Development Cafe'

WFP Cooperating Partners’ Innovation Fund: Guidelines and Call for Proposals

Context :The 2012 WFP Annual Partners’ Consultation (APC) acknowledged significant opportunity to achieve food assistance objectives with tools that complement or replace direct food transfers. Enhancing the toolkit requires innovation and creative programming.

Shared objectives and complementary strengths of Cooperating Partners and WFP naturally invite collaboration to innovate in food assistance. Cooperating Partners typically offer context sensitive knowledge and relationships; deep connections to households and communities; holistic or multi-sector programming; cutting edge knowledge, research, advocacy, and creativity; and operational agility to experiment at the vanguard of technological and business model innovation. WFP offers an operational platform to develop and deliver outcomes for scale; convening power at the intersection of public, civil, and private engagement in food security and nutrition; relationships with decision makers, thought leaders, and trend setters; and UN reputational, financial, and diplomatic resources.

Recognizing mutual need and opportunity for WFP food assistance platforms to learn from and collaborate with Cooperating Partners’ expertise, guidance, and innovation, the 2012 APC concluded with a proposal that WFP establish a partners’ innovation fund to promote broad based innovation of food assistance tools and approaches.

Purpose :The food assistance community seeks to discover, seed, and foster innovation in addressing hunger and nutrition challenges with interventions that are effective, efficient, scalable, and replicable. Toward this end, the WFP Cooperating Partners’ Innovation Fund (CPIF) seeks to create operational space and accept reasonable risk to innovate programme tools and approaches. Focus: Subject to availability of funds, a programme focus for CPIF awards will be determined each year in consultation with WFP and Partners. The programme focus for proposals solicited in 2013 derives from the paper prepared by Partners for the 2012 APC discussions.

- See more at: Applications must be submitted by email as a single pdf document without additional attachments, no later than 15 November 2013, 23:59 GMT. Applications submitted beyond this deadline cannot be included in the appraisal process. Applications shall be submitted to the following email address: innovationfund.rome@wfp.org *****************************************************************

Rural Innovation Fund (RIF) by NABARD

What is RIF ?

Rural Innovation Fund (RIF) is a fund designed to support innovative, risk friendly, unconventional experiments in Farm, Non-Farm and micro-Finance sectors that would have the potential to promote livelihood opportunities and employment in rural areas.

What type of projects can be supported under RIF?

• All innovations and related activities in the Farm, Rural Non-Farm and Micro- Finance sectors can have access to the RIF. Assistance from RIF will be available for all activities which are in keeping with the guiding principles of RIF and specifically those which

• Provide technology and skill up gradation, inputs supply and market support leading to promotion of viable enterprises, sustainable employment, infrastructure development, improved flow and access of credit to rural entrepreneurs.

• Undertake innovations so as to improve efficiency of credit delivery and other support services to the rural resource poor. Patenting innovations leading to commercialisation of the idea through licensing or otherwise.

(i) These would include innovative proposals which aim at increasing productivity and profitability of operations of the farmers, artisans, handicraft persons and rural people in general, projects that help in reducing drudgery, improving access to market, projects that help better sanitation, health and hygienic conditions and environment in rural areas.

ii) Proposals, which help in creating sustainable employment opportunities in rural India.

iii) Proposals, which improve, farm practices, and help in conserving the land fertility.

iv) Research studies for documenting the innovations already taking place in rural areas and examining issues concerned with rural cottage & village industries /farm sector / farming practices.

v) Research studies for documenting the innovations already taking place in rural areas and examining issues concerned with rural cottage & village industries /farm sector / farming practices.

For more log on to: http://www.nabard.org/nonfarm_sector/rif_faqs.asp#question_1

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National Endowment for Democracy Grants for NGOs

Background

Each year the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) makes direct grants to hundreds of nongovernmental organizations worldwide working to advance democratic goals and strengthen democratic institutions.

In 2012, NED funded about 1236 projects in 92 countries around the world. Grant amounts vary depending on the size and scope of the projects, but the average grant lasts 12 months and is around $50,000. Who can apply for NED funds?

NED funds only nongovernmental organizations, which may include civic organizations, associations, independent media, and other similar organizations.

NED encourages applications from organizations working in diverse environments including newly established democracies, semi-authoritarian countries, highly repressive societies and countries undergoing democratic transitions.

NED does not make grants to individuals, governmental bodies, or state-supported institutions such as public universities. What type of programme NED supports?

NED is interested in proposals from local, independent organizations for nonpartisan programs that seek to:

Promote and defend human rights and the rule of law

Support freedom of information and independent media

Strengthen democratic ideas and values

Promote accountability and transparency

Strengthen civil society organizations

Strengthen democratic political processes and institutions

Promote civic education

Support democratic conflict resolution

Promote freedom of association

Strengthen a broad-based market economy

For more log on to : http://www.ned.org/grantseekers For expert suggestion on the proposal register your mail id by sending a request to jeevikamp-caritas@googlegroups.com *****************************************************************

Commonwealth Foundation’s Participatory Governance Grants for CSOs/NGOs

Call for applications now open: deadline 31 January 2013 (5pm GMT)

At a glance:The Foundation will give grants to fund activities or projects of registered CSOs Beneficiaries will be from a Commonwealth Foundation member country Grants will be up to £30,000 per year

Grants are available for multi-year funding (up to three years)

Grant applicants are encouraged to show clear evidence of counterpart resourcing Up to 10% of the total grant will fund a monitoring, evaluation and learning element Up to 15% of the total grant will fund indirect and overhead costs

For the announcement of our new grants programme we are inviting CSOs to submit an application addressing either Dialogue or Collaboration within the broader theme of Participatory Governance or a combination of the two areas.

Participatory governance is about how the state, the market and Civil Society interact to effect change. These interactions involve the inclusion of Civil Society in decision-making processes, enabling citizens to exercise voice and vote and engaging in policy formation among others. “Citizens are engaged in public venues at a variety of times…thus allowing them to be involved in policy formation, selection and oversight”.

Dialogue: One of the cornerstones of participatory governance is dialogue. Dialogue requires facilitation so that people listen, learn and discuss to foster an environment of active, inclusive participation. It enables community members to constructively address issues that affect them in their daily lives. At the same time, public dialogue offers an effective means for policy makers to be informed about community concerns, needs and priorities. It also serves to find ways in which community demands can be addressed meaningfully. Subsumed in participatory governance is participatory communication which promotes a bottom up approach and includes communication for social change and development strategies. It gives importance to “resurrecting” voices, particularly of those who are marginalised, and facilitates processes that are inclusive, build consensus and promote social cohesion.

Collaboration: The participation of CSOs in governance processes such as in enhancing service delivery, participatory budgeting, performance management systems of government and peace building /reconciliation processes among others contribute to more effective, responsive and accountable governance. CSOs bring innovative ideas and solutions, as well as participatory approaches, to solving local problems. Inclusion of citizens in governance forums and consultations bring about new forms of interaction between citizens and government, including other stakeholders in governance.

The grants programme will be particularly supportive of proposals that mainstream the Foundation’s cross-cutting outcome areas in their project design:

Gender equality

Environmental sustainability

Cultural respect and understanding

Grants Programme Purpose:The Commonwealth Foundation’s mission is to develop the capacity of Civil Society to act together and learn from each other to engage with the institutions that shape people’s lives, as we work towards a more effective, responsive and accountable governance with Civil Society participation.

The Commonwealth Foundation grants programme will contribute to this mission by awarding grants under the two intermediate outcome areas of the Commonwealth

How to Apply:To apply for a grant please submit an online application form before the deadline (see timeline above). Please also read our guidance on Filling in Your Application Form, a copy of our strategic plan and our FAQs before submitting your application.If you require any further information about the grants programme and the application process, please email the grants team on cfgrants@commonwealth.int and a member of the grants team will get back to you.

For more on it log on to: http://grants.commonwealthfoundation.com/form1/

For expert suggestion on the proposal register your mail id by sending a request to jeevikamp-caritas@googlegroups.com

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