LEVIZ ALBANIA – CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

LevizAlbania, the project that aims to to strengthen local democracy and increase the quality of local governance through engagement of civil society organizations, informal groups and individuals publishes:

 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS NO. 7

The Call will remain open from July 14 2020 to August 4 2020 (h23:59)

In Call for Applications No. 7 of LevizAlbania it is applied ONLINE ONLY in www.levizalbania.al

LevizAlbania is a project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, implemented by a consortium of three albanian organizations, Open Society Foundation for Albania, Co-Plan, and Partnerët Albania. The project encourages civil society organizations working in the community, new organizations, individuals and informal groups to apply online, with their concrete ideas and initiatives that aim to impact the level of local democracy, improve local governance, increase transparency, accountability, promote and support participation in decision-making. LevizAlbania supports civil society actors throughout the country, encouraging youth and women participation as well as community mobilization in urban and rural areas.

Referring to local democracy in Albania there is enough space for improvement. Based on the supposition that without engaged citizens and stronger civil society organizations, governance cannot achieve its main objective, the focus of Call for Applications no. 7 is advocacy. Advocacy is meant as a process that channels the efforts for influencing local processes and policies. Advocacy is presented in this case as an instrument aiding communities of citizens to demand for local government taking actions for issuess of interest for these communities. The instrument is aimed to be used in a novative fashion and having civic actors as catalyst, in two ways:

a. Through the engagement of organizations as intermediaries of citizens and local government, to influence important issues;

b. Through the engagement of organizations and informal groups as supporters of citizens to interact with local government for influencing important local issues;

Aiming at an wholistic approach in citizens’ engagement in advocacy, interaction comes:

a. For citizens, in which organzations design analytic documents, helping citizens to be informed in their advocacy efforts and provide concrete models and solutions;

b. With citizens,in which organzations and citizens interact to advocate, playing the role of proposers and demanders towards local institutions;

c. From citizens, as promoters of advocacy initiatives, based on concrete proposals, , self examples and actions;

DIRECTIONS OF CALL FOR APPLICATIONS NO. 7

DIRECTION 1 Cooperative advocacy initiatives aimed at influencing local priority setting in decision-making processes by creating new functional models to guarantee socio-economic rights of citizens and vulnerable groups

This direction aims to address issues related to the socio-economic rights of citizens in general and vulnerable groups in particular, through initiatives that advocate based on evidences and facts obtained through analysis, studies, monitoring reports, etc. Applications under this direction should consider interventions that foresee new functional models of collaborative interaction with local self-government.

Interventions under this direction include realization of analytical documents (analysis, studies, monitoring, reports, etc.) intended to be used to incentivize initiatives and advocacy campaigns as well as the creation of new models on the exercise of functions or the improvement of services by the local government structures, also taking into account the need to redefine the role of municipalities in the relationship with citizens. Strengthening of different groups, through concrete engagement, should aim to enhance their legitimacy in the respective community.

Ideas proposed by consolidated or newer organizations working in the community shall aim citizens’ engagement in addressing issues of interest. This way citizens will become active in bringing forward proposals, giving their own concrete example of engagement, mobilizing and undertaking concrete action in improving / resolving a situation or identified problem. Attention, under this direction, will be given to cooperative advocacy and lobbying to improve the response of local self-government to the impact of emergency situations or crisis. Media plays also an important role in these advocacy processes in influencing local priorities and decision-making. Interventions under this direction should target issues related to local self-government, including all administrative/local unit within a Qark.

• Evidence-based monitoring reports on LGU’s governance and service provision, including Municipal Council, municipal administrators and administrative units, in terms of public services provision, decision-making processes, implementation of local social and economic plans, public consultations, etc., as a basis to incentivize citizens’ activism, proposal of new models and positive examples from the community, etc.
• Advocacy aiming to advance the legal changes needed to exercise the functions of LGUs;
• Raise awareness, education and mobilization of local organizations and citizens on pertaining issues of environmental protection (environmental crime; climate change, waste management, etc.).
• Raise awareness, education and mobilization of local organizations and citizens in pertaining issues related to monitor waste management in coastal areas;
• Promote dialogue between civil society actors and public institutions related to the decentralization process.
• Promote discussion of key local level issues in the frame of national electoral discourse of next year.

The targeted potential applicant under this direction are organizations with the capacity/experience/knowledge to carry out advocacy processes. The applicant may be an organization residing within the Qark where the intervention is proposed to be carried out, or apply in partnership with a local organization within the Qark where the intervention is proposed to take place. Applicant organizations under this direction will serve as liaisons / intermediaries (communication bridge) between citizens and local self-government.

DIRECTION 2 Promoting activism and civic engagement for a better functional and sustainable local democracy

This direction aims to promote activism and increase the opportunities of civic engagement at local level to act and ask local government institutions to fulfill their competencies with transparency, be accountable to citizens, and guarantee the involvement of citizens in the decision-making processes.

Interventions under this direction include the mobilization and empowerment of citizens and use of legal instruments such as public hearings and consultations, petitions (also online), civic initiatives, etc. Specific attention under this direction will be given to address issues of wide interest / legitimacy of the citizens and the appropriate momentum is used to raise the demands on the local government and to ensure sustainability of the steps undertaken. Ideas proposed shall aim citizens’ engagement in addressing issues of interest. This way citizens will become active in bringing forward proposals, giving their own concrete example of engagement, mobilizing and undertaking concrete action in improving / resolving a situation or identified problem The proposed interventions should target issues related to local government in a specific given Municipality. Applicants proposing interventions in more than one Municipality must clearly justify and elaborate the need for the proposed intervention and the correlation between the targeted Municipalities.

• Active involvement and participation of citizens in priority setting and decision-making at the local level, through participatory mechanisms and/or legal instruments (petitions, municipality councils meeting participation, public hearings, citizen’s initiatives, etc.);
• Empower grass-roots communities to exercise civic pressure on local authorities to be responsive to their demands and rights (e.g., through civic education, legal empowerment, coaching, networking, support for concrete actions);
• Initiate or support social movements, coalitions of civic actors and/or joint campaigns targeting community issues and needs.
• Promote discussion of key local level issues in the frame of national electoral discourse of next year.

Applicants targeted under this direction are civil society organizations and informal groups that work directly with the community. The applicant may be an organization / informal group residing in the Municipality where the intervention is proposed to take place. Applicants as organizations that are not located in the municipality where the intervention is proposed should apply in partnership with a local organization located in the target municipality. The local organization shall be the lead applicant (role of more consolidated applicants shall be focused in providing support and expertise) Applicants under this direction will serve as incentivizes for citizens to increase the demand towards local government.

DIRECTION 3 Community action through direct engagement of individuals in important initiatives / causes for their the local community

This direction targets specifically active citizens at the smaller communities’ level (neighborhoods for example) to support and mobilize groups or individuals in providing proposals and demanding response and solution of concrete problems in these communities from their LGUs. It aims to directly work with specific communities, who share a cause of concern, and need assistance/mentoring throughout the process, to enable them on achieving concrete results and bring/achieve change.

Community Action Initiatives are a seed funding-type of grant and awarded projects will be accompanied with coaching and mentoring by LA, in implementing the project and in building/maintaining relationships with different local governmental and non-governmental actors