Announcement: The Grant for Democracy and Human Rights Projects in Overseas 2011

The Grant for Democracy and Human Rights Projects in Overseas 2011.

The Grant for Democracy and Human Rights Projects in Overseas (GDHRPO) 2011 supports work that contributes to promoting democracy and human rights and to building international solidarity. The grant will be awarded to non-government organizations (not GOs or individuals) based in civil communities which have been working in this field for more than 3 years.

The foundation has been granted total 24 organizations from 15 countries from 2005 to 2010. Last year the Foundation provided funds to 6 grantee organizations in 5 Asian countries: Indonesia, Laos, Maldives, Pakistan and Palestine. Activities were made possibly by the 2010 Grant Projects included training workshops, regional seminars, national-level networking events, grassroots mobilization, rallies and much more. Issues covered include: peace and conflict resolution, human rights monitoring and education and anti-nuclear campaign awareness.

The Grant consists of 2 main categories: Project support and Organization support. The Foundation will support 8 projects from 8 organizations and 3 organizations in the field of network, grassroots, and research.
Grantee organizations will receive the opportunity to participate in a variety of the May 18 Memorial Foundation’s international solidarity programs such as Gwangju Asian Forum, Gwangju Human Rights Folk School, International Internship Program.

Explanation
· Civil movements (general): projects promoting civil movements in community.
· Democracy Education: projects organizing education about democracy and human rights.
· Human Rights Advocacy: projects focusing on the promotion and protection of human rights
· Working in Conflict Zones: Peace-keeping projects which are based or actively involved in areas of conflict.
· Network Organizations: Connecting NGO's and movements across different countries.
· Grass Roots Organization: community and local-level organization.
· Research Institute : Research project regarding human rights and democracy.

Eligibility

· Any organizations which have been working for more than 3 years are eligible to apply for the Grant.
· Organizations whose country belongs to OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) will not be selected otherwise the field of the organization's work is based in developing country.

General Conditions

· Organizations can apply for both Project support and Organization support but cannot apply for all categories under both supports.
· An organization may be selected even if their budget is different to the grant amount. In this case, they must change their budget.
· The grant amount is set by the Foundation and cannot be changed; organizations cannot ask for any amount they would like to seek.

Conditions of Grantees

· Organizations must regularly submit the reports: evaluation, update, and financial reports.
· A financial report must be signed/stamped by an external financial professional (e.g. an accountant) who does not work for the organization.
· Organizations must submit their reports immediately in case they disband; the organizations which has connection to the person in charge of a disbanded project or the organization is not allowed to apply for the Foundation’s international solidarity program for the next at least 3 years.
· Grantee organizations must meet the deadline of the reports; if the reports don’t arrive by the deadline, the organization may have difficulty in awarding the rest amount of the Grant. This will be rigidly enforced especially to the 2 year grantee organizations. Grant money can be delayed or canceled if they fail to submit the reports properly.
· Grantee organizations must inform immediately in case their contact information changes.

Selection Procedure

The May 18 Memorial Foundation will choose the organization based on a point score.

Advantage point will be added in the grantee-selection process to those who meet the conditions below:
· An organization which discloses the financial status relevant to its activities to the web site or other means of platform.
· An organization which has advisors who are involved in its activities
· An organization which evaluate its activities and reveals the outcome of evaluation to the public.
· An organization which runs annual audit or carries out regular inspection of its financial accounts.
· An organization which has a set of board of directors or planning committee members.
· An organization which submits the application with the legal/audit professional's agreement proving their financial inspections.

After the announcement, the May 18 Memorial Foundation will make a MOU with the grantee organizations with their updated project plan.

Project Evaluation

· Applicants will submit guided self-evaluation forms which will be analyzed by the May 18 Memorial Foundation.
· The Foundation can visit some of the grantee organizations randomly over the course of the year or use any other means to evaluate their performance.

Application Deadline

13 February 2011

Notification

Selected organizations will be announced February 22, 2011 by email and the official website of the May 18 Memorial Foundation.

Contact Information

Culture and Solidarity Team
The May 18 Memorial Foundation
Postcode 520-260 Sangchon- dong 1268 5.18 Memorial Culture Centre Seo-gu Gwangju, Republic of Korea
Phone: +82 62 457 0518
Fax: +82 62 456 0519
Email: may18found@gmail.com

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