Granturi (Finanțări)

Request for Grant Applications

Project: Building Resilience in the Eastern Neighbourhood (BREN)

Open to: Civil society organisations in Moldova. Note: this includes new organisations and previous BREN partners.

Closing Date:   14 July 2023

Grant Amount: Up to GBP 50,000

Estimated number of awards: 3    

Project timeframe: Up to 7 months (all projects must end by 29 February 2024)

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) is currently accepting applications from civil society organisations in Moldova as part of the programme Building Resilience in the Eastern Neighbourhood (BREN).

The overall aim of the BREN programme is to enhance the human security of women and marginalised groups in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova through building the resilience of civil society.

In Moldova, BREN has the following thematic priorities:

• Supporting progress of the women, peace and security framework in Moldova;
• Resilience-building initiatives that encourage the inclusion of women in peace, security and defence discussion and decision-making and women participation for resilience building;
• Creating, strengthening and supporting partnerships and networks among non-state and state actors, partnerships across Nistru River that advocate for women’s meaningful participation in peace, stability, security and defence processes;
• Localisation activities of the WPS Agenda for more resilient communities on both banks of Nistru River.
• Increasing resilience and inclusion of diverse groups in peace, security and defence discussion and decision-making;
• Advocacy activities, including cross-river initiatives, aimed at raising awareness on WPS and security and defence reform among women from both banks of the Nistru River, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, and LGBTQI+ communities;
• Building the capacity of women and girls from both banks of the Nistru River, ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities, and LGBTQI+ communities to advocate for important issues with local government bodies, implement activities that promote gender equality, prevent violence, and build peace in their communities;
• Building diversity in cybersecurity and cyber-awareness through engagement with multiple actors, stakeholders, governmental bodies at the national level;
• Advancing the role of civil society and women’s rights organisations, in particular in conflict prevention, including hybrid warfare prevention, community reconciliation, and relief and recovery;
• Civil society-led research and discussions into new, emerging hybrid threats, in response to changing geopolitical dynamics in the region;
• Encouraging civil society’s active engagement with state actors in identifying and countering hybrid threats;
• Encouraging initiatives to strengthen coordination and experience-sharing mechanisms between CSOs to scale-up their response to hybrid threats;
• Initiatives, including cross-river initiatives, that prevent gender-based violence and promote the role of women in peace, security and defence processes in Moldova.

Please note: this grant call is open to new organisations not previously supported under the BREN programme, as well as previous grantees. Partners previously supported under the BREN programme, or those who have applied for other BREN funding opportunities may apply for this call. However, please note that a maximum of one grant will be issued per organisation during 2023.

Requirements

Applications are open to all civil society organisations registered in Moldova.

Interested applicants should aim to align to the thematic priorities outlined above.

IWPR can support activities that focus on:

• Production of materials: For example, research, production of educational, promotional or media content around project issues.

• Advocacy: For example, advocacy activities targeted at government, local government, or community entities, such as educational and religious institutions.
• Community work: activities focusing on increasing knowledge and skills of vulnerable communities, especially women, ethnic and religious minorities, IDPs and refugees, LGBTQI+ communities, and youth.
• Capacity Building: activities providing capacity building support to beneficiaries, partner organisations, or other stakeholders in the thematic areas identified.
• Networking: activities that support networking between groups or individuals working within the thematic areas identified, including sharing resources and efforts to build on or catalyse change amongst diverse groups/individuals.

The proposed project should be no longer than seven months. All projects must end by 29 February 2024. The budget range for supported projects is between 20,000-50,000 GBP.

We strongly encourage applications from:

• Organisations led by women and/or youth;
• Orgnisations led by IDPs, ethnic and religious minorities, and the LGBTQI+ community;
• Organisations working outside the capital, especially those working in border regions;
• Newly-formed organisations.

This call aims to facilitate partnerships among organisations, therefore joint applications are encouraged, especially with the following combinations:

• Organisations based in and outside the capital;
• Organisations that have different areas of expertise;
• CSOs partnered with media organisations;
• Organisations led by majority (ethnic, religious, sexual orientation and gender identity) and minority (ethnic, religious, sexual orientation and gender identity) groups.
• Organisations from different BREN countries. If an organisation wishes to submit a proposal jointly with an organisation from another country, IWPR will support the identification of relevant Please contact Ana Dabrundashvili at ana@iwpr.net before 23 June 2023 for assistance.

Potential applicants should demonstrate:

• Respect for gender equality and diversity;
• Conflict and gender sensitivity;
• Ability to identify, analyse, and mitigate risks;
• Transparency and accountability in project management, including management of finances;
• Willingness to learn and share experience with other grant recipients.
• A sustainability plan to continue the work started under the grant.

This call is a part of the wider BREN project. The applicants will be advised to participate in its national and regional experience-sharing and capacity-building activities, including in the areas of cyber security and strategic communications.

All funding recipients will undergo an organisational and resilience needs assessment within the first two weeks of the project award. This needs assessment will inform individualised organisational capacity building activities. All funding recipients are advised to participate in the individualised capacity building and resilience needs assessment and activities.

Evaluation

There will be a two-stage evaluation process of applications. In the first stage, applications will be shortlisted by IWPR based on a 10-point scale.

IWPR may request clarifications from the organisations in the shortlisting stage. Proposals with a score of at least 5 points will be submitted to the selection panel for full review.

Final Selection

The selection panel, which consists of representatives from IWPR and the UK Embassy in Moldova, will assess proposals based on the set criteria as described in the below table. Applicants with the highest scores will be selected for funding. Funding will be contingent on vetting processes.

Application Process

Interested organisations should complete and submit application and budget forms to iwpr-en@iwpr.net

Applications may be submitted in English, Romanian and Russian languages. The English language is preferred; however, the language of the submission will not affect the decision on the award.

Please direct all questions to ana@iwpr.net.

Replies to questions will be provided by IWPR staff until 10 July 2023.

An information session about this grant call will take place on 3 July 2023, 11:00 AM Chisinau time via Zoom. Interested organisations can register for the information session here: https://shorturl.at/gptwF

About IWPR

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (iwpr.net) is an international not-for-profit organisation with head offices in London and Washington DC. IWPR builds peace and democracy through free and fair media. It strengthens local media at the frontlines of conflict and change, working in three dozen countries and territories around the world. Activities include establishing independent local media; training local reporters, editors and producers; supporting extensive in-depth reporting on human rights, good governance and related issues; disseminating professional reporting in developing countries and internationally; and strengthening communications capacity of local human rights, international justice and women’s organisations.

About BREN

The project Building Resilience in the Eastern Neighbourhood (BREN) is supported by the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund of the United Kingdom and implemented by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in partnership with the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP).

The BREN project contributes to enabling CSOs to deliver transformative change in the peace and security area to increase human security for women and marginalised, vulnerable and socially excluded groups in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova.