Inclusive Democracy and Human Rights
Themes: Digital, Democracy, Climate, Gender Based Violence
Donor Agency: Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI)
Duration: Not Specified
Minimum Funding: DKK 30 Million
Maximum Funding:
Deadline: 17 Jun 2024
Applications are now open for the Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI), a global flagship program aimed at safeguarding inclusive democracy and human rights in the digital age.
The DDI focuses on support to civil society in the Global South, particularly in countries undergoing democratic regression and where civic space is under pressure. The programme supports local civil society organizations in leveraging digital technologies to promote and protect inclusive democracy, with a focus on organizations representing women, youth, and marginalized groups as well as informal actors and social movements with limited access to funding and other resources.
Under the program, four pre-selected organizations (CIVICUS, Global Focus, Digital Defenders Partnership, Access Now) implement dedicated projects supporting i.a.1) sub-granting to
local civil society actors; 2) rapid response mechanism to provide digital assistance to human rights defenders in acute need; 3) advocacy campaigning toward governments, private sector
and tech companies; and 4) building a global digital knowledge hub that provides tools and knowledge products in localized and accessible formats.
The program is designed to facilitate scalability, both in terms of attracting additional donors and increasing the number of implementing partners during the implementation period 2023
to 2026. Through a restricted Call for Proposals (CfP), the DDI will expand its support to Human Right Defenders (HRDs) and civil society activists in the Global South under three thematic lots.
Objectives and Priorities
- Through this CfP, the DDI is open to receive submissions contributing to one or both of the overall program outcomes as specified in the Program Document and Results Framework.
- The overall Theory of Change (ToC) of the program is that if local pro-democratic civil society is enabled to utilize digital technology to amplify their agendas, and if civil society utilizing digital technology are protected and defended from digital threats, then civil society efforts to promote and protect inclusive democratic space online and offline will be strengthened.
- The program works towards its objective through two mutually reinforcing outcome areas, with defined intervention areas guiding immediate outcomes.
Projects submitted under the CfP are expected to contribute to the overall objective of the DDI: Promote and protect local inclusive democratic space, also constituting the development objectives of this call. Project proposals should further reflect outcomes and priorities as outlined in the DDI project document and summarized in section 2 of this Information Note. Within this framework, projects are expected to be designed in alignment with the priorities under one of the three specific lots:
Lot 1: Combatting Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence
Lot 2: Leveraging Digital Technologies for Climate Activism
Lot 3: Strengthening Youth Engagement in the Digital Democratic Space
This call for proposals can be accessed by two different types of applicants. The applicant can be:
- A single Civil Society Organization (CSO) or Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)
- A consortium where one of the members takes on the role as lead applicant. The lead applicant must be a Civil Society Organization (CSO) or Nongovernmental Organization (NGO)
- Co-applicants could be National Human Rights Institutions, Universities, Research Facilities or other independent state institutions or non-governmental and not-forprofit actors. The responsibilities of the lead applicant will include overseeing, supporting and guiding project implementation and participating in the governance structure of the programme, e.g. in meetings with the PMT, becoming a member of the Project Coordination Group together with the other DDI partners and ensuring collaboration and knowledge sharing with the other partners. The lead applicant will be the recipient of the grant and will sub-grant to the consortium members. Applicants (single or as member of a consortium) can only submit one application per lot. An organization can only be lead on one application.
- Applicants are encouraged to present and reflect on implementation partnerships both in the concept note and in the full proposal. The DDI emphasises local leadership and projects are expected to prioritise local partnerships, including with local implementing partners, sub-granting, or other mechanism for funding to local partners. Where feasible, set-up can also accommodate social movements and informal groups.
- The current partners of the DDI can apply as co-applicants in a consortium, with another applicant taking on the role as lead applicant. Lead applicants under one lot can only apply as co-applicants under another lot.
- The eligibility of the concept note will be assessed on the basis of the following mandatory criteria. Failure to comply with the criteria or any diversion in templates will result in an administrative rejection of the application.
