Amkeni Wakenya

Apply:Quick Response Funding

1.About the Quick Response Fund

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The Quick Response Fund is one of the funding windows under Amkeni Wakenya’s Grant Making methodology. It is a grant making mechanism that is intended to enable civil society to respond rapidly to emerging issues, needs, opportunities, threats or other situations within the governance sector that may not have been expected, but to which CSO response are critical. Its defining features are flexibility and timeliness.

2. General Criteria of Actions that may be supported under the QRF

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To qualify for support under the Quick Response Fund, the applicant organisation and the action it proposes should meet the following criteria:

i. Must address issues and contribute to processes in the Democratic Governance sector in Kenya: The proposed action for which a grant is required must aim to address an issue(s) within the democratic governance in Kenya including, but not limited to, issues of good governance, protection and promotion of human rights and in particular Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (including the rights of women, children, persons with disability, minorities and other vulnerable groups), enhance access to justice as well as ensuring people- centered, accountable and responsive devolved governments.

ii. Must employ the Human Rights Based Approach to Programming including promoting human rights principles and elements such as participation of target groups and beneficiaries; promote accountability, equality and non-discrimination and gender.

iii. Must be a result of unforeseen or unanticipated circumstances or processes: The proposed action must be the result of an emergency or some other event or process which the applicant could not possibly anticipate.

iv. Must be of such a nature that intervention must be at that time and not any other time: The nature of the event or process in respect of which an action is proposed must be such that the applicant must intervene at the time of application and not at any other time in the future. v. Applicant must have Capacity and Action must be sustainable: An organization must have the capacity to undertake the proposed action effectively, and should lead to more sustained activities supported either by the community or through funding from other sources. In addition, the implementing organization must also be able to get funding from other donor organizations for future activities related to their overall strategy.

vi. The Applicant must be registered in Kenya and proposed activities must be implemented in Kenya: The organisation requesting funding must be a civil society organisation registered in Kenya and must meet the criteria for eligibility published in the General Guidelines.

3. Specific Categories of Actions that are Eligible for Support

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The QRF grants will prioritize actions that contribute to the three (3) thematic areas advanced in the Amkeni Wakenya Strategic Plan for 2011-2015:

• Access to Justice for the poor and marginalized in Kenya,

• Enhanced citizen participation in the setting up of [24] people centered, accountable and responsive devolved governments, and

• Effective realisation of all human rights particularly Economic, Social and Cultural rights.

Proposed actions under any one or more of the above thematic areas shall fall under any of the following five (5) categories:

a) Opportunity to mobilize public participation in unanticipated reforms processes or threat to such mobilization: When the opportunity arises for a group to bring about change through community mobilization or to impact on issues of democratic governance in communities, or a threat that exists to a law that is considered good for democratic governance or the reform movement, the Facility will consider support for the initiative. This will include support to groups that facilitate public engagement in the development and implementation of policies and legislation relating to devolved structures.

b) Situations of insecurity, political instability or violence arising out of events or processes directly linked to democratic governance: Where communities or groups experience or come under threat of violence arising out of contested political events such as elections.

c) Situations of serious human rights violations or protecting or defending human rights defenders: The Facility will also support groups to defend groups whose rights are being seriously being abused or human rights defenders who are under threat.

d) Public interest actions of a legal or legislative nature that are intended to set precedent: A group that seeks to institute precedent-setting legal proceedings that are in the public interest, or to lobby or campaign for enactment, amendment or repeal, as the case may be, of certain laws in the public interest can be supported under this grant to take such action. This will include grants to address hindrances in access to justice; for CSOs to provide free legal services by the poor and marginalized groups such as women, people with disability and minorities; to support public interest litigation that seeks to contribute to the interpretation of the bill of rights.

e) Recognizing and promoting gender equality and women empowerment and inclusion of the youth, persons with disabilities and other minority groups: This percentage of funding will address explicitly issues of gender mainstreaming and processes that advance empowerment and leadership of women. It will also provide support to the youth, PWDs and minorities to undertake policy and legislative advocacy on specific application of their rights at national and county levels. NB: Applications from the youth, women, persons with disabilities (PWD) and other minority groups are particularly encouraged.

4. Grant allocations and implementation period The Quick Response Fund will disburse small grants of the following amounts are proposed:

•Minimum allocation- USD 10,000

•Maximum allocation- USD 30,000

The proposed project should not be for more than six (6) months. All narrative and financial reports relating to the grants must be submitted to the Facility within the said six months or sooner as the case may be.

 

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