Are you a national coalition or network that is led by one of Voice’s rightsholder groups? 

Do you see sudden and unanticipated opportunities where you want to stand in solidarity with marginalised people to influence national decision-makers? Do you want to promote more inclusion of groups and communities so far excluded? 

Are you worried about new threats that could limit the full enjoyment of your human rights or lead to even more discrimination and exclusion of marginalised and discriminated communities? 

If you answered “yes” to the above questions, consider applying to this Call for Proposals. We want to support your actions NOW! 

What are we looking for? 

For formal or loosely formed coalitions of civil society organisations to quickly get together and coordinate actions to either avoid missing those unique special opportunities to make quick gains in the fight for inclusion or -on the contrary- move from fear to action, transforming challenges into opportunities. 

• Through this Call for Proposals, Voice Cambodia aims to support projects that can facilitate the rapid coordination of collective (inter-)action at the national level (campaigns, dialogues, research, strategic litigation, etc.) that are associated with urgent and emerging opportunities and/or threats that could either rapidly promote the inclusion of the rightsholders or put them at higher risks of marginalisation.  

What is a sudden opportunity? 

Sudden opportunities can vary greatly, depending on the situation. They can be described through the common elements they share. 

• Sudden:
  These are unexpected moments, which can happen without any warning. They could be a policy direction change from the government, a shift in public opinion, or a new court ruling with deep policy implications. 
• Collective Action:
  These unexpected moments require collective action. They require a response not just from one group but from several organisations such as a coalition, a consortium, or a network. 
• Immediate:
  These unexpected moments require immediate action. They temporarily create the right set of circumstances for making a change possible. Without a response, the moment will eventually pass, and the opportunity to make a change will be lost. 

• Impact on Rightsholder Groups:
  These unexpected moments have to greatly impact at least one or more of the Voice the rightsholder groups. They need to be involved in the collective action being proposed. 

 It is an opportunity for: 

• Campaigns calling for solidarity with oppressed peoples; 
• Strategic advocacy to amplify the voices of marginalised groups;
• Coordination of CSOs and/or collective action that can lead to a change in legal decisions, policy/laws, a shift in public attitudes and practices to challenge discrimination; 

Promote equal access and opportunities, enhance social well-being, and/or encourage social development. 
Here are examples of Sudden Opportunities projects that may inspire your actions:  

• Making Cambodia’s National Social Security Law Transparent and Inclusive  CFSWF 
• Reclaim and Protect Civic Space  CCG 
• You can also have a look at other ideas that have been supported by Voice under this grant type for inspiration. 

For this call, the grant is available from €5,000 to €100,000 only for an intervention that will last between 6 and 12 months. 

Grants responding to a Sudden Opportunity are available on a rolling basis and can be applied anytime between now and 31st   October 2022. The grant will be closed once the available funds have already been allocated to successful applicants. 

Who do we wish to fund? 

Coalition, network or consortia with the participation of human rights defenders, social enterprise, journalists, bloggers, NGOs and civil society organisations who identify and agree with a creative concept to promote inclusive civic education, OR jointly and collectively seek the promotion and protection of civil and political rights of Voice rightsholder groups. It is important to note that the lead applicant must be a locally registered organisation in Cambodia but that the action needs to be a collective one. 

Priority is given to applications led by organisations that work on, for, and/or with the following rightsholder groups: 

• Vulnerable elderly and young people
• Indigenous groups and ethnic minorities
• LGBTI People
• People with disabilities
• Women facing exploitation, abuse, and/or violence

Your project can look at at least one or more of the following impact themes: 

1. Improved access to (productive) resources (finance, land, and water) and employment, 
2. Improved access to social services, health, and education in particular, and 
3. Open up spaces for political participation and promote citizen engagement 

 Intersectionality is at the very heart of Voice. Therefore, we strongly prefer projects that intend to work with more than one of the Voice rightsholder groups to address their overlapping or cross-cutting layers of marginalisation and vulnerability, and promote inter- and/or intra-group solidarity. For more ideas on what issues Voice prioritises, please read the Cambodia Context Analysis summary. The full report will be made available upon request.

Voice also supports initiatives investing in the well-being 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. For examples of well-being activities: 

• Consultant to accompany partners to unpack what affects staff/activists’ wellbeing and what measures to take to enhance individual and collective resilience (incl. possible retreat) 
• Retreat/workshop to learn about stress symptoms/resilience strategies and/or holistic security (which embeds well-being in a broader security approach) 
• Training specifically for organization leaders on management practices & well-being  
• Budget for psychosocial counselling or a sabbatical in severe cases (or e.g. for legal counsel, where this is needed to take off felt pressure) 

 What we don’t fund: 

• Organisations with an annual turnover of over €2 million. 
• An application where the grant awarded from Voice is more than 50% of the total annual income of the applicant organisation.  
• The way to calculate this is to divide the requested amount by the number of years the project will be implemented. The result will then be divided by the annual income. 
• If the result of this calculation is over 50%, you can either reduce the requested amount or team up as part of a consortium where you can add up the annual income. 
• Funding of commercial services, investment or other commercial activities.  
• Activities with more on direct services delivery (infrastructure building, purchase vehicle…) or humanitarian response.  

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 collective action effort. They must be involved in conceptualising, planning, and implementing any Sudden Opportunity grant. They are equal partners in any consortium, network, or coalition, playing key governance and leadership roles. 

Possible interventions would require creating platforms and spaces where Voice rightsholder groups can self-advocate for their economic, social and cultural rights. Joint participation of a network, consortium or coalition of human rights defenders, private institutions and companies, faith leaders, NGOs and self-interested individuals or intellectuals with the intention of using nonviolent action to amplify the voices of marginalised groups is necessary. 

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 essays or audio recordings. 

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.