Applications Invited for Strengthening South Asian Civil Society Climate Advocacy

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About the Grant  

The U.S. Department of State’s U.S Embassy Islamabad announces an open competition for one assistance award through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), contingent on funding availability, through the Public Diplomacy Grants Program. The grantee will implement a program to strengthen South Asian civil society participation and climate advocacy at the Conference of Parties (COP) and through other public engagement activities. The program will identify, convene, and mentor influential civil society leaders whose work across South Asia advances climate action in line with climate change impact data and U.S. foreign policy. Participants will be selected from Pakistan and at least three of the following South Asian countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

The program will establish a cadre of likely COP participants and will assist them in developing realistic, concrete, and data-driven policy recommendations that will ground their advocacy at the COP. Participants may be influential and established or emerging climate leaders who are employed by, or volunteer for, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international governmental organizations (IGOs), academia, think tanks, other civil society organizations, and/or for-profit companies with a demonstrated commitment to climate-focused corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The program will develop a 9-12 month series of activities for participants which will result in: regular virtual engagements, trainings, courses, and/or workshops; at least one in-person engagement (conference or similar activity) ahead of the COP that will bring participants together to collaborate with regional counterparts and experts; the development of either country-specific or issue-specific white paper(s) ahead of the COP that will define the group’s policy recommendations; potential funding for participants’ travel to the COP; opportunities for participants to engage with press and media to amplify the policy recommendations; and ongoing monitoring and evaluation to continually assess the program activities with a final report summarizing the program’s outputs and outcomes.

Background:

The United States is committed to working with global partners to increase efforts to mitigate climate change and ensure strong outcomes through regular and meaningful engagement at the annual COP and elsewhere. This is grounded in a whole-of-society approach which seeks to scale up action at home and abroad to put the world on a path to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

This commitment supports civil society leaders and organizations to advocate for policy changes that benefit underserved and marginalized communities, hold governments and businesses accountable, and develop creative and realistic solutions to the climate crisis.

While the climate crisis affects all countries and communities globally, South Asia remains especially vulnerable to the devastating impacts of climate change. With a population of nearly two billion people, South Asian communities disproportionately face tremendous threats stemming from climate change, including reoccurring floods, drought, extreme weather events, and food and energy insecurity. Although government-to-government partnerships are critical, civil society leadership is essential to ensure that the voices and interests of all people effected by climate change are heard and represented locally, regionally, and internationally.

This program will convene a group of South Asian civil society leaders and develop a robust series of program activities to guide and inform strong and unified policy proposals ahead of, during, and after COP.

Project Goal:

Strengthen South Asian civil society climate advocacy to advance realistic, concrete, and data[1]driven policy recommendations at COP.

Project Objectives:

Objective 1: Establish a cohort of influential civil society leaders throughout South Asia who will advocate for impactful climate policy solutions at the COP.

Objective 2: Strengthen South Asian civil society partnerships through regular virtual and in[1]person engagements and learning opportunities including courses, workshops, conferences, lectures, press and media engagement, and participation at the COP.

Objective 3: Amplify civil society climate policy recommendations to local, regional, and international audiences through engagement with policy makers, business leaders, and press and media.

Eligibility

The following U.S.-based or Pakistan-based organizations are eligible to apply:

• Not-for-profit organizations
• Civil society/non-governmental organizations
• Think tanks
• Public and private educational institutions

How to Apply

Submission Method: Submitting all application materials through Grants.gov. For those opting to apply through Grants.gov, thorough instructions on the application process are available at http://www.grants.gov. For questions relating to Grants.gov, please call the Grants.gov Contact Center at 1-800-518-4726 or go to https://www.grants.gov/support.html. Please note that PakistanGrants@state.gov is unable to assist with technical questions or problems applicants experience with Grants.gov.

Submission Deadline: All applications must be received by Wednesday, April 10, 2024 (23:59 Eastern Standard Time). For the purposes of determining if an award is submitted on time, PDS will utilize the timestamp provided by Grants.gov. This deadline is firm and is not a rolling deadline. If organizations fail to meet the deadline noted above their application will be considered ineligible and will not be considered for funding.

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Tags Environment and Sustainability Advocacy Others