The grant competition is designed to support Afghanistan’s civil society organizations to promote the rule of law and access to justice through the following priority thematic areas:

• Improve the capacity of Afghan civil society to address gaps and inefficiencies in the justice and rule of law sector with a particular focus on corruption, civil society monitoring of the justice sector (both formal and informal), land disputes and public legal awareness of Islamic law
• Promote rule of law and justice sector reform through dialogue between CSOs and judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and other relevant policymakers and stakeholders
• Support public discussion and education focused on demanding more effective, transparent and accountable governance

Grant Competition

Under this Call for Proposals, the United States Institute of Peace will make 10-12 grants to Afghan civil society organizations for initiatives focused on one or more of the above priorities.

Only legally registered Afghan civil society organizations are eligible to apply for this grant competition. Please note, however, that USIP does not provide funds to support the establishment or running costs of a new organization. Depending on the nature of the proposed project, USIP will make grants for between $25,000 and $150,000, with implementation period of up to 18 months.

Application Process

This Call for Proposals involves a mandatory two-step application process. The first step in the process is to submit a three-page concept note that should include:

• A brief description of the proposed activity or project including:
  • The specific need/problem that the project will address
  • A review of previous, related work done by you or others on this problem/the need
  • The objectives the project intends to achieve
  • A brief summary of the project’s theory of change (in other words the process by which the projects activities will achieve the intended objectives)
  • The activities through which the project will achieve its objectives. Activities must be clear and logically contribute to achieving stated objectives
  • The project’s expected outcomes including:
• How will you evaluate whether the project has achieved its stated objectives (one paragraph), and
• If your project is successful, briefly explain what changes will have been created as a result of the project?
  • Project’s implementation timeframe
  • Project estimated costs (both total cost and the amount requested from USIP in US Dollars).
• A short statement describing your organization, including its purpose, and status as a non-profit NGO
• Names of project directors and staff; their qualification and relevant experience, and contact information (email and telephone). 

Please note that after review of all concept notes, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted and invited to submit full grant applications to USIP. We will not be able to provide status updates on submitted concept notes at any time. 

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to complete the second step of the process. This will entail preparing and submitting full grant applications on USIP’s application template that will be provided to all those invited to participate in this round. These grant applications will be reviewed by USIP’s staff and external experts, and applicants will be notified of the outcome of their proposals. For applicants whose proposals are approved, it is estimated that grant funds will be available three months after the submission of the full grant application.

Decisions will be made on a rolling basis. The last date to submit concept notes is January 21, 2016. Submissions after this date will be subject to availability of funds. Please send concept notes to the email address: scagrants@usip.org.