Empowerment Grants

Available to LGBTI and Persons Living with Disabilities groups and organisations in Cambodia

Are you a new and/or informal group that is led members of the LGBTI and/or Persons Living with Disabilities community? Do you want to strengthen how your group can work better together?  Do you want to work on leadership and/or increasing confidence of your group members? Do you want to embark on a journey to change attitudes and/or social norms in Cambodia towards your community?

If you answered “yes” to the questions above, then let’s grow together by applying to this Call for Proposals focusing on the empowerment of LGBTI and Persons Living with Disabilities groups.

What kinds of project can you propose?

Voice looks for projects that address one or more of the Impact Themes:

• Improved access to (productive) resources (finance, land and water) and employment,
• Improved access to social services, health and education in particular

Your grant can be from €5,000 to €25,000 for 12 months in duration.

Who do we wish to fund?

• Informal groups through partnering with locally registered Cambodian organisation as lead applicant.
• Small organisations with legal registration/local permit or accreditation and a bank account under the applicant’s name

All applicants must be rightsholder-led.  An organisation (formal/informal) is rightsholder-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 target-group(s) do not play roles in the governance and management of the organisation, the proposal needs to describe how the target-groups are fully involved in the conceptualisation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the project.

International organisations are not able to be a lead applicant but can team up as a co-applicant in the case of consortium applications.

Applicants are encouraged to propose solutions to address key issues faced by the following rightsholder groups:

1. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI)
2. People living with disabilities

Often the most marginalised and discriminated are those who may be vulnerable due to multiple reasons. Applicants need to consider how their solutions also intersect with the following rightsholder groups:

1. Age discriminated vulnerable groups notably the young or elderly
2. Women facing exploitation, abuse and/or violence

Empowerment Grant applicants are particularly recommended to integrate any of the following in their proposals:

• Capacity development of small organisations and their members;
• Awareness raising and education of families and communities; and
• Promotion of positive image of the rightsholder groups.

The Cambodia Context Analysis Update has highlighted several issues that could be tackled in an Empowerment grant:

• How to create, promote, and/or implement accessible workplaces for persons with disabilities? How to promote access to employment for people with disability?
• How to empower members of the LGBTQI community to claim their right to social services such as healthcare and education? How to promote access to employment for LGBTQI community?

Where do we wish to fund?

Voice will only fund projects in the existing target areas of Battambong, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Kampong Chnang, Kampong Cham, Svay Reang, Takeo, Rattanakiri , Mondulkiri and Phnom Penh.

Practicing 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 enabling 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 target 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.