May 26, 2021

VOICES FOR CLIMATE ACTION PROGRAMME- KENYA CALL FOR PROPOSALS 2021

About Akina Mama wa Afrika

Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) is a feminist Pan-African leadership development organization with headquarters in Kampala, Uganda. Our work is rooted in feminist principles and beliefs guided by the Charter of Feminist Principles for African Feminists which define our leadership development program and movement building activities. We envision a world in which African women are politically, economically and socially autonomous and are champions of change in their lives and society. Our thematic areas of focus include; Women’s Political Leadership, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and Economic Justice and Climate Change. The organization’s work is advanced through feminist and transformational leadership development, feminist research and knowledge building, and policy influence and movement building. AMwA provides strategic direction in key Pan-African networks including NGO CSW Africa, Solidarity for African Women’s Rights, and the Gender Is My Agenda Campaign. AMwA also has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

About Voices for Climate Action 

The Voices for Climate Action (VCA) programme is a lobby and advocacy programme being implemented by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Netherlands, SouthSouthNorth (SSN), Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA), Slum Dwellers International (SDI), Fundación Avina and Hivos under the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ five-year strategic partnership: “Power of Voices”.  The programme aims to ensure that by 2025, local civil society and underrepresented groups will have taken on a central role as creators, facilitators and advocates of innovative and inclusive climate solutions. Their inclusion is crucial for effective and lasting climate responses. It is also crucial, and because the climate crisis is also a societal challenge with ethical and human rights aspects occurring alongside a number of inequalities based on gender, socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, sexual orientation, and age.

The overall approach of the programme is to work with civil society to build widespread societal support for locally shaped climate solutions through an inclusive and rights-based approach. This includes building a broad-based climate alliance at country level, bridging divides (urban-rural, gender, youth) that amplifies voices in new unusual ways. In addition, it will influence national and global policies and financial flows (e.g. climate finance, private sector investments) in support of these locally shaped solutions.

Climate justice approach

Climate change is essentially a human rights issue because of its devastating effect on human life – and rights. It exacerbates existing inequalities between rich and poor, ethnicities, sexes, generations and communities. It undermines democracy and threatens the economy and development at large. Likewise, by far the greatest burden falls on those already in poverty and on underrepresented groups such as Indigenous peoples, the rural and urban poor, women and youth, although they are the least responsible for climate change. Through a climate justice approach, the programme intends to see an expanded civic space where civil society voices, in particular those of indigenous and/or marginalized people are heard on climate action.

Main strategic interventions

The programmes main strategic interventions are centred around the following three pillars

  • Mutual capacity strengthening for co-creating alternative scaled climate solutions
  • Agenda setting and movement in climate action through amplified storytelling
  • Joint lobbying and advocacy to make policy and financial flows responsible to locally shaped climate solutions

This programme is being implemented in Kenya by consortium members AMwA, Hivos, SDI, SSN and WWF. 

Call for grant applications 

Does your organisation have any experience in building societal support for locally shaped climate solutions through an inclusive and rights based approach? Do you have experiences in creating spaces for African women to organize autonomously, network with each other, share skills and expertise, identify issues of concern, and speak for themselves? Is your organisation adept at facilitating dynamic learning experiences with diverse groups of people? Do you have deep and extensive experience working with civil society groups and communities across Kenya? Do you practice participatory, creative, and transformative approaches to Leave No One Behind? Are you driven by the principle of justice, fairness and equity? And, most importantly, do you promote inclusive innovation to catalyse transformative change recognizing that the systems of oppression are interlinked and therefore solutions to emerging challenges such as the climate crisis should also consist of multiple issues and must be multi-pronged for the overall liberation struggle, especially for women? Do you have experience in promoting government-citizen dialogues and engagements in driving climate justice in Kenya? Have you ever engaged with various underrepresented groups in an intersectional way? Are you a believer in a collective effort with the ability to convene other like-minded organisations/ coalitions/ consortium to amplify the voices of marginalised and discriminated groups? In this COVID-19 era and beyond, are your ideas innovative for creating a safe environment for participation and creatively influencing policy change in Kenya from the grassroots to the national level or even at the global level? Do you have experience in rallying marginalized groups, especially women, to meaningfully engage in decision making at various levels? Do you have the capacity to convene groups (formal and informal) to advocate for meaningful change and have a central role as creators, facilitators and advocates of innovative climate solutions? 

If you and your organisation said yes to at least five of the questions above, then consider applying for this Call for proposals! 

Organizational Eligibility 

Akina Mama wa Afrika seeks applications from organizations, collectives or coalitions registered and based in Kenya. These can be grassroots-based organizations or national based organizations or umbrella bodies. The organization and its members should have extensive work experience and networks within groups that seek to advance just climate action and feminist intersectional approaches. It should seek to creatively lobby and advocate for the participation of local civil society and underrepresented groups in key decision-making processes, in policy formulation and in the fight for climate justice. We invite these groups to submit proposals that leverage on inclusive and rights-based approaches as well as on intersectional feminist approaches. In this regard, we encourage proposals that seek to engage the following minoritized groups: 

  • People with disabilities 
  • Youth 
  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Intersex People
  • Women facing exploitation, abuse, and/or violence
  • The elderly/senior citizens and young people
  • Indigenous people and ethnic minorities

We have a strong preference for projects that are designed from an intersectional point of view. This means projects should aim to work with more than one of the above groups to address overlapping vulnerabilities and/or forms of discrimination.

Organisations that are not eligible

Organizations with an annual turnover above EUR 400,000. 

Funding of commercial services, investment or other commercial activities. 

Projects led by current strategic partners of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation are not eligible for this call.

This grant will last for an initial period of approximately a year and a half from July 2021 to December 2022. Budget: EUR 50, 000. 

Application procedure 

If you believe that your organization and idea are a good fit for this Call, please submit your application in English to [email protected]. Please include the following documents as attachments:

  • Work plan
  • Budget 
  • Most recent Audit report 
  • Organizational registration documents 

Only completed applications using the proposal template  and budget template will be reviewed. All applications have to be submitted before 18th June 2021, 6:00 PM (EAT) 

Do you have any questions?

Questions about applying for this grant may be submitted by email or during consultative sessions. Please share queries at  [email protected]. We will strive to give a response as quickly as possible.

Links to other Calls for proposals 

Hivos Voices for Climate Action program – Kenya Call for proposal

FAQ

Can I apply for multiple grants to the same organisation if my organisation qualifies in more than one category?

Yes, you can. However, at the shortlisting stage if you are shortlisted for more than one grant (where applicable), you will have to select which grant to go forward with

Can I apply for grants with more than one organisation under this call?

Yes; you can apply for grants with any number of the three organisations. However, once each organisation conducts shortlisting; you will be asked to select which grant best suits your organisational approach and priorities 

If I am not a lead coalition member, can I apply for a grant with another organisation as well (applies to those in coalitions)?

Similar to the previous response, at the application stage you can apply for grants with any number of the three organisations. However, once each organisation conducts shortlisting; you will be asked to select which grant best suits your organisational approach and priorities. Should you choose to withdraw from the consortium in such a case, the consortium will be asked to revise their proposal

What are the registration requirements for lead and non-lead organizations applying as a coalition?

If you are applying as the lead member, your organization must be formally registered. If you are not the lead, you should be able to demonstrate your operating modalities. In addition, the coalition must be prepared when shortlisted to demonstrate how the coalition will operate

Why are the contract periods different between organizations?

The programme is being implemented for five years; however, organizations have processes and procedures. The contract period signifies how long the initial contract will last. But AMwA, Hivos and WWF will all be working with partners over the full duration of the programme, so this should not be an area of concern. 

How should the proposal address the various effects of the pandemic?

COVID-19 has affected how civil society organizations work in a number of ways and in Kenya, it has largely been a challenge. When you are drafting your proposal and budget, please be cognizant of these various challenges and aim to submit a proposal that is able to be implemented by taking into account various safety and containment measures that are in place now or may be affected in the future.

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