European Commission has issued a restricted call seeking concept notes at first stage from eligible candidates for projects to promote human rights and democratic reforms in Afghanistan. This call for proposals also aims to strengthen civil society capacities for participative approaches in the country so as to build a consensus on disputed or controversial areas of policy.
Global Objective of this Call for Proposals
Strengthening the role of civil society in promoting human rights and democratic reform.
Specific Objectives of this Call for Proposals
Strengthening civil society capacities for participative approaches in building a consensus on disputed or controversial areas of policy, including:
- the empowerment of women, youth, and other underrepresented groups in having access to and being able to participate in decision-making process;
- supporting dialogues between civil society, religious and ethnic groups to bridge societal divides; and
- enhancing transitional justice and reconciliation mechanisms and mainstreaming women’s participation in such processes;
– Enhancing political awareness, participation, pluralism and representation of civil society, including:
- enhancing coordination, dialogue, representation and participation of civil society, including underrepresented groups;
- initiatives to support independent media and to enhance their professionalism and reporting capacities on a variety of human rights issues; and
- non-partisan activities in support of strengthening political pluralism;
– The pursuit of common agendas for human rights and democratic reform, including:
- activities to promote and advocate for vulnerable groups’ rights and to mainstream their representation in democratisation and peace processes; and
- monitoring of domestic implementation of international commitments signed by Afghanistan in the field of human rights and international humanitarian law, e.g. Geneva Conventions, International Criminal Court, Convention on the Rights of Child, and the implementation of recommendations by international human rights mechanisms such as UN Universal Periodic Review;
– Supporting the implementation of the EU guidelines on human rights at local level.
Fund Allocation
The overall indicative amount made available under this Call for Proposals is EUR 1,900,000.00.
Types of Action
The types of action that could be funded through the present Call for Proposals should contribute to the following aims, among others:
- Enhancing active involvement of women and youth in decision-making process;
- Strengthening the position of civil society through better coordination;
- Improving domestic implementation of universal human rights instruments through regular monitoring and submission of shadow reports;
- Improving independent media’s professionalism and reporting capacities on various human rights issues;
- Bolstering the advocacy on human rights issues on national and international level.
Types of Activity
- Advocacy and monitoring;
- Conflict resolution, alternative dispute resolution;
- Capacity building for independent media;
- Joint activities with governance actors and public institutions;
- Strengthening links between civil society and governance actors;
- Capacity building to mobilise and empower vulnerable groups, such as women and youth;
- Collection of disaggregated data;
- Coordination between and strengthening of existing civil society platforms, and information sharing;
- Awareness raising campaigns and public dialogue aimed at combating discrimination;
Last date for submitting the concept notes is January 31, 2012.
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