The Defenders in Development (DID) campaign is awarding a limited number of small grants (up to USD 5,000) to support groups from the Global South to carry out work to prevent and address risks human rights defenders face, when raising their voices about projects financed by development banks.
In addition to the financial support, the Campaign is also ready to offer technical support and guidance on research and advocacy on reprisals related to activities supported by development banks.
Please note that:
- unfortunately, due to the high volume of applications we receive and our limited internal capacity, we will not be able to respond to all the applicants and we will only provide feedback to successful applicants;
- groups from any country in the Global South can apply, as long as the application fits the criteria described below;
- as we will be receiving applications on a rolling basis, there is no deadline for sending out the application.
The grants
The grants can support projects which align with the goals of the DID campaign, including but not limited to the following:
- supporting human rights defenders in conducting advocacy with development banks on their reprisal-related concerns, pushing development banks to have better policies and practices to prevent and respond to reprisals;
- supporting advocacy actions and campaigns to hold development banks accountable to their commitments on reprisals;
- supporting human rights defenders in researching and documenting reprisals against defenders in the context of development projects;
- supporting human rights defenders in researching and documenting the bank’s lack of due diligence on reprisal risks in the context of their projects.
Criteria
All countries are eligible, but proposals must meet the following criteria:
- have a component related to civic space, the security of defenders or reprisals (such as threats, attacks, judicial harassment, etc) against human rights defenders;
- involve at least one development finance institution or have the potential to involve at least one development finance institution.
Examples of the types of projects which the policy grants could support include (this is a non-exhaustive list):
- supply chain research: support for salary for a staff person or external consultants to identify linkages between cases of reprisals and projects funded by development banks;
- advocacy: Support for a staff person to raise cases of reprisals with the development banks;
- convening: funds for meeting and logistical costs associated with facilitating a meeting, conference or consultation on a topic related to the development banks and reprisals and/or the campaign’s objectives;
- research and documentation: Conducting research which supports the goals of the campaign such as into what failures by the development banks have led to a specific reprisal, or into trends in a region related to reprisals linked to development projects.
Alongside the funding, the campaign coordination team will offer support and expertise on the topic of development finance. It is therefore not expected that recipients will be experts in this topic. Reporting requirements and deliverables will be agreed once the grant is confirmed.
Some useful definitions
Human rights defenders: any individuals or community who act to promote, protect or strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms through peaceful means.
Development finance institutions: they are national or international institutions that provide loans, grants and other types of financial or technical support for projects, activities and policies around the world. Some examples include the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the French Development Agency AFD, the Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, China Exim Bank, etc. Please note that we will not support activities targeting commercial banks.
Reprisals: the terms ‘retaliation’ or “reprisal” indicate any type of intimidation or attack against human rights defenders and community members who are targeted for expressing their opinion, sharing information, raising concerns, criticizing or opposing a development project. Retaliation can include different types of targeted attacks, such as: defamation or stigmatization campaigns, harassment, intimidation, threats, arrests, detention, criminalization, travel or work bans, extortion, unfair administrative measures, gender-based violence, attacks on livelihoods, attacks on properties, physical attacks, maltreatment, torture, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, and killings.
The process
To apply, organizations must fill all the questions in this online form, available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic. If you are interested to apply but you need more information or clarifications, please send an email to: DiD_policygrants@proton.me
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