1st EMPOWERMENT GRANTS 2021: Let’s get loud! 

“ທຶນສົ່ງເສີມຄວາມເຂັ້ມແຂງແລະຄວາມອາດສາມາດ”

Are you an emerging and/or informal rightsholder-led groups that would like to strengthen your leadership skills, increasing confidence within your group members, or want to embark on a journey to change attitudes and/or social norms in Laos towards your rightsholder groups?   

If you answered “yes” to the questions above, then consider applying to Voice Empowerment Grant.  

What do we wish to support? 

Voice Laos seeks to support projects focusing on at least one of the following target groups:  

• Age discriminated groups notably vulnerable elderly and youth  

• People living with disabilities 

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) 

 With at least one of the following rightsholder groups as a cross-cutting issue? 

• Women facing exploitation, abuse and/or violence 

• Indigenous people and ethnic minorities 

Often marginalisation and discrimination are those who may be vulnerable due to multiple reasons. Therefore, Voice has a strong preference for projects that intend to work with more than one rightsholder group to address overlapping issues. 

Your project can look at any or all of the following themes: 

• Improved access to (productive) resources (finance, land and water) and employment, 

• Fostering space for citizen participation and citizen engagement.  

Your grant can be from €5,000 to €25,000 covering 14-24 months in project duration.  

Who do we wish to support? 

• Informal groups/networks or non-registered organisations are hosted by a registered organisation. 
• Locally registered Lao organisations as lead applicant. 
• Voice’s rightsholder groups-led association/organisation/community/group/network 

International organisations cannot be lead applicant but can team up as co-applicant in the case of consortium applications.  

The (lead) applicant must be rightsholder group-led. An organisation (formal/informal) is  rightsholder group-led when it is governed and managed by members of the rightsholder group (s). The principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us” guides their work. If the rightsholder group (s) does not play active roles in the governance and management of the organisation, the proposal needs to describe how the rightsholder groups are fully involved in the conceptualisation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the project. 

Practising the Values of Voice 

Voice believes in the principle of Nothing About Us Without Us. In practice, this means Voice rightsholder groups need to be at the centre of any effort. They must be involved in the conceptualisation, planning, and implementation of any grant. They are equal partners in any consortium, network, or coalition, playing key governance and leadership roles. 

Linking and Learning 

Linking and Learning is at the heart and soul of Voice. All grantees are expected to participate in facilitated meetings and gatherings that strengthen the exchange of ideas and learnings from each other’s experiences.  Applicants must demonstrate in their proposals how they will identify, document, and share their learnings as they implement their project. These may come in many forms such as blog posts, videos, photo essay or audio recordings. 

Voice values diversity and inclusion. All grantees are expected to be able to interact with and learn from a diverse group of people coming from different backgrounds, orientations, and experiences. Interested applicants must be willing to work in a diverse community, which includes representatives from all of the Voice rightsholder groups. 

This Call for Proposals is closed and no longer accepting applications. Come back here at a later stage to learn about the grantees that have been selected in this Call for Proposals.

The current open Calls for Proposals can be found here.