Deadline: 30 November 2022

The 17th Round of the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) has been launched to support projects that strengthen the voice of civil society, promote human rights, and encourage the participation of all groups in democratic processes.

Areas

Projects fall under one or more of six areas:

• Youth Engagement
• Gender Equality
• Strengthening civil society interaction with Government
• Rule of law and human rights
• Media and freedom of information
• Electoral processes

Funding Information

• Applicants must request an amount within a range of 100,000 USD and 250,000 USD for any given proposal

Eligible Beneficiaries

• UNDEF funds projects implemented by non-UN organizations, not individuals, profit-making or government entities. Eligible applicants must be duly constituted nationally or internationally and have legal status.
• At the project proposal stage, you will be required to indicate the type of organization applying for funding:
  • Civil Society Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations engaged in promoting democracy
  • Independent and Constitutional Bodies,
  • Global and Regional inter-government bodies, organizations and associations other than the United Nations
  • UNDEF prioritizes Civil Society Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations. The organization must be legally constituted. UN accreditation is not a prerequisite to apply for UNDEF funding.

Eligibility Criteria

• UNDEF will invite proposals for projects that either take place in one country only (local) or occur in several specified states of a region or sub-region (regional) or intend to operate at the global level (global). UNDEF will reserve at least 80% of its programmable resources in each funding round for projects taking place in one country and will allocate no more than 20% to global/regional projects.
• Priority Countries and Regional Balance
  • Strong preference will be given to applicants from countries and regions where the challenges of democracy are more critical, such as countries emerging from conflict, new and restored democracies, the Least Developed Countries (as per the official classification of the UNOHRLLS), Low Income Countries (“Low Income Economies” as per the World Bank’s official classification based on Gross National Income per capita) and Middle Income Countries (“Lower and Upper Middle-income Economies”, idem).

Assessment Criteria

• During the assessment process, project proposals will be assessed based on the following ten assessment criteria:
  • The project promotes the objectives of UNDEF
  • The project draws on the United Nations’ comparative advantage
  • The project will have a significant impact
  • The project will encourage inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable groups
  • The project will enhance gender equality
  • The project has strong prospects for successful implementation
  • The applicant organization has a strong track record
  • The project is technically sound in conception and presentation
  • The project represents good value for money
  • The project has strong prospects of sustainability beyond the project duration.

For more information, visit https://www.un.org/democracyfund/content/proposal-guideline-technical-support