Submissions open for OGP’s Helen Darbishire Fund for Civil Society
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, France, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Section
Deadline Date
July 6, 2025
Donor Agency
Open Government Partnership
Grant Size
$10,000 to $100,000
The Open Government Partnership is pleased to announce the establishment of the Helen Darbishire Fund for Civil Society designed to strengthen open government processes and reforms across OGP member countries.
This fund aims to enhance civil society capacity and multi-stakeholder collaboration to help sustain OGP processes and deliver more ambitious reforms in critical areas of open government.
Aim
- The aim of these grants is to support core OGP processes in member countries with limited financial resourcing, focused on where real opportunities are at risk of being lost. The grants are intended to provide support for civil society organizations in countries where there is limited resourcing and where there is a financial need for OGP processes to succeed.
Funding Information
- In this pilot iteration, the OGP Secretariat will provide eight to ten grants, primarily between 10,000 USD to 25,000 USD (with grants of up to a maximum of 50,000 USD in extraordinary circumstances), seeking to support initiatives that support core OGP processes through a 6- to 18-month implementation period.
Eligibility Criteria
- The call is open to civil society organizations (CSOs) in OGP’s 74 member countries, targeted towards countries where there is limited resourcing and where there is a financial need for OGP processes to succeed.
- CSOs must be legally registered not-for-profit organizations in their country.
- Applications from consortia of domestic CSOs, with a designated lead CSO, are also eligible to apply, clearly demonstrating roles and responsibilities. Please note that no more than one grant will be approved in any given country.
- Applicants must demonstrate a proven track record of supporting OGP processes—either through contributing to their country’s national action plan or by actively participating in their country’s OGP multi-stakeholder forum (MSF).
Ineligibility Criteria
- CSOs in member countries with currently open cases under the OGP Response Policy, Rapid Response Protocol, or CSOs in member countries currently failing the OGP Values Check are not eligible to apply.
Application Requirements
- To help the selection committee assess the relevance and need, applicants are strongly encouraged to include only one of the following (listed in order of preference) with their application:
- A letter of support from their national MSF
- A letter of support from their OGP Point of Contact or a high-level government lead.
- Applications must clearly demonstrate:
- The expected impact of how the grant will help to sustain or advance OGP processes in an OGP member country, clearly outlining how a lack of funding will or is impacting OGP reforms in the country.
- The applicant CSO’s (or consortium’s) implementation capacity and feasibility of approach, including its ability to engage relevant stakeholders in the country’s broader OGP ecosystem.
- The applicant CSO’s (or consortium’s) sustainability strategy, particularly in light of the financial need in the domestic context.
For more information, visit Open Government Partnership.
