The 15th Round of the United Nations for Democracy (UNDEF) launched to support projects that strengthen the voice of civil society, promote human rights and encourage the participation of all groups in democratic processes.
The vast majority of UNDEF funds go to local civil society organisations - both in the transition and consolidation phases of democratisation. In this way, UNDEF plays a new and unique role in complementing the UN's other more traditional work - working with governments - to strengthen democratic governance around the world.
Focus Areas
UNDEF supports projects that strengthen the voice of civil society, promote human rights and encourage the participation of all groups in democratic processes. The vast majority of UNDEF funds go to local civil society organisations - both in the transition and consolidation phases of democratisation.
Proposals are subject to a highly rigorous and competitive selection process, with fewer than 2% chosen for funding. The projects fall into one or more of the eight main areas:
- Gender equality;
- Community activism;
- Rule of law and human rights;
- Youth engagement;
- Strengthening civil society's interaction with the government;
- Media and freedom of information;
- Tools for knowledge;
- Electoral processes.
In this Round, UNDEF particularly welcomes projects that address challenges to civic space and democracy as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
UNDEF NO will prioritise project proposals that focus on the following:
- Initiatives that do not promote democracy;
- Initiatives that fill a funding gap for ongoing/regular programmes and activities;
- Projects focused mainly on research;
- Projects that will be co-financed with other donors.
Financing information
- Grant donations will be a minimum of US$ 100,000 and will not exceed US$ 300,000 for any one project. Applicants must request an amount within this range. Most projects do not receive more than US$ 250,000.
- UNDEF grants will be earmarked for projects with a standard duration of two years.
Eligibility criteria
- Eligible beneficiaries
- UNDEF funds projects implemented by non-united organisations, not by 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 organisation requesting funding:
- Civil Society Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations engaged in democracy promotion
- Independent and Constitutional Bodies,
- Global and regional intergovernmental bodies, organisations and associations other than the United Nations
- UNDEF's priority is civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations. The organisation must be legally constituted. UN accreditation is not a prerequisite for applying for UNDEF funding. UNDEF encourages local CSOs to submit high-quality project proposals.
- Priority Countries and Regional Balance
- Strong preference will be given to candidates from countries and regions where the challenges of democracy are most critical, such as countries emerging from conflicts, new and restored democracies, the Least Developed Countries (according to the official UNOHRLLS classification), countries low-income economies ("Low Income Economies" according to the World Bank's official classification based on Gross National Income per capita) and Countries Middle Income ("Low and Middle Income Economies", idem).
- Local and Global/Regional Projects
- UNDEF will invite proposals for projects that take place in a single country (local) or take place in several specific states within a region or sub-region (regional) or intend to operate at a 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% for global/regional projects.
Evaluation criteria
During the evaluation process, project proposals will be assessed on the basis of the following ten evaluation criteria:
- The project promotes UNDEF's objectives;
- The project is based on the comparative advantage of the United Nations;
- The project will have a significant impact;
- The project will encourage the inclusion of marginalised and vulnerable groups;
- The project will increase gender equality;
- The project has strong prospects for successful implementation;
- The applicant organisation has a strong track record;
- The project is technically sound in design and presentation;
- The project represents good value for money;
- The project has strong prospects for sustainability beyond the duration of the project.
Project Management Arrangements
The vast majority of UNDEF projects are delivered directly by civil society organisations (CSOs). In this type of project, the CSO is responsible for the overall management of the project and carries all the substantive, financial, monitoring and reporting and evaluation responsibilities.
In exceptional circumstances and where there is a clear added value, the applicant may feel the need to partner with a UN Executing Agency. In this case, the UN agency will supervise and monitor the project and act as UNDEF's agent for project supervision.
If an applicant decides to work with a United Nations Agency, the applicant must seek the Agency's prior consent before submitting their project proposal. The CSO must indicate in the project proposal the contact details of the person who gave this consent.
Budgetary considerations
UNDEF finances projects, not project implementers. Note, therefore, that salaries, contractual services and miscellaneous costs must be modest.
UNDEF will not prioritise project proposals in which:
- A substantial part (more than 20%) of the budget concerns recurring institutional costs (e.g. rent, utilities) and/or personnel costs.
- Equipment and hardware purchases are very high in the context of total project costs (for example, the purchase of vehicles)
These costs will have an impact on the evaluation of the project proposal under the "Value for Money" evaluation criterion (see § 5.6). All these costs must be clearly itemised and included in each budget category (e.g. salaries, equipment/hardware, miscellaneous).
Please note that UNDEF will add 10% to any grant in order to cover monitoring and evaluation costs. This additional amount will not be disbursed to the beneficiary, but retained by UNDEF from the outset. This amount will be limited to 25,000USD for projects over 250,000USD.
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&A)
All project candidates must monitor their own activities.
Proposals need to describe how the project's results/outcomes will be measured, what measures will be used (result indicators, baseline, targets and monitoring tools) and who will be responsible for measuring them. All project proposals must allow for a rigorous monitoring and evaluation strategy which will be further detailed in the project document. Further details of monitoring and reporting will be provided to successful applicants through the Project Document Guidelines.
Useful tips for preparing a successful proposal
UNDEF shares the following best practices to help you create a successful application:
Presentation: The higher the quality of the presentation, the higher the score for your proposal. You can get a good idea of what is required by looking at the project proposal guidelines. Fill in all the relevant information, but don't exceed the character limits on the proposal form. Make sure the information is accurate. Write in plain English or French, avoiding jargon wherever possible. Use correct acronyms and website addresses. Write succinct sentences and avoid repetition.
Clarity: Clarity is the key to a successful proposal. The applicant must have a clear idea of what they want to achieve and a clear strategy for how to achieve it. You need to make explicit the link between your overall objective and your expected results - how these will translate your vision into reality. A lack of clarity cannot be disguised by the use of buzz words or other formulaic constructs; a successful project requires a logic that can be followed step by step. Clear them out completely before writing them down, but equally, agree on what specific steps are needed to make them happen, and in what sequence. Play "devil's advocate" and criticise initial ideas until you have achieved a logical design.
Scoring and criteria: In UNDEF's initial evaluation of proposals, each project proposal is scored against 10 criteria. Since less than 2% of the proposals make it to the short list, you need to score well on all the criteria to progress to the next stage. Make sure you demonstrate that your proposal fulfils each of them:
- The project promotes UNDEF's objectives
- The project is based on the United Nations' comparative advantage
- The project will have a significant impact
- The project will encourage the inclusion of marginalised and vulnerable groups
- The project will increase gender equality
- The project has strong prospects for successful implementation
- The applicant organisation has a strong track record
- The project is technically sound in design and presentation
- The project represents good value for money
- The project has strong prospects for sustainability beyond the duration of the project.
InnovationHow can your proposal stand out from the rest? The answer is innovation. This means a new idea, a new method or an original proposal. If the project's outputs are simply more workshops to raise awareness, then your proposal is unlikely to stand out. When you think of innovative approaches, make sure that the proposal is action-orientated, with concrete outputs listed in the proposal.
Democracy: UNDEF was created not just to fund good causes or good people. Arguing that your cause is just and your people are worthy is not enough. UNDEF is a Fund to promote democracy and each proposal must be able to show how funding this project will advance the cause of democracy. UNDEF focuses on supporting the voice of civil society, and so the proposal must show how that voice will be strengthened and how this, in turn, will strengthen democratic processes. The more direct the link, the stronger the proposal.
BudgetGive considerable thought to the budget. Make sure the budget relates to the outputs listed in the narrative part of the proposal. They understand that the budget is an estimate, so use rounded figures. UNDEF rarely finances the purchase of vehicles.
TimePlease don't leave submission until the last few days. Given that the proposal window is open for six weeks, a well-prepared applicant will submit well ahead of the deadline to ensure that there is time to spare if something goes wrong. The later in the proposal process, the greater the risk of something going wrong that can't be remedied. And since the online proposal system is closed for the year, they can't help you. They received dozens of "bad luck" stories about bad internet connections or electricity blackouts to explain why a proposal was delayed. The answer is to start on time.
The online application platform may experience technical difficulties due to the high volume of applicants in the last few days before the deadline, it is the applicant's responsibility to apply in advance to avoid missing the deadline, and UNDEF will not grant extensions.
You've read everything and you still have a lot of questions... Don't worry! Read the section Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
- When and who can: apply for finance
- How to apply: Online Project Proposal System
- Technical problems: Online Project Proposal System
- Project proposals: Evaluation and Selection
- Managing Projects: Arrangements and Monitoring
For more information, visit https://www.un.org/democracyfund/content/call-project-proposals
