UNESCO’s International Fund to Promote Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction

UNESCO is accepting proposals for the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD) which seeks to promote sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing and least-developed countries. The Fund is a multi-donor fund established under Article 18 of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

It supports projects that aim to foster the emergence of a dynamic cultural sector, primarily through activities facilitating the introduction of new cultural policies and cultural industries, or strengthening existing ones. The use of the IFCD may take the form of legal, technical or financial support, or expertise, and must be consistent with the objectives of the IFCD.

The IFCD is notably used to promote South-South and North-South-South cooperation, while contributing to achieving concrete and sustainable results as well as structural impacts, where appropriate, in the cultural field.

Following organizations can apply for this Fund:

• all developing countries that are Parties to the Convention;
• all Parties to the Convention that have determined the existence of special situations on their territory in conformity with Articles 8 and 17 of the Convention and related operational guidelines;
• non-governmental organizations coming from developing countries that are Parties to the Convention, which meet the definition of civil society and criteria regulating admission of its representatives at meetings of organs of the Convention as mentioned in the operational guidelines relating to the role and participation of civil society*;
• international non-governmental organizations, which meet the definition of civil society and criteria regulating admission of its representatives at meetings of organs of the Convention as mentioned in the operational guidelines relating to the role and participation of civil society*, and which present projects with impact at the sub-regional, regional or inter-regional level;
• representatives of vulnerable groups and other social groups identified in Article 7 of the 2005 Convention (i.e. women and other social groups, including persons belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples) from developing countries that are Parties to the 2005 Convention.
• Regional networks are eligible to apply to the IFCD as long as they meet the criteria that define “civil society”, which for the purposes of this Convention means non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, professionals in the culture sector and associated sectors, groups that support the work of artists and cultural communities.

Deadline: 30 June 2013

For more information, visit this link.

Applications invited: Swiss Re ReSource Award: Award US$150,000

Deadline- 30 April 2013

Applications are invited for International ReSource Award for Sustainable Watershed Management organized by Swiss Re. Grand award will be offered up to US$150,000. The goal of this project is to make sustainable access to clean water supplies in developing and emerging countries.

The ReSource Award is an internationally recognized prize for leadership in implementing the principles of sustainability in
watershed management. It is conferred annually. The prize money is awarded exclusively for project implementation activities and not for building-up or strengthening the organizations that are submitting an application.

Eligibility & Criteria-
NGOs, private, scientific or public institutions and similar bodies are invited to participate in the tender for the International ReSource Award for Sustainable Watershed Management.
Projects comprising more than one institution (eg public-private partnerships) are also eligible for the award. Bodies with strong links to the local communities of regions where water sources are located are particularly encouraged to participate.
In order to qualify, participants are asked to provide a proven track record in sustainability and project planning and/or management in the specific field of water and source management.
Preference will be given to those projects which demonstrate innovative preventative measures for protecting water resources, ie projects that have a pioneering character in the local context (cultural, institutional or technological) and involve local community
and/or regional institutions. Such projects should be based on transferable concepts and thus enable sustained efforts to be made to protect the quality and availability of (drinking) water in other locations.

For more information, visit this link

Korean Green Foundation’s 2013 Green Asia Grant

The Korean Green Foundation is offering grants on climate change, renewable energy and other environmental issues in local areas under the 2013 Green Asia Grant.

The Green Asia Grant supports education, campaign and research projects on environmental issues including climate change in Asia. It supports activities of NGOs and strengthen the environmental grassroots network in Asia.

It is seeking proposals from NGOs, NPOs or civil society organization in Asia and is offering US $5000 grant to each selected organization. The project duration should be between May to November 2013

Up to 10 organizations will be selected through the review and the selection criteria includes:
Feasibility & Appropriateness
Contribution to the community
Sustainability & Scalability
Reasonable and detailed budget plan
Mission capabilities etc.

Selected organization must state that the ‘Korea Green Foundation as a sponsor on any related banners, pamphlets or other materials. Detailed schedule including site monitoring will be announced at a later time.

The deadline to submit proposals is 5 April 2013. For more information, visit this link.

Rising Voices Microgrants Call for Proposals 2013

Rising Voices is providing microgrants to support individuals, grassroots groups, networks, and organizations committed to helping their local communities participate more fully in the digital online space.

If you have an idea for a project that would help your local community use citizen media to tell their own story, then you can apply for this funding opportunity and get support in making that idea a reality.

Beginning with the 2013 round of microgrant funding, Rising Voices has developed a new platform where applicants can publicly share their ideas with the broader community. This open process can enable greater opportunities to seek feedback and to help facilitate connections between groups located in the same geographic area or working around the same issue.

Rising Voices will provide up to five microgrants in the amount of $USD 2,500-4,000 to successful applicants that have demonstrated a strong and clear idea how to best provide training and ongoing support to their local community members. Selected grantee projects will join the Rising Voices community of projects and be featured prominently across the Global Voices network.

Rising Voices seeks project proposals that share our mission of bringing voices from new communities, as well as underrepresented language groups to the online global conversation through the use of participatory citizen media. The project’s primary activities should be to provide citizen media training workshops to the target community, as well vital ongoing support and mentoring.

Application deadline is Friday, March 1, 2013 at 23:59 GMT

For more information, visit this link.