Because Accountability Counts!

---------------------------------------

FOR:

Benin - Burkina Faso - Cameroon - Cape Verde - Chad - Côte d'Ivoire - Ghana - Guinea - Guinea Bissau - Liberia - Mali - Mauritania - Niger - Nigeria - Senegal - Sierra Leone - Togo -The Gambia

The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) is a private operating and grant making Foundation which supports and advocates for initiatives that promote Open Society values in West Africa. It is dedicated to promoting a West African society where transparency and accountability in governance, basic freedoms and the empowerment of citizen prevail. OSIWA’s principal aim/niche is to build capacity of West African civil society and government institutions through support to catalytic and innovative initiatives and to advocate for Open Society ideals. OSIWA’s strategy combines three methodological approaches in its programs: grants to NGOs to execute projects, implementation of internally generated initiatives with partners; and proactive advocacy based on its experience of the terrain, aimed at policy reform at the national and sub-regional levels

Overall Objective for 2008:

The overarching priorities of the foundation in 2008 will be Transparency and Accountability: activities designed to monitor the actions of governments and hold them accountable to their citizens and Capacity Building: activities designed to enhance the capacity of individuals, institutions and governments. The foundation will also support groundbreaking initiatives that will advance Open Society principles and practices and set the agenda for emerging issues of concern to the foundation. OSIWA will focus its work in a select number of countries and thematic areas in 2008. The Foundation will also be working to support and build advocacy campaigns in West Africa based on a rights based approach, around, Constitutional and Electoral Reform Issues, Minority and Citizenship Issues, Affirmative Action for Women and Youth Participation in Governance, Transparency and Accountability in the Management of Public Resources at National, State and Local Levels, Ratification and Domestication of the African Protocol on Women’s Rights, Gender Violence, Public Interest Litigation, ICT and Media Regulations, Free and Open Source, eGovernance and Freedom of Information.

Areas of intervention:

The four broad strategic areas are: 1. Governance (Political and Economic) ; 2. Law, Justice and Human Rights ; 3. Public Health and Development, with current emphasis on HIV/AIDS ; 4. Information Communication Technology and Media. Issues to be addressed:  Monitoring Governance: Facilitate the creation and reinforcement of national Anti-corruption policies and frameworks; Research work on Economic, Social and Cultural rights.  Budget Transparency: Capacity building and work around budget policy, legislation, processes and frameworks.  Monitoring Development: Promoting efficient and profitable Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) and the monitoring of relevant economic development policies and initiatives.  Justice and Legal Sector Reform (Human rights education for members of the judiciary; Police accountability and effectiveness for law enforcement conduct pre and post elections).  Support for Legal Aid/Alternative Dispute Resolution (Policy Reform and Legislative Framework for Legal Aid; Promotion of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Traditional Justice System).  Women and Children’s Rights Programs (Youth participation on issues of law and social justice to deepen understanding of human rights).  Institutional Capacity Building for Human Rights Institutions (Capacity Building for NGOs).  Interventions in Nigeria to support Budget Transparency work (Capacity building of budget watch groups and advocacy for conducive legal framework at State level); and Human Rights (Integrated support for Gender-based Violence).  Interventions in Liberia to support Human Rights and Access to Justice (Justice Sector Reform, Institutional Capacity Building, Access to Justice and Sexual and Gender Based Violence initiatives); Peacebuilding (community reconciliation programs which include traditional reconciliation methods and interfaith dialogues, sports for peace etc.); and Legislative Advocacy (Focusing on Accountability and Transparency and Freedom of Information) Eligibility: OSIWA awards grants principally to local organizations; West Africa based organizations in partnership with local groups; government institutions; regional as well as, sub regional organizations working in its core priorities areas. Former grantees of the foundation may also apply, if the report for the previous grant has already been submitted and approved. Please see OSIWA website for application template and background information on the Foundation. Selection criteria and process: Applications will be evaluated on the extent to which the organization possesses the vision, drive, experience and skills required to create and sustain a project that will advance OSIWA’s goals: Project:  Is the project relevant to OSIWA’s strategic priorities?  Is the project sufficiently innovative in its approach and sound in its strategy to have an impact on public opinion, policies, and/or reform activities at the national, regional or local level?  Are the project goals and timeline realistic and manageable?  Does the project identify and build on existing efforts by organizations or individuals already working on the issue? Organizations:  Does the organization demonstrate the vision and skills, breadth of experience, and discipline needed to accomplish the project with a high degree of success in a timely and cost-effective manner?  Do the organizations’ track record and recommendations distinguish the organization as one who will lend a new or important voice to the advocacy community and be an agent for change?  Does the organization possess the leadership and analytical qualities needed to raise the level of local or national discussion and influence policy debate on the issues underlying his or her project? OSIWA requires all organizations seeking funding to submit a completed application form. In addition to the form the application should include the following information as attachments:  Proof of registration and, if available, a copy of organizational statutes ;  A list of board members, trustees and staff;  A list of current activities or, if available, a most recent annual report;  A current organizational budget and, if available, an audited financial statement;  A recent project or organizational evaluation, if available. All application received for consideration will be screened by OSIWA management and an independent experts’ committee and approved by the OSIWA Board. Application submission: Complete applications should be sent directly to: proposals@osiwa.org Timeline: Application Deadline: June 30, 2008 Review: July 2008 Final Decision: August 2008 Please note that Organizations that have already applied to the March/April Call for Proposals do not need to resubmit their applications. Their proposals will be part of the next review scheduled for July 2008. They will be informed of the final status of their application at the end the process