Stop TB Challenge Partnership’s Challenge Facility for Civil Society Fifth round of the funding open

Deadline- 30 September 2012

Proposals are invited for The Stop TB Partnership´s Challenge Facility for Civil Society (CFCS) which aims to provide support to community-based organizations engaged in advocacy and social mobilization activities seeking to raise awareness and empower communities to become part of the solution in the fight against TB.

For this round, in order to address one of the most crucial needs in TB, the special focus of the successful applications should be on activities that build the capacity of civil society to advocate for services and that contribute to the creation of a network of advocates prepared to speak out and raise consciousness about challenges in reaching affected communities with TB care and help solve bottlenecks in TB programmes or Global Fund grant implementation.

Communities are coming together to advocate and improve their own access to health services and increasingly organizing to plan and deliver effective healthcare on a large scale. Though it will never replace or match the national delivery of health, it can and does make a considerable contribution acting synergistically to improve access for marginalized groups, maintaining contact and referral to health services and ultimately creating a highly effective network of health interventions and community health systems.

Eligibility-

To be considered for a Challenge Facility grant an organization must-

• have a basic management structure and processes in place
• be solvent, with or without Stop TB Partnership`s funding for the organization
• represent and serve an identifiable community, such as people living with TB, MDR-TB, TB/HIV, women, children, poor/neglected communities, or people living in remote rural areas with significant burden of TB
• have a track record of carrying out activities with tangible outputs and outcomes in the area of advocacy or social mobilization
• have a clearly defined vision, mission and set of objectives
• have experience providing grass roots level support to communities
• have links with other development and/or health institutions

In order to be eligible for the Challenge Facility for Civil Society, applications must:

• be duly filled out (with all required fields completed)
• be received by the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat along with all supporting documents before the application deadline
• not exceed US$20,000 per proposal
• not exceed 12 months duration
• have clearly defined objectives, activities and outcomes (with measures) which are achievable through the specific project for which funding is being requested
• have documentation to confirm that it is a registered organization
• have been operating for at least one full year (according to date exhibited on registration certificate)
• propose a budget in which the proportion of funding spent on salary & administrative costs does not exceed 25% of the total budget. The rest of the funding should be spent on direct programme related activities (70%-75% on activities vs. not more than 25%-30% on salaries/admin)
• agree to be part of the Stop TB Partnership TB Advocates Networks and share their knowledge through that platform
• if a recipient of a previous round, please add to the application the financial report and final report on what was achieved using the funds received.

Successful Proposals should show in the application that they-

• prepare civil society to advocate to improve TB prorgramme and reach out to build coalitions organized to increase funding and other resources for TB
• benefit TB patients and their community, facilitating their meaningful involvement in the project proposed
• demonstrate clear links with partners providing services within standards set by the public health sector, e.g. local health centres or the country’s TB control programme
• have an innovative element for advocacy and TB networking
• have trainings/workshops as an outPUT and not outCOME
• clearly state how it will achieve, monitor and evaluate the outcomes
• focus on capacity building and community engagement in TB care and prevention
• describe how the results of the activities will be measured and documented
• indicate how the activities to be undertaken using the grant will support the Stop TB Strategy of WHO, and other related policies such as the TB/HIV Collaborative Activities
• the inclusion of provision of health services is not a priority

How to apply?

• Applications are currently being accepted for the fifth round of the Stop TB Challenge Facility for Civil Society. The current round has a budget of US$300,000. Individual grants range from US$5,000 to US$20,000.
• Please ensure that all documents required are uploaded along with the application form to the online submission system. Incomplete applications will be screened out by the CFCS Secretariat and not be considered by the Selection Committee. Applications must be accompanied by:

1. a copy of the registration certificate of the organization
2. a copy of any clearance issued by the competent national authority showing that you may receive grant funds from outside the country, if such a clearance is required by your government. In case such a clearance is not sent to the Stop TB Partnership within two months of being notified of the NGO being selected to win the grant the award of the grant will be cancelled and no funds will be remitted.

For more information, visit this link