Call for Applications for Grants Applications Review Training and Volunteering

Deadline for Applications: January 20, 2013
Duration of Volunteer Assignment: 4 Days (January 28-31st 2013).
Target Number of Volunteers: Five (5)

Akiba Uhaki Foundation provides opportunities to young East Africans for on-job learning experience in a social justice grant-maker to develop and pursue a passion for promotion of human rights and social justice; to improve research as well as analytical skills and build knowledge in advocacy, proposal development, project management and grants administration.

In this regard, the Foundation is looking for in or out-of-university students for engagement in it’s grants applications review process. Successful applicants will be taken through a short training on grants proposals evaluation, grants budget review as well as M & E. At the end of the assignment, all the volunteers will be issued with a certificate. A small stipend will be provided for daily expenses. They will also be entered into Akiba Uhaki’s database for call-up for other future assignments that may arise.

Learn more

News University Webinar on Mobile Reporting

News University, the Poynter Institute e-learning project, is offering a Webinar entitled “Reporting and Publishing News with Mobile Tools.”

 

During the course, participants will learn about mobile tools, sites and applications to aid in reporting and publishing content.

The Webinar will take place on December 1^st 2011.

The course costs US$30, and scholarships are available.

For more information and to apply for a scholarship, visit https://www.newsu.org/courses/reporting-publishing-news-mobile

Find more opportunities by visiting http://www.yipekenya.org/News.htm

A.J. Muste Memorial Fund, International Nonviolence Training Grants – Call for Applications

The A.J. Muste Memorial Institute funds projects which promote the principles and practice of nonviolent social change through grantmaking programs including the International Nonviolence Training Fund (INTF).

The INTF was created in 1994 by a group of concerned donors with the aim of specifically supporting nonviolence trainings. (For information about our other grantmaking programs, please see the grants page on http://www.ajmuste.org/ajgrants.html )

Nonviolence trainings seek to help people develop and improve the skills they need to confront systemic injustice through organized, principled, nonviolent action. Trainings promote the exchange of ideas, information, and strategies, through which activists can become more effective at using nonviolent action in their struggles.

INTF GRANTMAKING PRIORITIES

The INTF supports nonviolence training outside the United States, and within Native nations in the US.

Projects eligible for support include:

• Those which build capacity and leadership among people engaged in nonviolent struggles;
• Those which prepare participants for specific nonviolent actions or campaigns;
• Those geared to “training the trainers,” in order to expand and multiply nonviolence training throughout a targeted community.

Preference is given to:

• Projects which involve trainers from the local area or region, where such trainers are available.
• Groups which are small, community-based and have less access to funding from other sources.

The maximum grant amount is US$3,000.

The INTF does not fund:

• Trainings which are geared primarily toward resolving conflicts between individuals, building life skills or job skills, or achieving personal empowerment or economic independence.
• Conflict resolution or violence reduction programs which do not directly promote activism for social justice.
• Scholarships or other funding for people to travel abroad to attend courses or training sessions.
• Trainings with budgets over US$50,000, or organizations with annual budgets over US$500,000.

The Muste Institute can and does directly fund organizations which do not have their own 501(c)3 non-profit tax-exempt status, and/or which are not incorporated. The only time the Institute requires a fiscal sponsor is if the organization does not have its own bank account. If you cannot receive a grant directly (with the grant check made out to the name of your organization), please indicate this in your proposal and include information about your fiscal sponsor, including a letter indicating the sponsor’s tax-exempt status and some basic information such as a brochure or brief annual report.

WHEN TO APPLY TO THE INTF

The next deadlines for proposals for the International Nonviolence Training Fund is December 2^nd 2011.

The review and decision process takes approximately four months.

The INTF does not consider proposals for trainings which will have already taken place by the time its decision is made, so you are urged to apply at least four to five months before your training is set to begin, especially if you need preparation time for the training after notification of the grant decision.

Groups which receive INTF grants must generally wait two years before applying again to the INTF.

HOW TO APPLY TO THE INTF

To submit a proposal, fill out completely the INTF Grant Application Form: http://ajmuste.org/INTFGrantApplicationForm.doc

Email the completed form (preferably in MS Word or RTF format) with all required attachments to intf(at)ajmuste.org  with the subject line “INTF:” followed by the name of your group.

NOTE: If you are awarded a grant, you will have to provide a complete financial accounting for all funds received from the Muste Institute, demonstrating that they were used in accord with the grant agreement. This accounting is due as soon as the money is spent or within six months, whichever comes first. If funds from a grant remain unspent after six months, you must submit an updated accounting every six months until the complete grant is spent. This financial accounting should be accompanied by copies of materials produced with Institute funds, and a brief narrative report on the project.

Go to http://www.yipekenya.org/News.htm to find more grant opportunities

New interactive Business Finance Tool launched for Kenyan small business owners

Financing is the lifeblood of a business. Whether one is starting an enterprise or if they are seeking to expand their business – the lack of money can be detrimental.

After having polled its users, the Youth Interactive Portal for Enterprise – YIPE (www.yipekenya.org) found that the reason for the low uptake of formal business financing opportunities among Kenyan small business owners was not due to perceived barriers such as tedious application processes as previously thought.

The main reason amongst the sampled business owners was simply that they did not know of the availability of business financial products on offer.

This finding spurred YIPE to develop and launch its Business Finance Interactive Search Tool (www.yipekenya.org/Business finance.htm) which enables business entrepreneurs in four easy steps to access information of business financial products that suit their stage of business.

This product easily reduces the time and expense required in searching for appropriate financial products. As a value add-on, users can also access information from a database of over 1,000 entries (and rising) of financial sources in the county their business operates in.

Having the available financial product information in one place makes it possible for users to find banks and micro-finance institutions near them as well as compare the various financial products from multiple providers.

Users are given the options to select their business stage, the type of financing required and the county they reside in. YIPE’s business finance tool then presents them with a list of financial institutions (commercial banks, micro-finance institutions etc) whose products match their criteria, along with the providers’ contact information.

The Business Finance Interactive Search Tool is available on www.yipekenya.org/Business finance.htm and is free for all users.

For the time being, YIPEs Business Finance Interactive Search is available for Kenyan based businesses only.

About the Youth Interactive Portal for Enterprise – YIPE

Since its founding in 2008, the Youth Interactive Portal for Enterprise has emerged as a highly valued source of quality content for both aspiring and operating entrepreneurs. The Portal was one of the winning case studies for the Society for New Communications Research 2009 Excellence in New Communications Awards in the Online Publishing – Technology Innovation category. In 2010, YIPE was named the Kenyan partner for the Global Cleantech Ideas competition which is the search for the world’s best social enterprises that proactively address environmental degradation.For more information, visit www.yipekenya.org and follow @yipeorg on Twitter.

Press Release: Garissa County Youth Response to Dr. Alfred Mutua’s Comments on The American Aid To Kenyan Youths

This is a rare opportunity for young people to deliberate, shape and chart their destiny.

It is a departure from the past when youth were regarded as a recipient or worse still trouble makers. We shared our problems with people who not only didn’t care but also refused to listen to our voices and concerns.

The US government involvement, as driving force, was to address urgent need for youth participation in the socioeconomic, cultural and political agenda of the country. The youth fund given by USAID aims to serve the youth in the informal settlements, rural areas, small cities, pastoralist communities and towns and rural areas who bear the brunt of exclusion, deprivation, intimidation, violence, human rights violations and underdevelopment as a result of inequalities, political misgivings, intolerance, and limited access to opportunities by the youth, disregard of human rights and unaccountable system of governance by the government that is ironically concerned that we are now being empowered by external forces.

The approach by USAID is through active involvement and development of youth leadership on issues that affect them. It also endeavours to promote leadership that upholds youth interest, diversity, equality and non discrimination, information sharing, generation of knowledge and skill enhancement, partnership to strengthen youth unity, connectivity and collective action among youth are among the key approaches used by the USAID to address the youth problem.

Youth unemployment and underemployment are in our opinion Kenya’s most serious problem that continues to cause even more problems. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports should hit the road running on the issue and look to have viable inclusive policies as we speak now!

There have been numerous attempts by successive government to address issues of concern to the youth. The latest attempt is the Kazi Kwa Vijana program. The Kazi Kwa Vijana with its national scope was the most unsuccessful event undertaken by the government for the youth. The involvement of youths has been very minimal and youths all over Kenya have a common saying that KKV was (“kazi kwa vijana pesa kwa wazee”).

We call upon the authorities to consider change of strategy and opt for consultation and engagement. Force, threats and intimidation have failed to deal with the problems effecting the youth. Political parties have manifestos to outline their agendas for the country. These documents that are intended to guide the electorate on the best leadership and governance they will require. They lay out and issues in these documents are designed to entice and persuade the voters though implementations of the issues are debatable.

Kenyan youths have contributed a great deal to coexistence among the various communities and races. The young people contribution to sustainable peace must be enhanced. There are records of youth organizing and using their talents to communicate peace through songs and to engagement with the leaders and other community members.

The exchange program initiated by USAID among the young people from various communities and background is necessary and viable. These are learning opportunities and help young people appreciate diversity and thus deal with stereotypes, rumours and myths spoken about particular group of people that has created tension in the past. If it’s true that young Kenyans participated in the post election violence then they are also key instrument to create and preach peace through various initiative and various mode of communication.

A wide range of governmental policies and public sector programmes have particularly failed to address problems that affect the Kenyan youth. However, the youth of Kenya have refused to die!

We continue to mobilize community action, to build a community force and to claim and enjoy our God given rights, human dignity and we are in constant search of our freedom. The young people continue to work strenuously to affirm their status as permanent citizens of Kenya and the world at large. We continue to demand recognition and participation in decisions that affect our lives. We believe that we deserve better services and dignified livelihoods.

We have realized that we have a fundamental role to play in seeking credible solutions to our problems. We believe that we have the power to seek solutions to our problems. We have taken the front seat because we are the survivors, we are the ones who suffer, we are the ones who wear the shoes and know exactly where it hurts. We are committed to give birth to a new community, a new nation and new world where all humanity will rejoice and be proud, we believe this has happened with the new constitution.

The youth are organizing for real change and we are saying don’t just watch the space we also invite you to join the space! We won’t just shout we will also act!   We condemn Dr. Alfred Mutua’s remarks on the US embassy as a direct insult to the youth and utter disrespect for people who are helping in building your own home; he should instead thank the American government for being good friends of Kenya and not condemn them.

We want to thank Hon. Micheal Rannerberger (US Ambassador) for the good work he is doing with the Kenyan youth. Let President Obama know that we appreciate his encouragement and goodwill to help the youth of Kenya.

Thank you.

Kenya Youth Human Rights Camp 2010 call for Applications

Akiba Uhaki Foundation – the Human Rights and Social Justice Fund, in conjunction with the Youth Entrepreneurship & Sustainability(YES Kenya) Network, the Youth Congress and the Youth Interactive Portal for  Enterprise(YIPE) is pleased to announce a call for applications to attend the Kenya Youth Human Rights Camp 2010, set to commence on International
Human Rights Day (December 10th, 2010) to Jamhuri Day (December 12th, 2010) at the Lukenya Getaway.

This event has been organised as part of a series of actions to identify and develop young leaders who are aware of human rights and social justice and who can actively play leading roles in Kenya’s development and reform-related activities. The theme of this year’s camp is Young Kenyans-Unite for Change & Human Rights.

The Camp will make use of the concept of informal Youth Human Rights and Trade Justice Camp models as a way to encourage youth participation in a relaxed atmosphere. Facilitation of the sessions will be done by a mix of human rights and social justice practitioners and activists, so the participants will gain valuable insights on the need for both evidence-driven
advocacy and effective “street-activism” methods. In addition, a variety of fun activities will be organised to enable social interaction among the participants.

Camp activities will include:

• Inspire-Walking the Talk Sessions: that will motivate the participants in leadership, social action, fostering human rights activism and community engagement.
• Documentaries: the participants will view a variety of documentaries to learn about programmes on human rights and social justice built around shared best practices.
• Open Space: this will be an open area that will provide an opportunity for the participants to share and discuss stories and issues related to this year’s theme.
• And of course, a variety of Fun Events!

Eligibility criteria:

Applicants must be Kenyan citizens, aged between 18 and 25 years and have completed secondary school. In the spirit of human rights and equity for all, all youth within the stipulated age bracket are encouraged to apply, regardless of gender, disability, religious affiliations, etc.

How to apply to attend the Kenya Young Leaders Human Rights Camp 2010:

For the 2010 Camp, only 50 candidates will be invited to attend. In order to apply, candidates will have to fill out an APPLICATION FORM available for download.

The deadline for applications will be Monday 22nd November, 2010. Participation is free.

Download the Press Release for more information

Call for Applications: Young Women Knowledge and Leadership Institute in Senegal

African Women’s Millienium Initiative (AWOMI) is organizing the 3rd Young Women Knowledge and Leadership Institute (YOWLI) in Dakar, Senegal over 3 weeks from December 2010 to January 2011. YOWLI was set up to enable young women of African descent to widen their leadership horizons, enhance their knowledge base and actively engage in monitoring and fighting for social justice. YOWLI is a space that supports innovative ideas that challenge anti human rights strategies and propel organizing for social transformation.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Applicants must be African or from the African Diaspora.
• Applicants must be between 18 – 25 years old by 31 Dec 2010.
• Tolerance, leadership skills, critical thinking, and creativity
• Language requirements: the program will be held in English and French (French speaking candidates are expected to have a conversational level of English)
• Applicants must be affiliated to women or youth lead Non Governmental Organization.

Interested participants must fill out the application form here by 30 May 2010.

You are the World – the World is You

Using personal development to facilitate and lead groups and teams

Date: April 23rd-25th, 2010
Presented by: Drs. Max and Ellen Schupbach, Portland, USA

This is the commencement seminar of a 3 year Leadership and Facilitation Program (for details, please see below)

Personal Development and Leadership

This is a 3 day seminar focused on using personal development for leading and facilitating groups and teams, and using the issues of the world for personal growth.

Deep Democracy is a psychological and sociological principle that also uses concepts from physics and mathematics to show how events in the outer world are intimately linked with our inner experiences and personal development. From this perspective, your experience of your body symptoms, the issues that appear in your relationships, and the conflicts and events in the world around you are entangled.

This seminar will provide new concepts and skills for inner-work and group-work that can be applied directly with your projects, teams, and groups in a new way. It will also show how to use difficult and impossible situations as a meditation practice for personal development.

The Seminar

This seminar is part of a team and group facilitation training, and will focus particularly on the self-management (or inner work) aspect. Each day will follow a similar format: Mornings will focus on teaching and learning personal and professional development skills. In the afternoon, you will learn new group and facilitation practices. For participants who have taken these seminars before, emphasis will be placed on the actual practice of the concepts.

What You Will Learn

You will “take home” tools that can assist in your relationship and team  issues with the world at large, and that help to understand that  the path of being more effective in the world is guided by your personal development.

Day 1: Nature and the Facilitator

Process-oriented Inner Work practices bring an outside perspective that can be essential to supplement the skills and methods that we use to lead our own personal projects, as well as our teams and groups. You will learn nature-based inner work practices for personal and professional development. Process-oriented inner work exercises can also assist in deepening the religious and spiritual path that you have chosen. The psychological aspect of this day focuses on escaping the trap of the “advisor”, who either doesn’t have sufficient information about the situation, or shares the same information – and therefore cannot bring forth truly new solutions.

Day 2: Relationship as a key to Self Discovery

You will study how working with relationship issues can assist in the process of getting to know yourself, and in finding solutions for the world at large. You will learn new ways of resolving relationship issues by using them as a practice ground for personal and professional development, and understand how they are directly connected to the timespirits*1 that rule the world’s conflicts.

Day 3: Body Symptoms as a Guide for Leadership and Facilitation

This day will focus on using body experiences and “gut reactions” as additional guides for unfolding and developing leadership and facilitation potential. The body knows. You will learn how to discover and follow body wisdom that is not simply instinctive and reactive, but is connected to the wisdom of the surrounding world at large.

The Process Oriented Leadership training consists of three, year-long courses. This seminar and those following are individual, certifiable courses that can be taken separately. The entire program can be taken as a Certificate Course in Process Oriented Leadership. The various courses work as building blocks that the participants can mix and match as needed. The DDI leadership course will consist of a year each of 1) Coaching, 2) Facilitation and Conflict Resolution in Groups and Relationships, and 3) Organizational and Business Development – Vision, Strategy and Leadership.

The seminar will consist of 30% theory in mini-lectures and 70% practical demonstrations and applied exercises in which you can:

1) try out what you have learned within the seminar setting
2) design solutions for the actual situation that you are working on

All you need to know

When?

April 23-24 the seminar starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m.
April 25th the seminar starts at 9a.m. and ends at 4 p.m.

How to register?

Phone: 0732354902 or 0729467413
Email: EAleaders@deepdemocracyinstitute.org

How much?

Price: 5,000 KES (does not include accommodation)
Some partial scholarships are available

Where?

Carmelite Community (near Tangaza College)
Langata South Road, Karen, Nairobi
Some accommodation is available, please book directly with the conference center
Tel: 020 89-04-87 (Note the chanqe 020)

*1 “timespirits” or “Zeitgeist” is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual, and/or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambience, morals, and sociocultural direction or mood of an era (similar to the English word mainstream or trend).

The Facilitators

Max Schupbach, Ph.D., Dip. PW,  is president of maxfxx, a consulting group working worldwide with organizations, including fortune 100 corporations, international NGOs, government agencies, and religious communities. He has coached multi-ethnic executive teams in South Africa, and worked with Australian Aboriginal communities and Native North American Tribes. Max has facilitated conflict resolution between Croatian and Serbian groups during the Yugoslavian war, and relationships between prison inmates, correctional personnel, and prison administrators in high security prisons on the verge of revolt. He is co-founder and president and training director of the Deep Democracy Institute.

Ellen Schupbach, Ph.D., Dip. PW, is a Certified Processwork Diplomate who specializes in the personal development of the leader and facilitator. She wrote her doctoral thesis on the spiritual experience of the facilitator and coach. Ellen is co-founder and executive director of the Deep Democracy Institute, a Global Think Tank that researches leadership issues worldwide, and aims to create leadership trainings to develop more collaborative systems in today’s diverse societies. She has co-created training programs for Palestine, the USA, UK, Ukraine, and Kenya.

Peace Revolution Fellowship II

Dates: 21 June – 20 July 2010

Where:  Thailand

Are you a young peace activist who is looking for something more to help you in your life and work?

Are you interested in Buddhism and Buddhist approaches to peace building?

Would you like to learn how to develop your own inner peace so that you can more effectively engage in your peace work?

The Peace Revolution Project is now accepting applications for the 2010 Fellowship in Thailand. The Fellowship is open to all young peace activists who believe that Inner Peace + Outer Peace = Sustainable World Peace

Aims of the Program

Participants will:

• Study and practice inner peace techniques with youth working on peace from around the world.
• Learn about Buddhism and Thai Buddhist culture.
• Participate or volunteer in the biggest Mass Ordination Ceremony of 100,000 Thai monks.
• Attend the Peace Revolution workshop to develop their peace activist abilities.

Target Group

Youth aged between 18-30 years old. Up to thirty peace activists will be selected to attend.

Timeline

• Deadline for online application (need a visa to enter to Thailand) – 22 April 2010
• Deadline for online application (no need for visa to enter to Thailand) – 1 May 2010

Qualifications

Applicants must:

• Be 18-30 years old at the time of submitting the application;
• Have completed at least 1 month of the Peace Revolution online self-development program;
• Have good proficiency in written and spoken English language;
• Be optimistic, open-minded, show leadership potential, and have a genuine interest in peace.

Fellowship Program

• Week 1-3: Peace Revolution Retreat (focus on Meditation and Buddhist Studies)
• Week 4: Attend the biggest Mass Ordination Ceremony of 100,000 monks in Thailand and Peace Revolution workshop.

Peace Revolution will provide food and accommodation for all participants in the fellowship program. There is also a limited grant scheme to cover participants′ flights to Thailand. Please ask if you would like to apply for funding for your airfare.

Please submit your online application at http://www.peacerevolution2010.org/modules/profiles/apply-for-the-agency-II and

start the online self-development program today via

http://www.peacerevolution2010.org/modules/stages/s4_question_list.

For further detail, please contact Ping Ping, Project Coordinator, at secretariat@peacerevolution2010.org

Call For Participants: “Understanding the Global Fund” – A training for young activists

The Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights is calling for applications from young advocates to participate in a training on the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM).

The Global Fund is the main funder for HIV prevention efforts around the world, reaching almost all the developing countries with millions of dollars every year. The GFATM offers a unique opportunity for civil society to be involved in the decision making processes on the implementation of the grants in recipient countries. However, due to a lack of understanding of how the Global Fund operates, there is a limited participation from civil society organizations led by young people or working for youth.

The main objective of this 3-day training is to provide 15 young activists (18-29 years old) with the knowledge and tools necessary to better understand and get involved in Global Fund mechanisms and structures at the national and international level. The secretariat of the GFATM is a supporting partner of the training.

Where:  Cape Town, South Africa
When:  May 22-24, 2010
Who:  The YC is keen to receive applications from young people who:

• Fall between the ages of 18 – 29
• Are preferably from a developing country (African participants are encouraged to apply)
• Have experience in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights, particularly HIV
• Basic knowledge on Global Fund process at national level or international level.
• Are affiliated with a youth organisation or an organisation working for young people.
• Have a working knowledge of English and can communicate proficiently in English with other training participants
• Are committed to contribute to the follow up of the training

Applications from young people living with HIV are strongly encouraged.

Full and partial scholarships will be awarded to selected participants depending on the need.

The cost of visas (transportation and visa fees) will be initially covered by the participant and will then be reimbursed during the training if required.

Please send the application form to events@youthcoalition.org before March 26, 2010 along with a recommendation letter from an organization or network that you are currently working with or have worked with in the past.

For more information about the Global Fund visit: www.youthcoalition.org/site08/html/index.php?id_art=195&id_cat=7

For more information on the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, visit www.youthcoalition.org