Empowering Civil Society and Youth for an Inclusive Digital Transformation | Call for Applications

This is a call for applications for the project “Empowering Civil Society and Youth for an Inclusive Digital Transformation”. This project is funded by the European Union and is implemented in a partnership with Acted, the Non-Governmental Organizations Initiative at the American University of Beirut (AUB NGOi), DOT Lebanon, and ESA Business School.

The project aims to increase the participation of Lebanese youth-led and youth-focused Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) within governance processes through enhancing their operational, institutional and digital capacities. It also aims to complement the selected CSOs capacity strengthening with financial support.

About the Project

“Empowering Civil Society and Youth for an Inclusive Digital Transformation” is a 30-month project which aims to enhance the ability of Lebanese youth-led and youth-focused CSOs to influence policy making and be influential development actors in Lebanon. This will be achieved by strengthening the capacity of these organizations in various aspects, including operational, institutional, and digital capacities.

As part of this project,ten (10) CSOs will be selected to receive sub-grants of 15,000 Euros eachto implement their proposed projects. The selected CSOs will also benefit from the services outlined in “project-supported services”, and engage in a series of performance improvement activities.

Project-supported Services

The 10 selected CSOs will engage in a series of capacity building and performance improvement activities as outlined below:

• Operational and Institutional Assessment: CSOs will undergo a series of assessments, including an assessment of operational capacities through AUB NGOi self-assessment platform and an assessment of digital capacities.

• Tailored Capacity Building: Based on the assessment results, CSOs will be offered a total of four in-person training courses and a tailored multi-year digital transformation strategy and annual work plan.

• Project Ideas Pitching: CSOs will be guided and coached to pitch their ideas for their own designed projects, develop concept notes based on a set template, and outline budgets.

• Operational & Digital Coaching and Mentoring: CSOs will receive operational and digital coaching and mentoring sessions on the implementation of their proposed projects.

• Sub-grant Award: 15,000 EUROS: CSOs will receive a sub-grant to implement their proposed projects.

Areas in need for development may differ between organizations. Therefore, the project will start with a comprehensive assessment of each CSO’s operations, structures, policies, and procedures resulting in the creation of a series of tailored capacity building courses.

After strengthening its operational and digital capacities, each CSO will be invited to pitch its ideas and designs of its own project, develop a concept note based on a set template, and outline a budget through mentoring and coaching sessions. As a final step, the award will be offered to each of the participating CSOs based on their approved concept notes and budgets.

Eligibility Criteria

Local CSOs from all across Lebanon and from all sectors are invited to apply to be part of this project. To be eligible for selection, CSOs will undergo a selection process based on several criteria, as follows:

• Being legally registered in Lebanon and operating in Lebanon and be compliant with all relevant laws and regulations
• Being a youth-led or youth-focused CSO
  1. Youth-led organizations are those with management or leadership that includes at least 2 young persons (between the ages of 18 and 35).
  2. Youth-focused organizations are those working on projects that target the needs of young persons (between the ages of 18 and 35) and/or work on young persons’ (between the ages of 18 and 35) rights, evidenced by completed projects proposals related to youth empowerment.
• Being a small or medium-sized organization (with less than 50 employees)
• Having a track record of 2+ years of operation and have at least 1 completed project
• Willing to sign a memorandum of understanding as a commitment for the whole program period of approximately 20 months
• Having a fresh USD bank account

For more details, visit this link.

To apply, visit this link.