New Funding Opportunity: Safe to Learn

The Safe to Learn initiative provides an opportunity to unlock the multiple wins of ending violence in schools, improving learning and health outcomes, increasing economic potential and reducing intergenerational violence. Safe to Learn seeks to better leverage education investments, bring the child protection and education sectors together and promote a strong focus on girls’ education, gender equality and inclusion.

As a part of this initiative, End Violence is requesting proposals focusing on evidence-based interventions to prevent and respond to violence against children in and through schools and other learning environments in Cambodia, Lebanon, and South Sudan. The total funding envelope to be awarded through this call is ~ USD 3.6 million.* 

In alignment with these three countries’ endorsement of the Safe to Learn Call to Action, the End Violence Fund will support them to deliver on their commitments towards the five areas of the Call to Action:

  1. Implement policy and legislation
  2. Strengthen prevention and response at the school level
  3. Shift social norms and behaviour change
  4. Invest resources effectively
  5. Generate and use data and evidence

You are invited to apply by filling out the application form here.

* The total amount to be awarded will depend on the quality and volume of received applications (for example, the Fund may decide to slightly increase or lower the amount as a result of the initial assessment of applications). 

At a glance

Geographic focus: Cambodia, Lebanon, or South Sudan
Project duration: 15 months
Implementation period: September/October 2020 to December 2021
Maximum budget: USD $1.2 million

The Fund is seeking for a project to encourage better policies and strategies with priority on violence reduction in and through schools and other learning environments at national and/or sub-national level, and to generate evidence for the global good with a set of innovative, evidence-based methodologies.

Successful projects will rely on proven, evidence-based interventions such as the INSPIRE Seven Strategies. Projects will contribute to expanding impact and scale of strategies that we know are effective, tailored to specific country contexts and needs.

Criteria:

  • Strong focus on gender sensitivity and an inclusive approach for children with disabilities or other marginalized groups.
  • Alignment with government policies, strategies, and/or national action plan for education and/or ending violence against children in Cambodia, Lebanon, or South Sudan.
  • An approach that is based on proven tools and approaches, including: 

Effective interventions meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • At least two high- or moderate-quality impact studies using randomized controlled trial and/or high quality quasi-experimental designs have found favourable, statistically significant impacts in one or more violence against children domains (maltreatment, bullying, youth violence, intimate partner violence and sexual violence); or 
  • The intervention is deemed recommended based on high-quality meta-analyses and systematic reviews of findings from evaluations of multiple interventions.

Promising interventions are those where:

  • At least one high- or moderate-quality impact study using a randomized controlled trial and/or high-quality quasi-experimental designs has found favourable, statistically significant impacts in one or more violence against children domains (maltreatment, bullying, youth violence, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence); or
  • At least one high- or moderate-quality impact study using randomized controlled trial and/or a high-quality quasi-experimental design has found favourable, statistically significant impacts for one or more risk or protective factors for violence against children (such as educational attainment, positive parenting skills, communication between parents and children about effective strategies for avoiding exposure to violence, increased parental supervision, or others).

Prudent practices meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • Global treaties or resolutions have determined the intervention as critical for reducing violence against children;
  • The intervention has been demonstrated by qualitative or observational studies as effective in reducing violence against children.

Programmatic objectives

Interventions to end violence against children in and through schools and other learning environments with at least one of the following focus areas:

  • Call to Action 1: Support national, regional and local governments to develop and implement laws and policies that help prevent and respond to all forms of violence against children in and through schools and other learning environments
  • Call to Action 2: Improve prevention and response in and through schools and other learning environments based on a whole school approach working with school staff, teachers, and students
  • Call to Action 3: Shift social norms and behaviour at the community and school level
  • Inclusion of a project learning plan contributing to Call to Action 5 (Generate and Use Evidence). This can include evaluations using qualitative or quantitative data collection as well as analysis of project monitoring data. Of particular interest are learnings around the effectiveness of new or adapted methodologies and/or where applicable any learnings around good practices for adapting and scaling successful programs.

A note on COVID-19

Given the current COVID-19 situation affecting over 177 countries as of May 2020, the project should be prepared for potential school closings and/or other restrictions on large gatherings and movement. Therefore, projects may consider a combination of in-person, school- and/or community-based activities and remote activities, working with and through alternative learning environments – online, distance, and home-based learning – and put mechanisms in place to react quickly to a changing environment.

You are invited to apply by filling out the application form here.

To be eligible for this funding, prospective grantees must meet both of the following criteria:

  • Be an active member of the Safe to Learn Technical Group Member organizations include the Civil Society Forum to End Violence against Children, UK Department for International Development, Education Cannot Wait, Global Affairs Canada, the Global Business Coalition for Education, the Global Coalition to Protection Education from Attack, the Global Partnership for Education, the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, UNGEI, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNSRSG-VAC, World Bank, and WHO.
  • Have an existing presence with trained team/staff in the country where activities will take place.

You are invited to apply by filling out the application form here.

Child Safeguarding

The Fund encourages you to include a budget line for increased safeguarding measures. This can include (but is not limited to) costs for capacity building, policy development, a portion of costs for specialist personnel, as well as costs associated with managing safeguarding/protection concerns.

End Violence defines child safeguarding as the responsibility that organizations have; to make sure their staff, operations, and programmes do no harm to children; and that they do not expose children to the risk of harm and abuse.

Safeguarding also includes the responsibility to ensure that any concerns over a child’s welfare receive an appropriate response and action is taken in a timely manner. Where concerns relate to harm or abuse from staff, associates, programmes or operations (internal incidents), grantees are expected to deal with this immediately and ensure a full investigation of any concerns. Where incidents relate to harm or abuse outside of the organization (external incidents), grantees are expected to, as a minimum, refer the case to appropriate agencies or other support to ensure appropriate follow up interventions.

The Partnership is committed to supporting organizations to improve their safeguarding capacity and practice. As part of this, we ask all grantees to complete our Grantee Self-Assessment. If your organization has completed a self-assessment within the last two years it is not required to complete one again.

You are invited to apply by filling out the application form here.

Required documents:

  • Proposal application form 
  • Log frame (see sidebar to the right to download)
  • Budget (see sidebar to the right to download)
  • Safeguarding policy or statement declaring willingness to develop one in written form
  • Grantee self-assessment form (see sidebar to the right to download)

You are invited to apply by filling out the application form here.

Girls in Cambodia smile at school.

Image Credits

© UNICEF/UN0323027/Seng