Funding opportunity to support D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activism in Europe and Central Asia

ILGA-Europe is inviting organisations and groups from Europe and Central Asia to apply for this new funding opportunity to support D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activism*. The last day to submit your application (deadline) is Monday 10 February 2020.

D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people face specific barriers and challenges when accessing human rights. Accessibility and inclusiveness have increasingly been part of LGBTI groups and organizations’ conversations and practices. Yet most D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people continue to be marginalised in LGBTI movements across Europe and Central Asia. At ILGA-Europe, we want to contribute to changing that.

In November 2019 we hosted a gathering of 11 D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activists from nine countries throughout the European region. Priorities identified during the gathering are around: connecting voices and ideas and visibility of D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people, educating LGBTI and disability organisations, campaign and advocacy for legal and policy changes. A clear interest to work at an international level was also expressed as well as the importance of having D/deaf and disability LGBTI people leading on this work.

In line with the conclusions of the gathering and as part of our work to support the LGBTI movement in Europe and Central Asia, ILGA-Europe is now inviting you to apply for this new funding opportunity to support D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activism. The last day to submit your application (deadline) is Monday 10 February 2020.

Do not hesitate to contact us via email at valeria@ilga-europe.orgor by calling 0032 2 609 56 52 (Valeria’s number at ILGA-Europe):

• If you have doubts or questions related to this funding opportunity.
• If you need support with your application.
• If you will not be able to apply but you would still like to be informed about this work. 

Priorities for this funding opportunity:

1) With this funding we will support projects that prioritize:

• Connection: D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people voices and ideas are more connected and less isolated;
• Legal and policy change: Through advocacy work there are fewer barriers to D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people enjoying their human rights;
• Visibility: D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people experiences and activism are more visible.

2) An additional priority is about the LGBTI (and disability) movement becoming more aware and accessible for D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people. With this fund we want to support projects that:

• Create results that remain also after the fund is finished.
• Is part of a longer process of developing D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activism in Europe and Central Asia.
• Create knowledge, tools, practices that can be used by other activists for similar purposes;
• Keeps into account a regional and cross-country perspective.

Activities that can be supported:

Examples of activities that can be included in project proposals are:

• Needs assessment or planning activities for your organisation or group;
• Community activities, online or in person, to meet and engage with more D/deaf and disabled people;
• Advocacy work around policy or legal change that is important to D/deaf and disabled people;
• Communication activities and campaign online and offline;
• Development of educational materials such as publications or trainings;
• Meetings or events to build alliances or learn from each other;
• Any other activity that is in line with the priorities of this fund;
• Etc. 

Project proposals must be different from any other project you have already in place. ILGA-Europe wants to make the learning of these projects available for LGBTI activists in Europe and Central-Asia. As such, we expect applicants to be willing to share their learning with us.

Examples of costs that you can include in your project are: travel costs such as flight, train or bus tickets; accommodation costs for instance in a hotel; meals costs; food for coffee breaks; cost to rent a room for an activity; costs to pay for salaries of those involved in the project; costs for design or printing publications or other materials; costs to ensure accessibility of activities such as sign language interpretation, speech to text captioning; costs to cover reasonable adjustments when it comes to accommodation, transportation or operating costs linked to the project (for example a share of your organisations rent, internet bill or stationery) among others.

Examples of costs that you cannot include in the budget are: alcoholic drinks; purchases of equipment (such as laptops, projectors or similar items) or purchases of real state among others.

Who can apply for this funding opportunity?

Registered organisations led by D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activists are encouraged to submit project proposals; proposals from LGBTI organisations working on the intersection of LGBTI and disability are also eligible.

We also welcome projects where an unregistered group operates with the support of a registered organisation. If your group is not registered (you do not have a bank account, etc.) you can partner with a registered organisation and have them applying with you and supporting the project administration.

We will also welcome proposals for projects to which ILGA-Europe would contribute part of the funding. For example, if your group is part of an organisation which is in position to develop a larger project and fund part of it, ILGA-Europe would consider being a co-funder to this project. The one requirement is that this would be supporting important activities that would not happen without this funding.

No matter what form your activities take (registered organisation or informal group) you need to have some experience in running projects, including financially. In case, you doubt on applying, please do not hesitate to reach out to us as we can support you with your assessment. ILGA-Europe also provides support in grant management in the form of webinars and meetings aimed at explaining the financial management requirements for the project.

Applicants must be based in the 54 countries of Europe and Central Asia

Budget available:

We plan to make up to 5 grants in the range of 3.000€-5.000 €. Projects can last a maximum of 6 months and have to finish before the 15 October 2020. For this call, ILGA-Europe has a total budget of 17.000 €.

How to apply for this fund:

You have to fill in this application form by 10 February 2020; this is the preferred option: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DdeafanddisabledLGBTIactivism

You can also fill in the same application form in word format and send it to this email address: valeria@ilga-europe.org

In order to promote accessibility for all we also welcome video applications. This is limited to applicants that do not have the capacity to write an application. Video applications need to answer the same questions as written applications so check the whole application form before and make sure you address those questions in the video. The video must be a maximum of 10 minutes. Please use .mp4 and .mov formats. We appreciate and encourage videos that are “Selfie-style.” You can record yourself looking directly at your smartphone, tablet or computer. No special effects, labels, or editing are required. Videos will not be accepted if we cannot see who is speaking on behalf of the organization. We will require organization’s to submit contact information and the budget template in writing.

You can send us the video application via WeTransfer or sharing a link to a Dropbox or Google Drive folder. Please send the link to this email address: valeria@ilga-europe.org. Do not attach the video to the email as the size will be too large and it will not go through.

Applications written or video must be submitted in English. The last day to submit your application (deadline) is Monday 10 February 2020.

What is going to happen and when?

• The last day to submit your application (deadline) is Monday 10 February 2020.
• We will review applications and decide on projects to support by 24 February 2020.
• We will inform all applicants about the result of the review via e-mail or other contacts provided in the application.
• For the project selected, we may ask additional questions or clarifications to the applicants. Together, we will also compile a more detailed budget.
• Once all these steps are taken, and in case we have answers to all the questions and doubts, the project will receive final approval and we will send you the contract together with a Payment Request Form (PRF) We will work so that all contracts are signed between the 1 of April and the 30 of April. Activities might start from the day in which the contract is dated
• For this funding, we will send you the 80% of the budget within 4 weeks of signing the contract and receiving the PRF. The remaining 20% is to be transferred at the end of the project once the final narrative and financial reports are submitted and approved.
• No matter when the contract is signed the project activities must finish by the 15 of October 2020.
• By 30 October 2020 you will have to submit a final narrative and financial report. We will review the reports and ask additional questions if needed.
• During the 5 or 6 months of project we will have regular contacts (every one or two months).

What will ILGA-Europe do and how you can connect with us:

• If you are interested in this opportunity and you have questions or doubts please contact us and we will do our best to support.
• Once projects are selected we will work with those involved to answer questions or doubts, look together at the planning for the project and to revise the budget if needed.
• When project activities will be implemented we will be available to support in case you experience problems or need suggestions on how to go about some aspects of your work.
• We will work to collect learning from the work done under this funding and we will circulate this knowledge for instance with articles, educational materials, online learning sessions among others.  

Do not hesitate to contact us via email at valeria@ilga-europe.org or by calling 0032 2 609 56 52 (Valeria’s number at ILGA-Europe):

• If you have doubts or questions related to this funding opportunity.
• If you need support with your application.
• If you will not be able to apply you would still like to be informed about this work.