Civic space monitoring for Connect, Defend, Act! (CDA)

Description

1) Objective

Hivos is launching a Call for Concept Notes to support civic space monitoring for the “Connect, Defend, Act!” project in Palestine (oPt). The project, funded by the Government of Norway, aims to counter the shrinking of civic space in Palestine by empowering civil society actors to monitor, report, and influence the changes in civic space. The project focuses on strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) and human rights defenders (HRDs) to respond to digital and physical repression while promoting safer and inclusive digital spaces. By collecting evidence and analyzing trends in the civic space, the project seeks to provide strategic insights and foster local ownership and leadership in addressing challenges in the political and legal environment for civic actors.

Project objectives are:

• Promote coalition building among diverse civil society actors, including human rights defenders, rights holder-led civil society organizations, and independent media actors, grounded in civil society-led evidence gathering and knowledge production, and facilitated by context-specific communities of action.
• Contribute to safe and inclusive digital civic spaces for sustained collaboration and action among civil society actors through localized holistic digital security capacity strengthening, knowledge production, and active referral to digital protection providers.
• Increase civil society actors’ flexibility to rapidly respond to changes in civic space through organizational capacity strengthening and the provision of strategic funding for sustainable action.

2) Eligibility

The call is open to Palestinian civil society organizations (CSOs) that are legally registered and have prior experience in civic space monitoring. Applicants should demonstrate the capacity to collect and analyze data on civic space, conduct evidence-based reporting, and collaborate with other stakeholders in advocacy efforts.

3) Location

Actions must take place in Palestine.

4) Budget

Grants are maximum €14,300 per organization.

5) Application

The submission should be sent to grantsmena@hivos.org with “CDA Civic Space Monitoring” in the subject heading by Tuesday, 4th March 2025.