- Improving Access to Quality and Gender Sensitive Education
- Be able to provide at least 10% of the budget total amount from another donor and/or self-contribution (e.g., documented volunteer work). This 10% contribution should be reflected in the budget proposal;
- Have no staff members currently part of KWN’s Board, or part of the GRC.
- The GRC will prioritize funding for:
- KWN members;
- Initiatives linked to addressing COVID-19 related challenges and/or needs;
- Initiatives that involve advocacy, towards bringing about sustainable changes in supporting, protecting, or promoting women’s rights and gender equality at municipal and/or national levels;
- Initiatives that aim to contribute to produce tangible and visible results (e.g., new legislation, new services, reports about cases of gender-based violence, monitored court cases,, etc.);
- Initiatives that engage persons with different abilities, minority ethnic groups and marginalized persons;
- Organizations lacking other funding opportunities from different donors.
For more information, visit https://womensnetwork.org/kosovo-womens-fund/call-for-applications/