Call for Bids: Gender-Transformative Interventions in Security & Justice Programming

Deadline: 7-Jun-23

The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) invite organisations to submit bids to improve gender equality and secure women’s and girls’ rights in fragile and conflict-affected states.

Objectives

• The Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) is a unique cross-government fund that tackles conflict, stability and security challenges overseas, which pose the greatest threat to UK national security. Since its inception in 2015, CSSF programmes have addressed threats arising through conflict, serious and organised crime, terrorism and violent extremism in more than 85 countries and territories.
• The CSSF is designed to be catalytic, mobilising smaller-scale activities that provide a foundation and evidence base for longer-term programmes and has the appetite for innovative and new approaches to existing or emerging challenges.

Funding Information

• Budgets should be between a minimum of £400,000 and maximum of £600,000 per financial year (April to March)

Project Rationale

• The CSSF is looking for innovative and catalytic interventions that align with NAP and specifically achieve progress on:
  • Strategic Objective 4 (SO4): Security and justice – increasing the accountability of security actors, institutions and systems to women and girls and ensuring they are responsive to their rights and needs.
  • The impact of conflict and instability on women and girls is immense and multi-layered, affecting their experiences of, and roles within, security and justice (S&J). Some women and girls are active combatants (members of the security forces, the police or armed groups), but many more are the victims of exploitation and violence perpetrated against them. In these contexts, S&J actors, both in informal and formal institutions, can play roles both as abusers and as protectors and upholders of rights. If abuse goes unchecked, it can fuel more conflict as male household members seek revenge and exact their own forms of justice.
  • Security agencies are often dominated by men and can embody harmful patriarchal norms, leading to discriminatory practices against women and girls. Women and girls often experience barriers to claiming their rights, accessing justice, and holding those that violate their rights to account, all of which is exacerbated during times of conflict and unrest. Barriers to claiming rights are particularly acute when women and girls have been targeted with gendered-based violence (GBV) and conflict-related sexual violence. Reporting GBV to law enforcement is often not feasible and risks additional harm due to security actors’ harmful beliefs about GBV. Additional barriers to accessing assistance are faced by LGBT+ women, those from racial or ethnic minorities, and those with disabilities.
  • To be effective, security and justice actors should operate in a way that protects the human rights of civilian populations, considering any gender-related differences in needs, and contribute to reducing inequality between genders within key security and justice institutions. Women and girls should be among those making decisions about national and subnational security and justice mechanisms and how they are implemented. They should have equal opportunity to participate through targeted recruitment and retention efforts in law enforcement agencies, judicial structures and defence. This should include participation in management structures and oversight mechanisms. Equitable, effective and accessible security and justice mechanisms are essential for mediating conflict and enabling peaceful dispute resolution within communities and societies, enabling the transition to sustainable peace. Many S&J actors do not understand women’s and girls’ needs and priorities. In many contexts, they do not believe women have the same rights as men. Increasing incentives and capabilities for S&J actors to listen is therefore just as important as supporting their capacity to respond.

Outcomes

The CSSF’s delivery is structured around 4 fund level outcomes:

• Conflict and instability: building resilience and stability overseas, including catalysing political settlements in order to mitigate threats to UK national interests
• State threats: strengthening the defence of the UK and their partners from hostile state activity
• Transnational threats: enabling a more secure UK by tackling serious organised crime and countering terrorist threats from abroad
• Women, peace and security: progressing gender equality through the protection and promotion of the rights and inclusion of women and girls, and addressing the gender-specific impacts of conflict.

Eligibility Criteria

• The GPS portfolio is seeking to fund transformative and innovative projects that will help to realise the change and vision and contribute to the achievement of the SO4 as set out in the UK NAP.
• Partners should prioritise the focus countries in the NAP in the first instance and all activities should take an inclusive, multi-stakeholder approach and engage local partners or groups.
• Projects will be funded between August 2023 to March 2025
• Budgets should be between a minimum of £400,000 and maximum of £600,000 per financial year (April to March)
• Successful implementers must receive project funding in GBP
• Proposals should not be crafted to reach the budget ceiling, but to specifically meet the objectives in pursuit of demonstrable impact and value for money
• The funding will be available as Official Development Assistance
• Bids should not exceed 3 pages, partners will be selected to provide detailed plans and budgets after an initial sift
• Bids must be written in English

For more information, visit CSSF.