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Dear Sir/Madam,

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hereby invites interested Civil Society Organisations (Non-Governmental or Faith-based Organisations) to submit Proposals to participate in activities to promote Voter Education and Stakeholder Engagement to increase the participation of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities (PWDs) in the 2021 General Election in Zambia.

Past election reports including those of both international and domestic observers have pointed out the need for increased voter education to promote awareness among Zambians about the importance of active citizenry in electoral participation as voters and also candidates; most reports put heavy emphasis on the need to increase this participation for especially women, youth, People with Disabilities (PWDs) and rural voters. The Needs Assessment Mission (NAM), conducted by the United Nations in 2018, identified the need for increased voter education, overall institutional strengthening for the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and other national institutions with an electoral mandate, and promoting peace ahead of the 2021 elections.

In response to these recommendations, UNDP established the Democracy Strengthening in Zambia (DSZ) Project, which is a three-year multi-donor project aligned with the national priorities enshrined in the 7th National Development Plan 2017-2021 (7NDP); the latter, in which the government pledges to “promote transparency, accountability, citizen participation as well as strengthen governance institutions".

Among the key recommendations of the NAM was the need for UNDP to work closely with both state and non-state actors (i.e. civil society organisations, community and faith-based organizations) to achieve the project objectives to fostering transparency, inclusion, integrity and accountability in the electoral process; also support institutional strengthening and peacebuilding. DSZ collaboration and synergy with non-state actors covers areas such as voter education and public outreach, supporting dialogue for electoral transparency, inclusion, integrity and accountability.

In this context, DSZ will provide opportunities for non-state actors to receive grants to undertake activities to increase electoral participation for Women, Youth and PWDs. These grants will also aim to benefit other categories of voters such as Persons in Lawful Custody (PLCs), first time voters and rural or hard-to-reach voters in the context of the 2021 General Election and beyond. The grants will be in the form of four streams or categories to which individual applicants/bidders must direct their bids or focus, namely:

• Improving Women and Youth Participation in the Electoral Process;
• Improving Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) participation in the Electoral Process;
• Improving Persons in Lawful Custody Participation (PLC) in the Electoral Process;
• Improving First Time Voters including Students Participation in the Electoral Process;
• Strengthening the capacity of community-based and/or faith-based organisations to promote civic engagement in the electoral process and also increase participation of hard-to-reach (rural) voters in the electoral process.

To be eligible for this call, an applicant must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the selection:

• Civil Society, Non-Governmental or Faith based organization (FBO) officially registered in Zambia longer than at least five (5) years (applications to be accompanied by proof of registration with relevant authorities).
• Experience in the management of donor funded grant programmes with budget amounts equal to or more than amounts being requested.
• Be established in the targeted provinces.
• Submit list and CVs of key personnel to be involved in the assignment.
• Minimum five (5) years of operations and experience delivering related projects, programmes or activities.
• Knowledge and understanding of the socio-economic and political context of Zambia.

 Application procedure for this call for grants is available on https://procurement-notices.undp.org/. All applications must be made online and should be made up of filled application materials sent electronically to the following e-mail address: zambia.cso@undp.org in PDF (signed and stamped) and word formats. The subject line should read: “Grants for CSOs | DSZ Project 2020 | [Name of your organization]”.

Deadline for submission of Grant Proposals is 17 March 2021. It should be noted that it is your responsibility to ensure the timely submission of your Proposal to the indicated email address on or before the deadline. Proposals that are received after the deadline, for whatever reason, shall not be considered for evaluation.

An information meeting will be held via Zoom

Meeting URL:            https://undp.zoom.us/j/88132372175?pwd=UGlnRVkvQWlGMGg5eHdoRjN3M1dXdz09&from=addon;

Date:                                   24 February 2021

Time:                                  14:00 PM

We look forward to receiving your proposal.

Sincerely Yours,

Roland SERI

Deputy Resident Representative