Project Stream: Open grants call

Strengthening women’s participation in governance

Issue

Many women in Pakistan were put off taking part in the 2013 general election by lack of transport, pressure from political parties and control of polling stations by armed men.

Project

Supported by a grant from the Commonwealth Foundation, Peace Direct and Aware Girls will help promote the participation of women in electoral processes in in the districts of Swabi and Marden by training, educating and encouraging women to voice their opinion. Peace Direct and Aware Girls will help promote the participation of women in electoral processes in the districts of Swabi and Marden, building on lessons learned.

By training 60 young women and providing education to at least 900 women, this project encourages women in the conflict-affected areas of Kyber Pakhtunkwa province to voice their opinion and improve their leadership skills to ensure greater political participation. Citizens’ committees will address women’s rights issues and develop advocacy tools to lobby government. The project will also improve dialogue with local politicians and government, ensuring issues are addressed and accountability increased.

It is anticipated this project will lead to improved public attitudes supporting women’s participation in electoral and political processes, as well as increased accountability among community leaders, political parties and public bodies.

Peace Direct and Aware Girls will develop a best practice model to encourage greater participation by women in political processes. Citizens’ committees will be replicated in Peshawar district with the assistance of local civil society organisations to raise awareness about the importance of community accountability for good governance.

Peace Direct

Peace Direct is an international charity dedicated to supporting local peacebuilding believing that people have the power to find their own solutions to conflict. It seeks out local peacebuilders making a difference, raises funds for programmes, offers management support and advice, and builds recognition for their work to put them in touch with those in the wider world who can assist with funds and influence.

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Aware Girls

Aware Girls is led by young women working for women’s empowerment, gender equality and peace in Pakistan. It works to strengthen the leadership capacity of young women enabling them to act as agents of social change and women’s empowerment in their communities. www.awaregirls.org

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Supporting rural entrepreneurs for social change

Issue

Millions of people living in rural poverty in Pakistan have limited job opportunities outside of agriculture. To help improve the livelihoods and basic rights of poor communities, this project supports rural entrepreneurs while addressing the challenge of creating a supportive policy environment in which they can thrive.

Project

HOPE International Development Agency and Pakistan Kissan Trust are improving the livelihoods and basic rights of poor communities in Pakistan by creating supportive environments for rural entrepreneurship and social change.

By giving a voice to people and equipping them with the relevant knowledge and skills, the project supports them to shape dialogue and policies relating to agriculture, education, food security and gender rights.

By increasing collective social action through the formation of community groups and training sessions, the project improves the capacity to secure basic service provision for 6,000 people. Civil society groups will be encouraged to engage with networks and government, as well as share best practice on policy and advocacy. In addition, the project will provide technical and financial assistance for 1,200 people and their families, promoting small and innovative businesses.

This project builds on earlier work carried out in Southern Punjab by Pakistan Kissan Trust to improve food security for rural populations, establishing farmers groups and strengthening democratic governance.

HOPE International Development Agency

Established in 1975, HOPE International Development Agency‘s mission is to enable people in the developed world to connect with the world’s poorest communities. HOPE currently works in 28 countries providing alternative technological and educational support where environmental, economic and social circumstances have negatively impacted on the ability of local communities to sustain themselves using traditional methods.

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Pakistan Kissan Trust

Pakistan Kissan Trust is a membership organisation serving the interests and rights of poor smallholder farmers.

The Trust aims to skill up farmers to become a political and social force for democratic change. Its local programming focuses on governance, skills development and advocacy, connecting farmers with other civil society groups and social movements to address challenges and build collective action.

Supporting women farmers to withstand environmental shocks

Issue

Environmental change is fueling poverty in remote areas of Ghana, impacting badly on women farmers, with poor yields and low incomes. Many women are unable to mitigate the environmental effects, nor do they have access to local authorities who could help them address these issues.

Project

Friends of the Earth – Ghana is encouraging collaboration between women’s groups and local authorities to work together to address environmental and livelihood concerns, contributing to sustainable development in Ghana. This Commonwealth Foundation grant will facilitate the collaboration of 250 women subsistence farmers and four NGOs working on environmental and agricultural issues across three rural districts.

Ultimately the project will be scaled up and replicated to benefit a larger group of farmers, helping them to adopt ecological agricultural practices, re-greening and restoring depleted land and water resources.

This project aims to close the gap between remote rural communities and relevant policy makers, enabling women farmers particularly, to talk to local authorities about environmental change and strengthening their ability to engage in participatory governance.

Friends of the Earth Ghana

Friends of the Earth – Ghana is part of a worldwide international network of environmental organisations in 60 countries.

It focuses on environmental, social and economic issues working to bring about sustainable and socially equitable development through community participation. Friends of the Earth recognises that only projects fully accounting for the diversity of cultures, needs and aspirations of communities will gain their full support and be successful in the long term. The organisation has a rich experience of working in the environment and climate change sector in Ghana.

www.foe-gh.org

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Increasing access to finance for women and young people

Issue

Access to finance is a big challenge facing women and young people in the subsistence agriculture, fisheries and food processing sectors in Bangladesh.

Project

The Anglican Alliance is increasing opportunities for enterprise by involving 600 women and young people in the development of policies on accessing finance.

This project will enable three communities in Bangladesh to engage with business, civil society and government to shape the policy for economic inclusion, ensuring these policies are relevant and locally owned. It will foster the development of best practice in participatory governance and share this through a distance learning programme, available throught the Open University.

The project is further strengthened through the Anglican Alliance’s reach in other regions, particularly Africa and the Pacific, and responds to the 2013 Commonwealth Theme ‘Opportunity through Enterprise’.

Anglican Alliance

Anglican Alliance is actively involved in working towards a world that is free of poverty and injustice.

It tackles poverty and its causes by working in partnership with others around the world, empowering individuals and communities to overcome inequality and injustice. Women and youth empowerment are regarded as key development challenges and are the focus of Anglican Alliance projects in several countries.

www.anglicanalliance.org

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Promoting cultural industries through multi-stakeholder participation

Issue

Challenges such as low levels of professionalism among artists and operators in the sector; the lack of recognition and statutory regulation of the cultural professions; limited institutional capacity within the Ministry of Culture; underuse of the potential of the country’s cultural diversity; and the lack of social protection for cultural practitioners are all being addressed.

Project

The Centre for Ewe Language and Cultural Research (CEFOELAC) is developing a plan to guide the country’s cultural development stakeholders in their work, as well as increase collaboration between the state and civil society groups working to promote the cultural industries in Ghana.

Centre for Ewe Language and Cultural Research (CEFOELAC)

Since 2000, the Centre for Ewe Language and Cultural Research has been advocating for the use of culture in development in Ghana.

It has worked with the Ministry of Culture to develop a curriculum of study on culture and development in tertiary institutions. In addition to having close ties and collaborating with local and international organisations on cultural issues, the centre is also a member of the local network of cultural practitioners that organised the first ever culture and arts competition in the Volta region of Ghana.

Promoting community-led governance solutions

Issue

Engagement of people in local government is recognised as vitally important to ensure transparency and accountability.

Project

Sarvodaya are increasing opportunities for people to engage in local governance in Sri Lanka.

With the support of a Commonwealth Foundation grant, Sarvodaya will work with 20 existing civil society organisations across the country, helping them to improve their understanding of local governance, advocacy and monitoring methods. Community monitoring teams will be formed to monitor local government for improved transparency and accountability.

The project will increase opportunities for dialogue between community members and elected representatives of local government authorities through citizen juries. Networking and sharing good practice will be encouraged, and in-kind grants will be given to fund small-scale community projects improving local governance. The project hopes to build on internationally accepted values of participation, inclusiveness, transparency and accountability which it hopes will result in community-led solutions to promote good governance. This project builds on previous work carried out by Sarvodaya to train community monitoring teams.

Sarvodaya has created a membership fund of R10m together with a national volunteer base of approximately 10,000 members contributing to the strength of the project. It has a strong track record of delivering this type of work and has used the learning from other initiatives to develop this project.

Lanka Jathika Sarvodaya

Lanka Jathika Sarvodaya is Sri Lanka’s largest people’s organisation with 34 district offices and a strong volunteer base.

Starting out as a movement developed around a set of philosophical principles drawn from Buddhist and Gandhian thought, over the last 50 years it has become a network of over 15,000 villages. It has worked on women’s empowerment, conflict mediation and good governance, and is engaged in relief efforts in the north of the country as well as ongoing development projects. Sarvodaya started the country’s largest micro-credit organisation with a loan portfolio of over US$1million and runs a welfare service helping over 1,000 orphaned and destitute children, underage mothers and the elderly.

www.sarvodaya.org

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Giving a voice to young people with HIV and AIDS

Issue

Stigma has been identified as the most significant challenge for people living with HIV and AIDS, stopping many from accessing health services early.

Project

Children’s Radio Foundation are training mentors and young people in Cape Town to use radio as a tool to get young people talking about HIV/AIDS in their community. A project entitled ‘Future Positive‘ will train 12 facilitators to lead radio training workshops for 70 young people, increasing airtime allocated to discussions about HIV/AIDS by 200% and creating over 200 hours of relevant content directed at young people.

Through radio training and broadcast, stories will be shared, fostering dialogue within the wider community. Young people at clinics and community centres will be trained to host talk shows and facilitate events within the community, involving decision makers, policy stakeholders and other young people.

This initiative will create more airtime for programming on HIV and AIDS and train radio staff and youth mentors to engage with audiences more effectively.

It will also create platforms for young people living with HIV/AIDS to speak openly about their experiences. The project will facilitate feedback by involving decision makers and policy stakeholders. A curriculum for community radio stations and pop-up stations to engage audiences around HIV and AIDS will be developed and shared widely with other civil society organisations in Africa. The content will be distributed to local and national stakeholders via outreach activities, contributing to the learning component of the project. It will be delivered as part of a joint work plan with the government of Cape Town.

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Children’s Radio Foundation – South Africa

Children’s Radio Foundation is a registered not-for-profit organisation in South Africa, the UK and the USA, providing young people with the skills to make their voices heard. It uses radio to create opportunities for dialogue, participation, leadership and active citizenship. Through radio broadcasts, young people can speak about their concerns and reach out to others, sparking important conversations in their communities.

www.childrensradiofoundation.org

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Promoting awareness of the media’s role

Issue

Promoting awareness of the role the media can play to ensure citizens are better informed about political and economic decision-making is a priority for Tonga.

Project

With this grant from the Commonwealth Foundation, the Centre for Citizenship Education is promoting the principles of development journalism, illustrating models of good practice, developing the skills of media professionals and building the capacity of the media and government to develop good working relationships. Lending his authority to the initiative is Lord Fakafanua, pictured, Speaker of the Tongan Legislative Assembly.

A website (www.tonganz.net) will provide a focal point for information sharing, where briefings, profiles and case studies on political and economic issues will be published.

This project demonstrates the potential collaboration and learning between civil society organisations and institutions in governance. It will help to familiarise citizens of Tonga with the recently introduced Freedom of Information policy, as well as establish a two-way dialogue to improve development. This project builds on the citizenship education programme carried out by the Centre for Citizenship Education prior to the 2010 Tongan election, and is supported by the office of the Clerk in Tonga.

Centre for Citizenship Education

The Centre for Citizenship Education is a New Zealand charitable trust, established to give a focus to citizenship education at a national and local government level in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

The organisation works primarily in the information sector, to ensure that citizens understand their rights, responsibilities and opportunities within a democracy, and are motivated to participate actively at all levels of society. It achieves its aims through professional and institutional development, as well as the production of resources and policy advocacy.

www.citizenshipeducation.net

Influencing policy on HIV and AIDS

Issue

Unequal opportunities for women to access their health rights and unequal social and gender norms that justify the marginalisation of people affected by HIV/AIDS.

Project

KELIN are creating a strong civil society network to help improve capacity to influence policy on HIV and AIDS-related issues in Kenya.

With the support of a Commonwealth Foundation grant, KELIN Kenya will develop networks promoting participatory governance. By enhancing people’s knowledge of human rights and current government policies, they will be better placed to engage in decision making processes.

Roundtable discussions with parliamentarians on discriminatory laws will also inform the future development of policy briefs.

KELIN

KELIN is a human rights NGO working to protect and promote HIV-related human rights in Kenya.

They do this by: providing legal services and support, training professionals on human rights, engaging in advocacy campaigns that promote awareness of human rights issues, conducting research and influencing policy that promotes evidence-based change.

www.kelinkenya.org

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