Grantmaking in this round -“CRPD at 10: accessing the right to development,” will be targeted at Disabled Persons’ Organizations (DPOs) in Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, Malawi, and Myanmar.
“The deadline for applications is March 10, 2016,” Mr Medi Ssengooba, DRF Programme Officer for Africa, said in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday.
He said the objective of the Fund is to empower DPOs in the developing world to use the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) to increase participation of persons with disabilities in society.
“In the first round of 2016 grant making, applicant organizations from Ghana, Haiti, Malawi, and Myanmar may apply for grants through an open request for proposals process,” he said, but noted that organizations from Indonesia may apply by invitation only.
Mr Ssengooba said organisations may apply as single or in partnerships for one-year small grants while state (in federal systems), regional, or district-level DPO-led coalitions can request up to two-year Mid-Level Coalition grants and/or national DPO-led coalitions for up to two-year national coalition grants.
Small grants will range from $5,000 to $20,000 and will support efforts to increase DPO participation in decision-making on the CRPD and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to implement projects on specific CPRD articles or SDG goals.
Mid-level Coalition grants will range between $30,000 and $40,000 per year ($60,000 – $80,000 over two years).
This will support the passage of specific legislation or policy to agree with the CRPD and the SDGs at sub-national levels including state, provincial, regional or district levels), and advocacy for governmental budgetary measures at these levels to implement the CRPD and SDGs.
He said national coalition grants will range from $30,000 to $50,000 per year ($60,000 – $100,000 over two years) and will support advocacy toward ratification of the CRPD/optional protocol, passage of specific national legislation to accord with the CRPD.
It will also back the production of or follow up to civil society reports to UN human rights monitoring mechanisms including the CRPD Committee, other treaty bodies, and the Human Rights Council; advocacy to national or international agencies responsible for development planning to ensure that national action plans and programs aiming to implement the SDGs are inclusive of persons with disabilities.
The CRPD is expected to be used as a guiding document and advocacy to ensure formal inclusion of DPO representatives in national governmental implementation and/or monitoring of the CRPD.
The programme officer urged interested organizations to review the full eligibility criteria and application details posted at the Fund’s website, http://www.disabilityrightsfund.org/grantmaking.
“Any questions on the proposal process should be directed to [email protected],” he said.
With its sister fund, the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund – which supports advocacy for CRPD ratification and legislative change in DRF’s target countries – DRF has granted more than $17 million to 259 different organizations in 32 countries including Ghana and additional regional and international organizations, since 2008.
The DRF is supported by a variety of donors, including the Ansara Family Fund of the Boston Foundation, the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation, the Foundation to Promote Open Society, part of the Open Society Foundations; and U.K. aid from the U.K. government.
The Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is also a DRAF donor.
Source: GNA
