Make a change in your locality, region, or the world by submitting workable projects to UNDEF. The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) is calling CSOs, NGOs, and Governmental bodies to submit projects to win grants in 2022.
Learn about this ongoing UNDEF grant program and apply before the deadline.
The United Nations has been supporting democracy for a very long time now and the UNDEF grant program is one of the key ways in which the UN uses to prove its support.
To see that governments hear the voices of the civil society and that nobody tramples on another’s human rights, UNDEF provides funds to support projects that align with its mandate.
So, if you are a Civil Society Organization looking for funds to carry out sustainable projects towards this line, this post is for you.
You will find all the information you need to apply for and win the United Nations Democracy Fund Grant in 2022.
About the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF)
The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) got reaffirmed in 2005 at the World Summit of the United Nations in New York. This Democracy fund was set up by the Head of State and Governments to promote democracy and human rights.
So, UNDEF is a Trust Fund that began through voluntary contributions from member states, under the authority of the Secretary-General, the United Nations. This Trust Fund supports projects that promote the voice of civil society, encourage human rights, and promote the participation of all groups in the democratic process.
As such, the majority of the UNDEF funds go to local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) both in the transition and consolidation phases of democratization. These UNDEF-funded projects will take two years to implement, principally at the country level and in the least developed, low or middle-income countries.
However, UNDEF also provides discrete funding to regional and global projects that promote democracy. So, while the UNDEF funding principally targets CSOs, it is also for regional and global projects.
What is the Worth of the United Nations Democracy Fund Grant?
The UNDEF grant program provides successful projects with a minimum sum of US$100,000 and a maximum sum of US$300,000. This amount is towards the implementation of projects that will take two years to implement. Meanwhile, you can complete the project in less than two years if you’re a successful applicant.
So, whether it will take you two years or less to implement your project, you can’t request any amount outside the UNDEF grant award range. Also, once the duration of implementing your project elapses, you must return any unspent fund to UNDEF.
If you’re a researcher and not a CSO, you can also benefit from the United Nations through the United Nations University Fellowship for Developing Countries
Eligibility Criteria for the UNDEF Grant Program
As explained earlier, UNDEF accepts local, regional, and global proposals. The local proposals are for projects that take place in one country only. The regional proposals are for projects that will occur in several specified states of a region or sub-region. The global proposals, on the other hand, are projects that operate on the global level.
UNDEF will allocate resources to these categories in the percentage of 80% for local proposals and 20% for regional and global proposals.
If you will implement a UNDEF fund project, you must be a non-UN organization. You also must not be an individual, profit-making organization, or government entity.
So, to that effect, to be an eligible beneficiary of the united nations democracy fund grant, you must apply as one of the following:
However, amongst these three, UNDEF’s priority is Civil Society Organizations and Non-Governmental organizations, but these organizations must:
Furthermore, UNDEF will give special preference to applicants from countries and regions where the challenges of democracy are more critical. Such countries include those just emerging from conflict, new and restored democracies, Least Developed Countries, Low-Income Countries, and Middle-Income Countries.
Most importantly, because the selection process is highly competitive, your project must fall under one or more of the following 8 main areas:
Level/Field of Grant Applicants
The United Nations Democracy Fund Grant is available to Civil Society Organizations (CSO), Non-Governmental Organizations. It is also available to independent and constitutional bodies as well as Global and Regional inter-government bodies, organizations, and associations.
Host Nationality
The United Nations is the Host of the UNDEF grant project. However, the head office is in New York, the United States. But the UN is an international organization, so it is not entirely right to say that this is a USA grant as it comprises of funding from several Heads of States.
Eligible Nationality
The United Nations Democracy Fund 2020 is available to applicants from all over the world. However, UNDEF gives priority to the Least Developed Countries, Low-Income Countries, and Middle-Income Countries.
How to Apply for the UNDEF Grant program
The application for the United Nations Democracy Fund Grant takes place online through the Online Project Proposal System (OPPS). However, in preparation for your application, download the UNDEFs Blank project Proposal Form PDF (English) here.
You can make your application for the UNDEF grant program using English or French on OPPS.
So, to submit via OPPS, you will need to create a profile on the portal with relevant information like your organization name and a valid email. While applying using the OPPS, ensure to fill all fields with red bars as they are compulsory.
Furthermore, when you get to the budget section, ensure that the program support cost such as salaries and rent are modest. Also, ensure that the total you requested in the budget by Output and the budget by Input match and that they correspond to the total requested grant amount in section 2 of the form.
Additionally, don’t forget to be specific on the geographic scope of the project and save your progress on the OPPS using the Save Function.
You can begin your application by clicking the button below.
If you’re a health service researcher, then you should check out this AHRQ Grants for Health Services Research Dissertation Program
Assessment Criteria
As we mentioned, the application process for the United Nations Democracy Fund Grant is highly competitive. So, to ensure that your proposal scales through the assessment stage, the project must:
Application Deadline and Other Important Dates
the application for the United Nations Democracy Fund Grant Program is currently on. It opened on 22nd November 2019 and will be closing on 6th January 2020.
Here are other important dates for the 2020 United nations Democracy Fund that you should take note of.
Early March
2020
UNDEF Office to compile the “long short-list”
Mid-March
2020
UNDEF Programme Consultative Group (PCG) & UN Resident Coordinators (RCs) to provide comments
Early May
2020
UNDEF’s Advisory Board to recommend a short-list. UNDEF also informs Permanent Missions of projects on shortlist
Early June
2020
UNDEF submits recommended shortlist to Secretary-General for approval
Mid-June
2020
Request to short-listed applicants to draft detailed project documents
July-August
2020
Expected deadline for submission of detailed project documents
September
2020
Project document negotiations begin between applicants and UNDEF office
September-December
2020
First project documents finalized, first disbursements and projects start
For more information about United Nations Democracy Fund grant, click on the link below. To also view previous projects to give you a guideline on how to draft yours, click on the other button.
FAQs for the UNDEF Grant Program
The UNDEF grant is the United Nations’ way of supporting democracy. The Grant awards pooled funds to civil society organizations (CSOs), Independent and Constitutional Bodies, and Global inter-governmental bodies to carry out local, regional, and global projects that promote democracy and promote human rights.
The UNDEF project grant is essentially for Civil Society Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations. However, Independent and Constitutional Bodies, Global and Regional inter-government bodies, and organizations and associations outside the United Nations will also receive UNDEF grants but 20% of it.
The UNDEF grant funds eligible beneficiaries with monetary awards ranging from US$100,000 to US$300,000.
To apply for the UNDEF grant, you first have to download the UNDEFs’ Blank Project Proposal Form to give you an idea of what is needed. Then, you will need to apply online through the UNDEFs’ Online Project Proposal System (OPPS).
UNDEF is particular about the use of the funds alocated to CSO, so, your project will not be selected unless it falls under the following categories:
Gender equality
Community activism
Rule of law and human rights
Youth engagement
Strengthening civil society interaction with Government
Media and freedom of information
Tools for knowledge
Electoral processes.
The duration of the UNDEF project is two (2) years. So, your proposal must be targeted at a project that will be implemented within this time frame. It could be implemented in less than two years but not more than two years.
By the end of June 2020, UNDEF will notify all successful short-listed applicants via the email they indicated in their project proposal, unless otherwise advised on the UNDEF website.
If UNDEF selects your project, you will have to submit a completed project document based on your original project proposal within four weeks of the notification of the “approval in principle”. Failure to comply with this deadline may result in UNDEF not going ahead with the grant. However, UNDEF grants extended deadlines on an exceptional basis, but they are especially for complex projects.
No, you will not get a notification from UNDEF if your project proposal was not approved for funding. This is because UNDEF does not have the resources to individually advise a large number of unsuccessful applicants of the outcome of their project proposal.
Conclusion
If you are passionate about promoting democracy, human rights, or the active participation of the people in a democracy, the UNDEF grant program is for you. However, you must have a legally constituted organization that implements projects of the kind. It would be best if your organization is a Civil Society organization (CSO) as UNDEf will allocate 80% of the funds to CSOs.
We wish you success in your application as you apply before January 6, 2020, deadline.
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