Equal access to productive resources and financial inclusion is essential for eradicating discrimination and marginalization and advancing gender equality and parity. Nonetheless, data from the 2020 Voice context analysis revealed that women and young people have been neglected when it comes to such access; as a result, they tend to be voiceless and have economic powerlessness. The situation deteriorated further during and after the post-COVID-19 period as the pandemic disproportionately pushed women and youth out of employment, restricted their access to financial inclusion and productive resources, and escalated gender-based violence.  

In Tanzania, the continued denial of equal access and control of productive resources and financial exclusion by women and youth has led to unhealthy political engagement, economic impotence, and stagnating poverty. Thus, there is a need for an appropriate and creative approach to fair access and ownership of productive resources to reduce poverty, encourage healthy political engagement, and empower women and youth to increase their well-being and economy. 

Are you an organisation led by rightsholders that seeks to promote empowerment of rightsholders through  building, strengthening and enhancing their capacity of lobby and advocacy in achieving equal rights and opportunities in resource ownership towards poverty reduction? 

Do you want to work on your leadership and/or increase your and the community’s confidence to work towards full social inclusion of people affected by stigma, marginalisation, and/or discrimination? 

 If you answered “yes” to the questions above, then consider applying to this call!  

 Voice believes that when people are empowered, their self-esteem is higher.  We want to support communities to find their own innate strength, raise their voices, and take actions to push for social change and inclusion. 

 Funding available is a minimum of €5, 000 – €25, 000 and the lifetime of the projects under this grant should be for at least 12 – 15 months. 

 What do we wish to fund? 

Proposals with “out of the box” project ideas that promote learning and focus on underrepresented groups within the following Voice rightsholder groups; 

• People with disabilities 
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people 
• Indigenous People and ethnic minorities 
• Vulnerable elderly and youth 
• Women facing exploitation, abuse and/or violence 

Voice has a strong preference for projects that are designed from an intersectional point of view. Intersectionality is at the very heart of Voice. Therefore, we have a strong preference for selecting projects that intend to work with more than one of the Voice rightsholder groups (Women, people with disabilities, and youth in particular) to address overlapping or cross-cutting challenges and promote inter-and/or intra-group solidarity. 

All projects MUST focus on the following impact theme: 

• Improved access to (productive) resources such as land, and employment, 

Project activities may include, and not limited to the following ideas;- 

• Transformative leadership 
• Confidence and skills building to work against stigmatisation of rightsholders 
• Innovative, home grown strategies in mobilizing key state agencies at national and local level  
• Developing strategic partnerships with mainstream civil society 
• Technical assistance, mentorship and coaching for community champions drawn from the rightsholder groups or among parliamentarians to support their work in creating an enabling environment for Voice focus rightsholder group 

Still in need of more inspiration or ideas? We invite you to take a look at the different Empowerment projects supported by Voice via our Grantee page. 

Where do we wish to fund? 

Voice Tanzania wishes to consolidate its work and will only fund projects that will be implemented in the following provinces; Dar es salaam, Northern Zone regions (Arusha, Manyara Kilimanjaro, Tanga), Zanzibar (Unguja and Pemba), Southern Highlands regions (Iringa, Mbeya, Njombe) and Lake Zone regions. Applicants registered outside these areas are nevertheless eligible to apply as far as they have a project base/office in the selected areas and can provide the intervention there without undue travel cost on Voice.  

Who do we wish to fund? 

We are accepting proposals from small and/or emerging informal groups where the Voice rightsholders groups and their organizations need to be in the driving seat, whether leading on their own, with allies, or exploring and co-creating solutions with others. International as well as national organisations cannot be lead applicants but can team up as a co-applicant in the case of consortium applications. 

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.  

Voice also supports initiatives investing in the wellbeing and mental health of people at the frontlines, especially the rightsholders. We invite and encourage applicants to explore ways through which the project will allocate resources for fostering a sense of community support and self-care, which can further enable a safer and more open environment to continue the work in sensitive and high-risk contexts.   

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 rightsholder groups.