CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR THE KOSOVO WOMEN’S FUND

Issued: 2 February 2023                                           Application Deadline: 3 March 2023

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) is pleased to announce the Kosovo Women’s Fund’s (KWF’s) eighteenth grant round. We invite women’s rights civil society organisations (WCSOs) to submit applications that will contribute to furthering women’s rights and gender equality.

More specifically, applications should demonstrate how organizations propose to contribute to realizing the Strategic Goals identified by KWN members in the KWN Strategy, towards supporting, protecting, and promoting the rights and interests of women and girls, using a rights-based approach and sustainable change.

As KWN’s research “The Pandemic Knows No Gender”? A Gender Fiscal Budget Analysis of the Government of Kosovo’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Gender Perspective has shown, the pandemic has impacted both women and men, but given their generally unequal position within society, women have been particularly affected. The government response to COVID-19 has not been based on sufficient gender analysis, and, as a result, some government measures have neglected to address the specific needs of women amid this crisis. Some measures even contributed to worsening pre-existing gender inequalities.

Therefore, KWN strongly encourages initiatives that involve advocacy/monitoring on local and national levels, particularly related to government response to the socio-economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocacy can include meetings with officials; raising awareness about rights to government benefits and programs; policy-oriented research; proposing policy changes related to the government’s response to COVID-19; and involving people in claiming their rights. Initiatives must aim to contribute to real, visible results (e.g., new legislation, new services, reports about cases of gender-based rights violations, monitored court cases, etc.). Please be aware that activities alone cannot be considered results of initiatives.

The types of activities eligible for financial support may include, among others:

• Conducting policy-oriented research, such as related to beneficiaries of COVID-19 government allocations to date, government spending (using gender-responsive budgeting methods), and how government interventions could better reach and benefit diverse women, men, girls, and boys;
• Building the capacities of women and girls to advocate for their priorities;
• Organizing meetings among diverse women and decision-makers, during which women can advocate to officials regarding how the government can better their needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath;
• Supporting women to influence and propose policy changes in existing laws and regulations at municipal and national levels, towards improving the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Organizing awareness-raising to inform women of various government programs, their rights to benefits, how to access benefits, and how to report any potential gender-based discrimination in the allocation of government resources for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and/or in related government programs;
• Providing legal and psychological support to women seeking to realize their rights, including under anti-discrimination legislation;  
• Documenting and reporting on cases of gender-based human rights violations;   
• Building the capacities of civil society, public servants and service providers to further gender equality through their programs and in the distribution of resources;
• Related, supporting municipalities or ministries in implementing gender responsive budgeting, including undertaking gender analyses of beneficiaries of COVID-19 programs to date to inform new policies and budgets to better meet the needs of diverse women, men, girls, and boys;
• Monitoring of all forms of discrimination based on gender, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation, and/or intersections of these; and documenting and reporting on findings, towards influencing improved approaches;
• Providing specific services, such as legal, educational, social and health services to persons most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly women suffering violence, impoverished, and other vulnerable women; and utilising this experience to inform advocacy for improving government services in the future;
• Pilot the use of digital solutions for reaching diverse women with services, tele-counselling, counselling, legal aid and other support, particularly women who may not otherwise have access;
• Conducting organizational capacity building activities (e.g., strategic planning, furthering organizational resilience, public relation, improving use of digital solutions to issues) may also receive support as part of initiatives, but not as the main objective.   

NOTE: Initially, each selected grant applicant will undergo an Organizational and Advocacy Capacity Assessment (OACA).[1] The assessment will be used to identify organizational strengths, as well as opportunities for furthering their capacities. Based on this assessment, organizations will be asked to develop a simple Capacity Development Plan that they can realize during their initiative, towards furthering their capacities. Based on the needs identified, tailored capacity building support will be provided to grant recipients. All support will relate to the planned Actions. A follow-up OACA will be carried out in the end of the Action to assess any changes to organizational capacities over time.

The types of action that are ineligible include:

• Actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops, seminars, conferences and congresses;
• Actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses;
• Purchasing of buildings, offices, vehicles or of equipment (unless necessary for the successful execution of the project);
• Actions supporting political parties, groups and movements;
• Debts, debt service charges (interest), provisions for losses or potential future liabilities, currency exchange losses and credit to third parties;
• Salary costs of the personnel of government officials;
• Costs declared by the beneficiary(ies) and already financed by another action or work programme of the European Union or another donor.

In accordance with the KWN Strategy, the types of initiatives that will be prioritized for funding will include:

Strengthening the Feminist Movement in Kosovo

• Building capacities and involving youth (young women and men) in advocating for women’s rights, particularly related to COVID-19 response measures;
• Mobilizing persons with disabilities, pensioners, persons from minority ethnic groups (within their municipality), and women from rural areas in advocating for their rights, particularly related to COVID-19 recovery;
• Collaborating with other KWN members to share knowledge and further other network members’ capacities in specific areas, as well as increase solidarity among women’s organizations in joint advocacy for an improved COVID-19 response;
• Utilize KWN’s research Where’s the Money for Women’s Rights? and other data available to inform advocacy and awareness raising for women’s rights, such as the allocation of permanent government budget lines for civil society towards enhancing the resilience and sustainability of women’s rights organisations.

Women in Politics and Decision-making

• Involving women in identifying priorities towards gender equality in their municipalities and directly advocating to officials to address their priorities, related to the COVID-19 recovery;
• Involving women in reviewing draft policy documents at municipal or national levels and providing their input (e.g., budget documents, new municipal regulations, etc., particularly related to addressing COVID-19);
• Support municipalities and/or ministries in implementing gender-responsive budgeting particularly related to the COVID-19 response, including by building their capacities and supporting them to conduct gender analysis of who has benefitted from measures; and using this to set objective and activities for improving the distribution of state resources and services related to COVID-19 in the future; 

Women’s Right to Healthcare

• Involving women in advocating for improved access to quality healthcare, including taking actions to demand quality, affordable healthcare be provided and/or to report violations of women’s right to healthcare, particularly related to COVID-19 prevention and treatment;
• Collaborate with women to officially report abuses of their right to healthcare to the appropriate authorities (especially reproductive and maternal health), after raising their awareness about their rights;
• Utilize KWN’s research Access to Healthcare in Kosovo and other data available on women’s access to quality healthcare to inform advocacy and awareness raising;
• Provision of specific services, such as legal health services.

A Life Free from Gender-based Violence

• Advocate to institutions for improved services for persons who have suffered gender-based violence (e.g., domestic violence, sexual harassment), particularly during COVID-19;
• Advocate to institutions for better rehabilitation and reintegration services for persons who suffered violence;
• Monitor court cases related to domestic violence and report incorrect application of the legal framework by courts, advocating to the appropriate institutions for these issues to be addressed;
• Strengthening capacities of individuals, communities and authorities to ensure safety of women and reduce domestic violence towards women and girls in the context of crisis;  
• Support women and girls who have experienced sexual harassment at work, at school, or in the street by providing legal help to them and teaching them how to approach the correct institutions and seeking an address for these cases. Initiatives may also include informing citizens of their rights to address sexual harassment;
• Consult the research reports of KWN, such as From Laws to Action? (2021), monitoring the institutional response to gender-based violence and the report on Sexual Harassment in Kosovo (2016), which monitors the implementation of relevant legal framework by responsible institutions, in order to inform advocacy that holds individual institutions accountable and improves their approach in addressing all forms of gender-based violence;
• Collaborate with local institutions and businesses to install mechanisms for addressing sexual harassment;

Provide legal and psychological support to women who are victims of gender-based violence through tele-counselling and in person; advocate for sustained state support of these services based on lessons learned from this experience.

Women’s Economic Empowerment

• Advocating to municipal or national authorities for policies that encourage and support women’s economic empowerment particularly amid COVID-19 recovery measures (e.g., more allocation of agricultural subsidies to women and men, more equal distribution of government grants for business development for women and men, the opening of more public day cares that will provide jobs for women and enable women to work);
• Providing legal aid, advice and assistance to women whose labour rights were violated amid COVID-19 and helping them access justice;
• Working with Regional Employment Centres to encourage and help them to support more women in securing employment;
• Directly supporting women in claiming their rights to property and/or inheritance, as needed to qualify for state benefits related to COVID-19 response measures (this can follow awareness-raising, but must involve women actually registering property or claiming inheritance);
• Improving the gender perspective on reforms related to the EU accession process related to women’s employment, particularly amid COVID-19 recovery measures.

Improving Access to Quality and Gender Sensitive Education

• Advocating at municipal and national levels for the government to allocate more resources for establishing more pre-schools and childcare centres, as essential amid COVID-19 relief measures;

GRANT AWARDS

Supported by the European Union Office in Kosovo (EU) through KWN’s initiative Enhancing the Capacities and Resilience of CSOs Furthering Gender Equality Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic” KWN anticipates distributing two (2) grants up to €10.000. The total amount expected to be distributed through this initiative is € 20.000.

SIZE, TYPE AND DURATION OF GRANTS

Initiatives are expected to begin on 1 June 2023 and can last up to a maximum of eight (8) months from the date of contract signature. KWN reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted, as well as to discuss with applicants allocating actions as needed within the aforementioned categories. Funding decisions will be made by KWF Grants Review Committee (GRC), elected by KWN members.

ELIGIBILITY

In order to apply, organizations must fulfil the following criteria:

1. Plan and implement activities in accordance with their own organizational strategy;
2. Undertake activities that contribute to the implementation of the KWN Strategy, including programs on:
   1. Strengthening the Feminist Movement in Kosovo;
   1. Women in Politics and Decision-making;
   1. Women’s Rights to Healthcare;
   1. A life-free from Gender-based Violence;
   1. Women’s Economic Empowerment;
   1. Improving Access to Quality and Gender Sensitive Education
3. Be able to provide at least 10% of the budget total amount from another donor and/or self-contribution (e.g., documented volunteer work). This 10% contribution should be reflected in the budget proposal;
4. Have no staff members currently part of KWN’s Board, or part of the GRC.

The GRC will prioritize funding for:

• KWN members;
• Initiatives linked to addressing COVID-19 related challenges and/or needs;
• Initiatives that involve advocacy, towards bringing about sustainable changes in supporting, protecting, or promoting women’s rights and gender equality at municipal and/or national levels;
• Initiatives that aim to contribute to produce tangible and visible results (e.g., new legislation, new services, reports about cases of gender-based violence, monitored court cases, etc.);
• Initiatives that engage persons with different abilities, minority ethnic groups and marginalized persons;
• Organizations lacking other funding opportunities from different donors.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

Applications may be submitted in Albanian, Serbian and English languages. The full application must be submitted electronically to the following email: grants@womensnetwork.org.

Applicants must submit the following documents:

1. Application, using the KWN Application Form (Word format, attached and available at: https://womensnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/KWF_Application-Form-3.docx), and

Applicants must submit the following documents: Budget Proposal, using the KWN Form (Excel format, attached and available at: https://womensnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Budget-Proposal.xlsx ).

Please note: all budgets must represent an allocation of costs (which means co-financing by another institution) and / or a non-financial contribution (meaning volunteer work, donations from businesses, community involvement) in the amount of 10% of the total budget proposal. This should be stated in the budget proposal. KWF will consider wage coverage and operating expenses in cases where the applicant has explained clearly how this will enable them to advance women’s rights and / or gender equality.

Proposals submitted to KWN must be the original and sole work of the applicant organization. Plagiarism will result in disqualification of the application. KWN will retain all materials and documents submitted by applicants. KWN will not use information presented by applicants for purposes other than review and will not provide this information to other persons or institutions, except when required either by Kosovo law or requested by donors.

Upon delivery of their application, applicants will receive a Confirmation of Receipt with an application number, signed by KWN staff.

ANTICIPATED TIMELINE

CONTACTS FOR INFORMATION

Clarification requests / additional information: Applicants must submit their clarification requests by March 1, 2023 at 5:00 p.m., via email to grants@womensnetwork.org.

To have access to the info session, please click the link below:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89664539031?pwd=OUdHTWVVNW84dWlJWUY4ZCtEUjUzQT09

Meeting ID: 896 6453 9031
Passcode: 932758

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[1] This respectable methodology, derived from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Advocacy Index, and further developed by the East-West Management Institute, is used in several countries worldwide to assess organizations’ capacities and abilities to carry out effective advocacy.