The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is very excited to announce the launch of a new pilot small grant for Civil Society Strengthening, Accountability and Voice.
The WSSCC Civil Society Strengthening, Accountability and Voices small grants are focused on strengthening national civil society organizations (CSOs) and networks’ advocacy and accountability activities on sanitation, hygiene and menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) to ensure that the voice of people in vulnerable situations is heard in policy dialogue and debates.
These grants aim to provide catalytic funding to amplify voices, to connect, communicate and strengthen networks – to create positive momentum that can potentially be built upon in the future.
More specifically, these grants will contribute to:
- Strengthening multi-stakeholder processes, incorporating voices of those people who are being left behind, in the planning, development and implementation of programmes.
- Securing political commitment for improved sanitation and hygiene, and menstrual health and hygiene.
WSSCC aims to achieve this by:
- strengthening the role and capabilities of local and national civil society platforms to raise the voice of those that have been least involved in and most affected by sanitation, hygiene and menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) developments in their country;
- building solidarity and support for civil society to collaborate and mobilize effectively; and
- ensuring national ownership and legitimacy of their advocacy and accountability efforts.
This programme is a new approach which they are piloting in 2020. These grants aim to provide catalytic funding to amplify voices, to connect, communicate and strengthen networks – so that by the end there is something that could be built upon in the future.
WSSCC seeks proposals that:
- promote the use of the SWA framework
- strategically contribute to a strong, lively and collaborative civil society which holds the public and private sector accountable
- support meaningful civil society representation and engagement in sanitation and hygiene sector policy dialogue to benefit the broader community –and especially poor, vulnerable and marginalized groups –in an impactful and scalable way
- address the inequalities faced by disadvantaged groups and aim to propose solutions that take in to account the day to day realities of people and communities in vulnerable situations
- strengthen the lobbying and advocacy capacity of national CSOs, build their capacity to strengthen planning, implementation and impact, and promote in-country learning and networking
- be sustainable and have a potential ripple effect that can impact one or more target groups
- clearly strengthens and supports networks and coalitions to be more inclusive and diverse, particularly of disadvantaged groups
- pursue innovative ideas and approaches for collaborative advocacy for sanitation, hygiene and MHH –and especially virtual or online approaches, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
- promote a learning and sharing aspect.
Funding Information
Grant sizes will be between US $10,000 and US $25,000 and should be implemented over a maximum of six months.
What will NOT be funded?
- General awareness raising activities
- Service delivery activities
- International collaborations – all activities need to be at either the local or the national levels
- Applications requesting core operations costs or excessive admin, equipment, or personnel costs
- Activities that are primarily motivated by a commercial interest
- Activities that are a repetition of previous projects
- Bursaries
Eligibility Criteria
The lead grantee must be:
- a national legally registered not-for-profit civil society or community-based organization with an operational bank account in the applicant’s name;
- registered and operating in Uganda, Cambodia, Togo, or Madagascar;
- working or planning to work with or build a network of like-minded organizations to raise the voices of disadvantaged groups.
For more information, visit https://mailchi.mp/317c63a34e42/wsscc-pilot-small-grants-for-civil-society-strengthening-accountability-and-voice-on-sanitation-and-hygiene