FOR ALL TO SEE: The banner presents a green, red and black textured background. In the middle, on a black background, the title “VOICES for rights & justice” is highlighted, with “VOICES” in upper case and larger print. Below, a subtitle in smaller print says “Strengthening Civil Society’s Autonomy and Agency. Below, on the green background, three closed fists of Black coloring with orange nails are raised. In the upper center, the Brazil Fund’s logo in white. In the lower part, a short text quotes the inspiration by the artwork “Paz e Poder”, by Abdias Nascimento, belonging to the Black Art Museum Collection | IPEAFRO.
APPLICATIONS CLOSED.
GET TO KNOW THE PROJECTS SELECTED IN THE CALL FOR PROPOSAL
INTRODUCTION
The Brazil Human Rights Fund invites groups, collectives, and civil society organizations that act in tackling violations and in defense of human rights in our country to present proposals for support of their work in the scope of the General Call for Proposal 2024 “Voices for Rights and Justice”: Strengthening Civil Society’s Autonomy and Agency”.
The Brazil Fund understands that the work undertaken by these groups must be strengthened, so they continue fighting against regressions, for the expansion of rights and the rebuilding of participation and advocacy spaces in the democratic field. To that end, it’s necessary to amplify the voices that fight for equality, equity, and human rights, as well as the engagement in the tackling of asymmetries of power and violence, in the strengthening of democracy, and in the construction of paths to advance in the field of human rights defense.
This year, the call for proposal brings up in its visual identity a homage to the intellectual, artist, and activist Abdias Nascimento. Considered one of the most well-rounded thinkers of the 20th century, Abdias Nascimento (1914-2011) was one of the Brazil Human Rights Fund’s institutors. The year of 2024 marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of the poet, writer, playwright, visual artist, and Pan-Africanist activist that dedicated most of his life to the fight for the end of racial discrimination. The work that serves as a base for the call for proposal’s art is the painting Paz e Poder, from 1970, which belongs to the collection of the IPEAFRO Black Art Museum.
With the present call for proposal, we expect to support projects that seek the institutional strengthening of organizations aimed towards tackling violations, defending rights, and promoting human rights in their multiple branches. The institutional strengthening comprises funding to maintain the material structure necessary to the actions in defense of human rights, political advocacy, social mobilization actions, direct support to the communities, training activities, among other actions.
Institutional strengthening is the prime mover so the organizations can act effectively in their contexts, seeking the guarantee of rights’ defense and the fight against violations. As institutional strengthening, it is worth considering the proponent’s needs for the support of their organizational structure, contribution to their institutional development, improvement of their actions, and ground-level impact in their acting territories. With that, institutional support may prop the teams’ maintenance to enact political management, qualified political advocacy, institutional communication, and fundraising, for instance.
It is a financial resource of flexile nature, and the selected organizations have the autonomy to decide how best to employ it, considering the call for proposal’s goals.
The Brazil Fund values and prioritizes proposals from organizations, groups, and collectives whose composition prioritizes racial and gender equity. It is fundamental that the projects deal with the racial, ethnic and gender dimensions.
Attention: we suggest attentively reading the full call for proposal with the contained guidelines and frequently asked questions (in the gray bar above the Introduction item). Should any questions remain, please write to [email protected].
SUBMISSION PERIOD
The proposal submission period lasts from December 10 to February 29 2024, at 18h (BRT).
QUANTITY AND SUM OF THE GRANTS
20 organizations, groups, and collectives will be supported, with sums up to R$ 40.000,00 (forty thousand reais, or circa 8,000 USD) each, totaling up to R$ 800.000,00 (eight hundred thousand reais, or circa 160,000 USD) in grants from this Call for Proposal. The projects’ execution period must be of a maximum 12 months.
CONTEXT
The latest years in Brazil were marked by deep regressions in the field of human rights, systemic attacks to democracy as we know it and its main institutions, as well as the intensification of violence against those who, for a long time, have been taking the lead to fight conservative and authoritarian forces. We know that wave is disseminated throughout the social body and imagination, since it reflects the structures of domination that comprise the power basis of Brazilian society, namely racism, discrimination, misogyny, cis-sexism, compulsory heterosexuality, and ableism, among others. Therefore, there is the importance of supporting organizations, groups, and collectives engaged in the tackling of asymmetries of power and violence, in the strengthening of democracy, and in the construction of paths to advance in the field of human rights defense.
As the current circumstances are favorable to the reconstruction of rights, it becomes necessary to strengthen the organized civil society in the reactivation and occupation of participation spaces, in the execution of projects that demand rebuilding, expanding, and reconfiguring the Democratic Rule of Law, so that it encompasses historically marginalized bodies, struggles, and cultures. It is noted that the criminalization and toughening of violence against human and socioenvironmental rights defenders are still ahead of the list of problems faced by the civil society. It is necessary to support more than resistance, to strengthen the civil society with autonomy and the possibility to advance, looking especially towards the protection of human rights defenders, organizations, and communities that are in the front lines of rights’ defense, collaborating in the construction of public policies and demanding transformations from the State.
In this sense, there is an understanding of the human rights movement’s plurality with diverse themes, multiple points of view, but common objectives: that of building a more inclusive society which respects the differences of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and even guarantees more diversity and equality. Therefore, the importance of an intersectional perspective, understanding that ethnic-racial markers, as well as those of gender and sexuality, structurally condition the production and reproduction of social inequalities in Brazil. The goal of this call for proposal is to strengthen the civil society’s autonomy and action in the guarantee of rights and voices for social, gender, race, and/or climate justice, among other values essential to Brazilian society in the tackling of inequalities.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS THIS CALL FOR PROPOSAL SEEKS TO SUPPORT
The General Call for Proposal 2024 “Voices for Rights and Justice: Strengthening the Civil Society’s Autonomy and Agency” intends to support the institutional strengthening of groups, collectives, and organizations that work in the defense of rights and that have as a goal to tackle regressions in the democratic field, and expand the voices in the guarantee of justice and rights, for instance:
- Those who defend women’s rights, with special attention for Black women, Indigenous women, women from local populations, those from the LGBTQIAPN+ community, and disabled ones;
- Those who act in defense of rural workers, in their fight for the defense of the right to land and territory;
- Those who work against the violence towards socioenvironmental rights defenders and the unequal impacts of climate, such as environmental racism, and the demands for climate justice, both in urban and rural areas, especially in peripheral territories;
- Those who seek the tackling of racism and support the anti-racist struggle, especially against religious racism, in the promotion of local terreiro people’s rights, and in the valuing of Afro-Descendant and Afro-Amerindian religions, as well as in the tackling of forms of violence practiced, incentivized, or unrepressed by the State;
- Those who act in defense of migrants and refugees’ rights;
- Those who seek to defend the right to healthcare, especially in the guarantee of sexual and reproductive rights, as well as in their interface with the fight against the drug policy, for food security, and against maternal mortality;
- Those who act in defense of youth’s rights, with a special gaze towards State violence and the genocide of Black youths, or any of the lines exposed above.
The call for proposal may also support initiatives that intend on reflecting about the current scenario for the development of counter-narratives against hate/intolerance/disinformation speech.
The themes and approaches raised in this document have not been detailed and/or completed, being presented only to make more explicit some of the demands raised by the field of human rights and for the active hearing of the supported groups. Therefore, it’s important to bear in mind that the proposals that don’t fit these specific categories are still welcome, as long as they are considered strategic and relevant by the organizations participating in the call for proposals.
CONDITIONS TO RUN FOR THE CALL FOR PROPOSAL
- Each organization, group, or collective may present a single project. Should the same group or collective send more than one project, ONLY the last one registered in our portal will be considered.
- Will be prioritized for support the projects from organizations, groups, and collectives with little to no access to other sources of funding.
- We will accept proposals from non-profit organizations, groups, and collectives even if they are not yet formalized or have no CNPJ.
- We will not accept projects presented by governmental organizations, universities, international organizations, political parties, small to medium businesses, microbusinesses, and individual microentrepreneurs.
- It’s allowed to present concomitant proposals for other open calls for proposals by the Brazil Fund
IMPORTANT DIMENSIONS FOR THE SELECTION OF PROJECTS
- Adequation to the call for proposal’s theme;
- Adoption of a strategic rights defense perspective;
- Network articulation;
- Adequation of the budget to the proposed activities;
- Centrality of the racial, ethnic and gender dimensions that determine the multiple violations in the context;
- Regional diversity;
- Existence of ties between the proponent organization and the groups and/or communities affected by the problem that is to be tackled;
- Focus in rights’ defense;
- Explicit formulation of expected and viable results within the proposal timeframe;
- Formulation of innovative and unconventional proposals for action;
- We will not support initiatives exclusively aimed towards income generation, professional or educational capacitation, cultural production, assistance support, or academic research.
HOW TO SEND YOUR PROJECT?
The proposals’ submission period goes from December 10 to February 29 2024, at 18h (BRT).
The submission of proposals to run for the Brazil Human Rights Fund’s calls for proposals is done through the Projects Portal. Follow the instructions below, depending on the situation of your group/organization:
- If you have sent projects before, access the portal through this link and insert your username and password. Should you not remember the password, click “Forgot my password” and follow the instructions to create a new password. Access the walkthrough here.
- If you are registering for the first time, access the portal through this link, click in “First Access”, and fill out your group’s data. Access the walkthrough here.
Registration of the project in the Brazil Fund’s portal must be done in one take, since the portal doesn’t permit one to save part of the filled-out form to complete it later.
Thus, we have made available (click to access) an editable version of the registration form draft. That version is solely for information and doesn’t count as a registration. Therefore, it is possible to know its contents before effectively starting the registration process. Moreover, we offer herein the project budget model to annex in the system (click to download the budget model).
Don’t leave it for the last minute: create/update your password or register your organization, group, or collective now, and send your project as soon as possible. The submission of proposals will take place only via the internet. We don’t take in projects through email, much less projects delivered directly to the Brazil Fund’s headquarters.
Remember that proposals sent after 18h of February 29th 2024 (BRT) will not be accepted. Thus, we emphatically suggest that you don’t leave the submission of proposals for the last day.
The Brazil Human Rights Fund will not extend this call for proposal’s deadline.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PROJECT AFTER IT IS FORWARDED TO THE BRAZIL FUND?
The Brazil Fund’s team does an initial analysis of the sum of projects received and, in succession, the projects are forwarded to a Selection Committee formed of independent specialists with no ties to the Foundation. The Committee will gather to point out which projects will be supported, which will then be approved by the Brazil Fund’s Management.
DIVULGATION OF RESULTS
The results of the selection process will be informed through the Brazil Fund’s website and social media starting from June 24th 2024.
IN CASE OF QUESTIONS
Questions will be answered only through email, please write to [email protected].
Questions about the registration mechanism will be answered through the email [email protected].
Attention: before sending the email, we suggest attentively reading the complete call for proposal with the contained guidelines and the “Frequently Asked Questions” session (in the + sign and in the gray bar atop this page in the call for proposal, right below the title). Should doubts remain, write to us.