According to NED Proposal Guidelines, the project background should explain the existing political, economic or social situation in the country and how it has been challenging democratic aspirations. In the same section, it is also necessary to give details about the needs or problems (in other words, the gaps which need to be addressed) and how the proposed project will address them.
Continuing with the same example given in the previous page, we are giving below a sample for the background:
“[The country’s] transition towards democracy after the end of a long internal conflict signals the beginning of a new era of politics, characterized by peace, participation and equality. The post-conflict period has witnessed some transformative and positive stages towards building peace, breaking discord and initiating democracy…
The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, adopted in October 2000, besides recognizing the fact that women and children account for a vast majority of victims in any conflict, it also underlines the participation of women in post-conflict democratic operations…
Democracy in the 21st century has evolved with new values and principles. Participation has not been limited to just votes and elections, but has been extended to the entire peace-building and political-making processes including rehabilitation, reconstruction, constitutional development and drafting of policies. Many legal experts agree to the point that public participation is critical to the strength, acceptability and legitimacy of a democratic government. Some of the countries of Africa have exemplified this process in their post-conflict periods where constitutions and policies have been drafted in consultation with the people, including women…
However, in this country, where a high degree of illiteracy exists, especially among the impoverished women marked with a history of a near-total absence of political rights, participation in democratic processes cannot be an easy task. The process has to be combined with a set of interventions targeting at women and women’s groups from disadvantaged sections of the society in order to sensitize them on political issues and motivate them to take on active roles in building democracy…
The organization proposes to implement a project to promote the political awareness of women, representing disadvantaged sections of the society, such as the minorities and ethnic communities, in order to enhance their participation in the democratic processes taking place in the country. The project will address the issues mentioned above by implementing a set of capacity-building exercises to create awareness among women on political issues, provide voter education, empower them with human rights education, strengthen local networks for political participation and advocate for laws and policies against discrimination of women, including gender-based violence…”
