The Small Grants Program

WORLD BANK TAJIKISTAN COUNTRY OFFICE

THE CIVIL SOCIETY FUND PROGRAM 2008 (formerly Small Grants Program)

Guidelines for Civil Society Organizations The Civil Society Fund Program 2008 The World Bank Tajikistan Country Office

Guidelines for Civil Society Organizations

About the Program

The Civil Society Fund Program (CSFP), formerly known as Small Grants Program (SmGP), was created by the World Bank in 1983 to provide a way for the Bank to promote dialogue and disseminate information about development in forums outside its own operations. Under this program, grants are provided to civil society organizations through participating World Bank Country Offices.

The program complements and facilitates the social development agenda of the World Bank through its focus on civic engagement.

What is Civic Engagement?

Civic engagement is defined as citizens, either individually or as organized groups, interacting with the public sector to strengthen mechanisms for inclusion, accountability, and participation in order to enhance and influence development outcomes.

Civic Engagement can… . Promote public consensus and local ownership for reforms and for national poverty reduction and development strategies by creating knowledge-sharing networks, building common ground for understanding, encouraging public-private cooperation, and sometimes even diffusing tensions; . Give voice to the concerns of primary and secondary stakeholders, particularly poor and marginalized populations, and help ensure that their views are factored into policy and program decisions; . Strengthen and leverage impact of development programs by providing local knowledge, identifying potential risks, targeting assistance, and expanding reach, particularly at the community level; . Bring innovative ideas and solutions to development challenges at both the local and global levels; . Improve public transparency and accountability of development activities, contributing to the enabling environment for good governance. Crucial ingredients for empowerment of vulnerable groups include access to information, access to organizational links outside the local domain, capacity to influence the public arena and to negotiate with local and national authorities, and the presence of enabling policy and legal frameworks for civic engagement.

The main theme of this year’s Civil Society Fund Program in Tajikistan is Civic Engagement for Environmental Protection. The Bank always has environment as one of key elements of its operations, since it continues to represent a high risk for the population and overall development effort. The Bank maintains dialogue and intensifies its efforts in increasing awareness about the importance of such issues as inefficient natural resource management, air pollution, depletion and degradation of soils and forests, biodiversity, global warming and others. The goal of this program is to assist NGOs and local communities in increasing their influence, enhancing their capacities, creating partnerships with local and national authorities for addressing environmental problems.

In particular, civil society has an important role to play in supporting energy conservation efforts, use of alternative energy sources for heating/cooking purposes, decrease in air pollution, and building awareness among communities about global warming effects and importance of preservation of forests.

While environmental protection is the main theme of the program this year, project proposals on other important themes are not discouraged. But preference this year will be given to projects with environmental focus.

Before You Apply The World Bank Civil Society Fund Program is able to fund only a very small percentage of the requests it receives. Many requests are declined, not because they lack merit, but because they do not match either the current objectives, or the criteria of the Program as closely as the selected proposals. Your activity may fall within the objectives and criteria, but the demand far surpasses the availability of funds. Before applying, please take time to read the Guidelines to determine if there is a match. For additional information and application form, please check the website of the World Bank Country Office in Tajikistan http://www.worldbank.org/tj, or contact the Program Coordinator, Ms. Dilya Zoirova at the World Bank Country Office in Dushanbe by phone: (372) 21-07-56 or via the email: [email protected]

Who Can Apply?

· Local civil society organizations based in Tajikistan and working on issues of development can apply for a grant. · Civil society organizations must be in good standing and have a record of achievement in the community and record of financial probity; · Priority will be given to organizations not supported by the Program in previous years (organizations are not eligible for more than three grants from the Civil Society Fund Program within a five-year period). What Kind of Activities are Supported? The Civil Society Fund Program supports activities related to civic engagement for the empowerment of marginalized and vulnerable groups. Civic Engagement is the process through which civil society organizations actively engage in relationships and actions with the state and other development actors to address issues of public concern. Activities should:  Promote dialogue and dissemination of information; and  Enhance partnership with key players in support of the development process. Key players could include government agencies, civil society organizations, multilateral and bilateral agencies, foundations, and private sector.  Activities may include, but are not limited to workshops and seminars to enhance civic engagement skills and/or knowledge; appropriate communication campaigns to influence policymaking or public service delivery; or innovative networking efforts to build the capacity of the particular sector.  The activity should be completed within one year of the date the grant is awarded.  Priority shall be given to organizations that have not been supported by the Program in previous years.

What Kind of Activities are not Supported? CSFP can not fund: Political activities, research programs, formal academic training programs, operational projects, provision of basic services, ongoing institutional core support (such as equipment), scholarships, fellowships, study programs, individuals applying on their own behalf, or non-legal entities. Examples of items and activities that are usually not eligible for funding under the Program include the list below:  Medical equipment, such as hospital equipment, hearing aids, crutches;  Computer equipment and installation;  Overhead costs, such as rent, maintenance, or general office supplies;  Workshops on training of business skills, unemployed, HIV/AIDS awareness, unless there is a primary civic engagement objective;  Building the capacity of CSO’s so that they could become consultants/employees in Bank projects;  Meeting basic needs, such as provision of water, heat, meals;  Construction of facilities, such as libraries or sanitation facilities;  Job creation or employment;  Disease control campaigns;  Food aid;  Full-time salaries of, for example, the director of the NGO;  Infrastructure projects, such as water systems, wells. Proposed activities should not compete with or substitute for regular World Bank instruments; the activity should be clearly distinguishable from the Bank’s regular programs.

What Size of Grants are Awarded? The amount of individual grant in Tajikistan may be in the range of $3,000 to $7,000. The Civil Society Fund Program encourages additional funding from other donors and prefers that its grants help leverage additional contributions from other sources. Applicant organizations are asked to describe how a grant from the World Bank might help them to raise matching funds from other donors. How proposals are evaluated? Before evaluation by the Selection Committee, all proposals are screened for compliance with the Program criteria.

Main criteria:  The project promoted dialogue and dissemination of information;  The project enhances partnerships with key players in support of the development; process. Key players could include government agencies, civil society organizations; multilateral and bilateral agencies, foundations and private sector;  Applicant is a legally registered NGO or a public foundation;  The grant is for a specific activity to be completed within one year;  The applications form is submitted before the deadline.

Proposals which meet the above criteria, are reviewed and evaluated by the Grant Selection Committee, convened in the World Bank Country Office and comprised of the World Bank staff, government as well as other donor and civil society representatives. During evaluation process, the Committee pays special attention to the following factors:

 Strategic nature and the importance of the proposed activity for engagement of marginalized and vulnerable groups in civic activities solving social problems and promoting engagement and voice of these groups in decision making processes, especially in rural regions.  Technical feasibility of the project: goals vs. means and technical capacity of the applicant  Innovative nature of the project  Urgency and social importance  Engagement of different population groups.

How to Apply for a Grant?

Administration of the Civil Society Fund Program has been decentralized to the World Bank Country Office in Dushanbe. Requests and proposals should not be sent to the World Bank Headquarters, but to the Country Office, as decisions are made locally and every Country Office is responsible for program administration. Duly completed applications should be submitted to the World Bank Country Office in Dushanbe. Applications shall be submitted after the program has been advertised and at least four months prior to the proposed activity. Applicants are encouraged to read the criteria and application form carefully before submitting an application. These guidelines and application form are available at: http://www.worldbank.org/tj or at the World Bank Country Office in Dushanbe.

In Tajikistan, the deadline for submitting applications for the CSFP 2008 is February 29, 2008. The review of applications may take from one to two months. Given the very large number of requests, personal visits and phone calls to the World Bank Office by the grantees are discouraged. The World Bank staff will get in touch with you if they need additional information or clarification.

Applications in Russian, Tajik or English shall be sent by mail, fax or email to the attention of the Program Coordinator, Ms. Dilya Zoirova at the following address:

World Bank Tajikistan Country Office Dushanbe, 91-10, Shevchenko str. Tel. (992-37) 221-07-56, 221-67-43 Fax. (992-372) 51-00-42 Email: [email protected]

Additional resources: Additional resources for NGOs are available from the World Bank website, http://www.worldbank.org/tj. Projects financed by the Small Grants Program in Tajikistan in 2007

Organization Brief project description 1. Dushanbe Regional Association of The purpose of the grant was the protection of rights and interests of Blind People the vision impaired, participation in government policy improvement with regard to disabled people. Under this project they carried out seminars, one round table and printing of brochures on social rehabilitation of vision impaired people. 2. Civil Union “Triumf” The purpose of the grant was the democratization of the society, improvement of civil education, assistance to students in learning the management system in 5 pilot schools. Under this project they carried out 10 seminars, teaching the role of the parliament in civil society, understanding the school parliament's role, creation of school parliaments, familiarization with children rights, interaction of school parliaments with school administration, teachers and parent's committees. 3. Center of Information and This grant aimed to establish dialogue and close interaction of the Communication Technologies civil society organizations with Government and private sectors, through the use of modern information and communication technologies, creation of unified informational website of civil unions of Tajikistan and strengthening of information and technical capacity of local NGOs. The key outcome of the project was creation of the Tajik NGO portal: http://www.tajikngo.tj. 4. Civil Union “Asol” The grant had an idea of strengthening and promoting participation of 50 government and public organizations in improvement of the situations of 1000 vulnerable young women in Tajikistan. Under this project, a summer school was held to share and exchange the knowledge between experienced and un-experienced NGOs on working with vulnerable young women. Disseminated were also promotional brochures and videos demonstrating best practices of women empowerment programs. 5. Woman Civil Union “Yosuman” This grant helped to raise the legal knowledge and reduce the risk factors for infringement of the rights of vulnerable groups in Abdurakhmoni Jomi district of Tajikistan. Under this project, legal awareness seminars were held and brochures printed and disseminated.