As stated before, grants have been the mechanism used by Voice to support rightsholder groups in its working areas. Through country-led context analyses and development of calls for proposals, we have been able to ensure that the grants respond to specificities of rightsholders needs and/ or current political, social, or legal developments. Grants have mostly been awarded to smaller organisations and/or informal networks, whose objective is to formalise their organisations by setting up stronger financial systems or those seeking to connect with wider movements as part of their own growth and outreach strategy. HOW TO MAKE CALLS FOR PROPOSAL WORK
COVID-19 Slows down burn-rate
TYPES OF ORGANIZATION
ACCESS TO IMPROVED SOCIAL SERVICES
The COVID-19 pandemic had a deleterious effect on programme implementation. Voice and itsgrantee partners were forced to grapple with this ‘new normal’. On the one hand, the MFA put a temporary stop on issuance of new call for proposals while on the other many grantee partners struggled to move forward with project implementation. In practical terms, the administrative consequences of this have been acute. Phase 1 comprises 398 contracts with individual grantee partners. Of these 398 contracts, 204 or 51% were amended, leading to an enormous additional administration burden for Voice teams. Of the total contract value of 35 million allocated in the first five years, only 31, 25 million was finally realised. This is in fact an underspent of 10%. This implies that 3, 75 million had to be re- allocated to the Voice Extension phase 2021-2024, with a project starting date in 2021 (or later). Also, in the context of COVID-19 the demand from local organisations for access to unrestricted funding that enables them to respond dynamically to the needs of their communities is becoming acutely visible.
This is unfortunately a demand that Voice has not been able to fulfil, given the limitations by the service contract. Despite the limitations, both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Voice have endeavoured to communicate directly to grantee partners and find ways forward to cope with the different challenges COVID-19 has brought. Voice issued periodic updates in March, April and in May 2020 and will do so as we adapt to the changing global situation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Netherlands recognised that these were uncertain times for many, during which it was important to keep our peace and find inventive solutions to solve problems as we take care of each other. They too wrote a letter of solidarity to all Voice grantees partners and colleagues. Below is a message from a grantee partner that we received upon sharing the letter from the ministry :
IMPROVED ACCESS TO PRODUCTIVE RESOURCES AND EMPLOYMENT
SPACE FOR POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
FIGURE 9: PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF GRANT BUDGET BY TYPE OF ORGANIZATION
While grants are time-bound, they promote transparency and accountability in grant management. Voice acknowledges that the empowerment process allows rightsholders to gain knowledge, enhance self-acceptance and skills to challenge the status quo. Yet, this is a gradual process of growing rightsholders’ capacities as both individuals and as groups. Furthermore, we have learned that the gap between empowerment and the other grant
types is too big, the minimum amounts as well as the reporting requirements. Voice has sought to address the needs of empowerment grantee partners for sustained or longer-term support through creating specific calls for proposal aimed at past grantee partners and designing the Graduation Grant (GR) or Empowerment Accelerator to support existing empowerment grantee partners to continue and sustain the participation of rightsholders.
The call for proposal modality of grantee partner selection is a key feature of Voice. While calls for proposals can stimulate creativity and foster transparency and accountability, they also mean that the relationship between Voice and its partners is time-bound. In seeking to move to trust based and transformative partnerships with grantee partners, the calls for proposals modality is a key challenge. However, this challenge has been addressed to a large extent by the complementary strategy of linking and learning that has provided a platform for Voice and its grantee partners to develop greater understanding of each other and thereby, a greater sense of community. Knowing our limitations
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