Call for Proposals: Small Grants to promote Intersectional Advocacy Interventions in Asia and the Pacific Regions

KT has secured funding from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for the implementation of the Respect, Mainstreaming and Realisation of LGBT+ Rights in the Commonwealth Programme (RMR).

This multiyear (2022-2025) intervention aims to protect and promote intersectional LGBTI+ rights through supporting the enhanced capacities and intersectional advocacy efforts of Commonwealth LGBTI+ civil society in Asia and the Pacific. Through this programme, KT is providing Commonwealth LGBTI+ civil society organisations (CSO) and allied social justice movements with the technical and financial support they require to sustain and advance their work locally and regionally.

Under the RMR project, they are supporting a small grants scheme to support Commonwealth LGBTI+ civil society organisations in Asia and the Pacific regions to advance their human rights work through the implementation of intersectional advocacy interventions.

Funding Information

• Grants issued under this Call for Proposals will be available for £5,000–8,000 per grant per organisation. KT anticipates being able to award between 7–12 small grants depending on the amounts requested per application. Applicants are therefore encouraged to be realistic with their proposed activities and timelines and not automatically request the maximum amount.

Duration

• Projects supported under this grant can begin anytime from 1 August 2024, but the funding provided through the sub-grants must be utilised before 31 March 2025. The final reports, both narrative and financial, will be due no later than 30 April 2025.

Activities 

• Intersectionality acknowledges the interconnections between diverse social identities, such as gender, race, class, and disability, in shaping experiences of discrimination and oppression. As a framework, it is a powerful tool for analysis and advocacy, highlighting specific needs within programming and activism. Activities supported under this grant scheme should focus on advancing the rights of LGBTI+ people from an intersectional perspective and/or combatting the disparities of LGBTI+ people who are impacted by issues of an intersectional nature (e.g., climate change, migration or access to health). Activities and areas of work that will be considered under this Call for Proposals include, but are not limited to:
  • Documentation and Research: Activities could include advocacy-oriented desk reviews or primary research, including conducting baseline surveys to discover unique issues that marginalise LGBTI+ communities and intersecting populations, the documentation of human rights violations, or the review of legal and policy environments’ direct effects on the rights of LGBTI+ communities in a certain context, with a view to be used for advocacy purposes.
  • Awareness and Sensitisation: Activities could include raising the awareness or engaging various, diverse and intersectional stakeholders or the general public around issues related to intersecting identities, or developing external communications that bring visibility to the issues affecting LGBTI+ populations including the production and dissemination of media publications, video content and other initiatives.
  • Targeted advocacy and Outreach: Activities could include inclusive and rights-based responses to long-term causes of intersectional inequality through engagement with key decision-makers and other stakeholders (e.g., faith-based groups, diplomatic missions, human rights institutions and mechanisms), identification and sensitisation of LGBTI+ allies for collaborative advocacy, social inclusion, and respect and dignity for LGBTI+ communities and other intersectionally disadvantaged groups.
  • Training and Capacity strengthening: Activities could include the development and execution of digital and/or in-person staff and volunteer advocacy training sessions or the development of advocacy strategies on how to practically implement intersectional awareness within a CSO. Where possible, capacity building activities should be paired with an additional activity(-ies) that allows the learnings to be implemented into practice.
• Activities should be explicitly focused on generating positive impact towards the human rights, equality and overall dignity of LGBTI+ people from an intersectional perspective and should be in line with internationally accepted efforts to promote human rights and/or reduce stigma and discrimination and/or to build the capacity of civil society organisations working within the intersections of human rights, social justice, development and humanitarian work.

Ineligible Activities

• The following activities/lines of work are, unfortunately, not eligible as part of this call:
  • Applications coming from individual activists.
  • Income replacement schemes.
  • Service delivery programmes (e.g., legal aid, counselling)
  • Basic needs (e.g., food parcels, medication), humanitarian relief interventions/products, charity, or social services.
  • Bridge/gap funding.
  • Scholarships, study visits.
  • Equipment (laptops, projectors, etc.) or real estate purchase.
  • Funding that goes into organising and/or participation in protests and demonstrations.
  • Providing bail for imprisoned persons, statutory fines, criminal fines, or penalties.

Eligibility Criteria 

• To be eligible for funding under this call, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
  • Applications for funding must be submitted by an individual LGBTI+-led and/or -focused civil society organisation, alone or in partnership with an allied social justice organisation or group.
  • The organisation and/or allied group must be based and operating in a Commonwealth country in the Asia or the Pacific regions. Eligible Commonwealth countries in this region include: Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Kiribati, Malaysia, Maldives, Nauru, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
  • Applications must clearly and concisely demonstrate how the proposed activities will contribute to advance or protect the rights of LGBTI+ people and communities, particularly those with intersecting identities, either locally or regionally.
  • Activities must be realistic and feasible within the given time frame, allowing for the proposed intervention to be completed before March 2025.
  • Applicants must be able to demonstrate experience and capacity delivering projects of a similar nature and/or size.
  • Applicants must successfully complete the due diligence process. Please note that while they accept proposals from both registered and unregistered organisations, however, unregistered organisations will be required to operate through a fiscal host organisation, who will also be required to undergo the due diligence process.
• Special consideration will be given to applications that come from:
  • Organisations which received a capacity development intervention in April/May 2024 AND are able to showcase in the proposals how the skills and increased technical or practical capacity gained then will be built upon throughout this new project period.
  • Projects in countries experiencing an increase in anti-LGBTI+ rhetoric, violence or any political and/or legislative developments intended to curtail the rights of LGBTI+ communities.

For more information, visit KT.