UN Peacebuilding Fund’s Gender and Youth Promotion Initiative 2021

Deadline: 18-Jun-21

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) has announced the proposals for the Gender and Youth Promotion Initiative which is an expression of the Fund’s commitment to inclusive peacebuilding. It supports the empowerment of women and the advancement of gender equality and recognizes the important and positive role young people play in peacebuilding.

Through the initiative the PBF seeks to increase its peacebuilding impact and advance the implementation of the Secretary General’s Seven-Point Action Plan on Gender-Responsive Peacebuilding, Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and others on Women, Peace and Security, and Security Council resolution 2250 (2015) on Youth, Peace and Security.

Aims

Gender Promotion Initiative
- Support innovative projects, focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment with the potential for catalytic effects and peacebuilding outcomes;
- Strengthen the integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment within existing prevention and peacebuilding initiatives;
- Contribute to collective operational learning on gender-responsive programming;
- Accelerate implementation of the Secretary-General Seven-Point Action Plan and its commitment to increase funding of gender-responsive peacebuilding projects; and
- Maintain and improve performance against the Secretary-General’s target of allocating a minimum of fifteen per cent of all peacebuilding funding to gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Youth Promotion Initiative
- Support innovative projects, focused on youth empowerment and participation with the potential for catalytic effects and peacebuilding outcomes;
- Strengthen the participation of young women and men within existing prevention and peacebuilding
- Enhance support to youth civil society organizations and facilitate their partnership with international CSOs, Governments and UN entities active in their country;
- Contribute to collective operational learning on youth-inclusive programming; and
- Support the implementation of Security Council resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security.

Focus Areas

This year’s GYPI will focus on:
- Promoting meaningful participation of women and youth in local peacebuilding and will prioritize proposals on:
  - Promotion and protection of civic spaces, notably regarding land, indigenous peoples and environmental issues
  - Promotion and strengthening of mental health and psychosocial well-being for women and youth as part of local peacebuilding processes
In addition, preference will be given to joint UN-CSO projects, projects implemented by national CSOs and projects that demonstrate strong partnerships with women- and/or youth-led organizations or networks.

Funding Information

UN Country Teams: Grants from $800,000 to $1.5 million per project
Civil Society Organizations: Grants from $300,000 to $1.5 million per project

Priority Areas

Responding to imminent threats to the peace process, support for the implementation of peace agreements and political dialogue
- Security Sector Reform
- Rule of Law
- Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration
- Political dialogue (around specific time-bound peace/political agreements)
Building and/or strengthening national capacities to promote coexistence and peaceful resolution of conflict
- National Reconciliation
- Democratic Governance
- Conflict Prevention/Management
Supporting efforts to revitalise the economy and generate immediate peace dividends for the population at large
- Employment
- Equitable access to social services
Establishing or re-establishing essential administrative services and related human and technical capacities
- Strengthening of essential national state capacity
- Extension of state authority / local administration
- Governance of peacebuilding resources

Eligibility Criteria

The GYPI calls for proposals from both civil society organizations (CSOs) as well as from UN agencies, funds and programms, in PBF eligible countries.
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan.
Types of proposals
- The GYPI welcomes proposals from both civil society organizations (CSOs) and UN agencies, funds and programms (UN AFPs). All applicants interested in applying to the GYPI are advised to reach out to the PBF Secretariat in the project country for guidance. In 2021, the GYPI accepts three types of project proposals:
  - Joint UN proposals: with up to three UN entities as direct fund recipients (to be submitted by the convening UN recipient after receiving the endorsement from the RC/SRSG/DSRSG)
  - Joint UN-CSO proposals: with up to two UN entities and one CSO as direct fund recipients (to be submitted by the convening UN recipient after receiving the endorsement from the RC/SRSG/DSRSG)
  - CSO proposals: with one CSO as direct fund recipient (to be submitted by the CSO independently)
For CSO applicants
- In order to be declared eligible for the GYPI, CSOs must be assessed as technically, financially and legally sound by the PBF and its fiduciary agent, the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office. CSOs need to meet all the criteria to be deemed eligible for this call and proof will be required at the concept note stage. In previous rounds, the Fund has mostly funded international CSOs and some national CSOs. They urge all CSO applicants to thoroughly check the eligibility criteria before applying.
- CSO applicants must provide the following eligibility documents:
  - Proof of previously received funding from the PBF, UN, or any of the contributors to the PBF in the country of project implementation (for example a grant agreement).
  - Proof of current valid formal registration as non-profit with a social mission for the duration of the proposed project in
    - the country where the headquarters is located and
    - the country of project implementation. NOTE: If registration is done on an annual basis in the country, the organization must have the current registration and obtain renewals for the duration of the project in order to receive subsequent funding.
  - Proof of tax exemption in
    - the country where the headquarters is located and
    - the country of project implementation.
  - Audited financial statements of the last two calendar years, including
    - the legal organization that will sign the agreement (and oversee the country of project implementation, if applicable)
    - the signed auditor opinion letter. The letter from the auditor should also state whether the auditor firm is designated as a nationally qualified audit firm and
    - the activities and budget of project country. NOTE: If the audited financial statements do not clearly include the in-country activities and budget, the organization should provide the latest two audit reports for a programme or project-based audits in the country of project implementation from the last two years.
    - NOTE: The organization needs to demonstrate an annual budget in the country of project implementation that is at least twice the annualized grant amount sought from the PBF, for both years. This means that for the smallest grant available of $300,000 (for an 18-month project), the organization needs to demonstrate an annual budget of at least $400,000.
  - Latest annual report that includes the activities of the organization in the country of proposed project implementation.
  - Confirmation that the organization has worked at least three years in the project country.
  - Explanation of the organization’s legal structure.