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Wednesday 22 October 2014

Call for Applications:Open Society Public Health Grants programme

Oct 21

osf logo
The Mental Health Initiative—part of the Open Society Public Health Program—provides grants to projects that stimulate the reform of national health, social welfare, education, and employment policies. The initiative also provides technical assistance and training in substantive areas to its grantees. Many grantees provide high-quality, community-based services which demonstrate that people with intellectual disabilities can live in their communities when they receive appropriate support.
The initiative’s funding strategy is geared toward the sustainable development of quality community-based alternatives to institutionalization for people with intellectual disabilities or mental health problems and toward the development of government policies that promote the social inclusion of people with disabilities. Accordingly, the initiative provides funding to organizations that focus on community-living, deinstitutionalization, and prevention of institutionalization.
The Mental Health Initiative supports projects that include community-based housing, early intervention, inclusive education, and supported employment for people with intellectual disabilities. The initiative also provides support for organizations working on policy-based advocacy at local or national levels with the aim of promoting community living for people with intellectual disabilities.
Eligibility Criteria
The Mental Health Initiative provides funding to nongovernmental organizations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, or to organizations based in other countries that focus their activities in this region.
Ineligibility Criteria
The Mental Health Initiative does not fund projects which are in any way connected to increasing the capacity of, or to improving, residential institutions for people with disabilities. This includes renovations or any other upgrades, equipment, charitable contributions or humanitarian aid, events organized within an institution, and any other form of core support to residential institutions.
Guidelines
The Mental Health Initiative has an open pre-application process. If your organization’s work falls clearly within the funding guidelines above and you would like to be considered for an invitation to submit a full proposal, please write a one-page letter of intent which contains the following information:
  • The organization’s purpose and goals
  • The project for which funding is requested
  • The amount of funding requested
  • The organization’s total income in the last financial year
  • Some biographical details of the organization’s leadership
Please send your letter of inquiry via email to mhi@osi.hu. Please put your organization name in the email subject line.
For more information,visit here

Apply! 2015 International Forum for Human Rights and Leadership Young Leaders

Oct 10


The next generation of human rights professionals will be required to respond to increasingly complex and systemic global challenges through innovation and ingenuity.
Our mission is to foster a network of young leaders who aim to develop accessible solutions to these challenges and advance human rights and access to justice through ethical engagement.
Deadline: October 31, 2014
The International Forum for Young Leaders brings together individuals under 30 years of age who have demonstrated their passion for implementing innovative, entrepreneurial solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, and offering them an opportunity to interact and benefit from each other’s experiences. It does this by:
  • Selecting ambitious, persistent young leaders from across the world with the potential to act as change agents in their field, sector, or geographic region;
  • Spreading their ideas about how to tackle major human rights and access to justice challenges and effect wide-scale change; and
  • Supporting an extensive network of former Young Leaders, named McGill Echenberg Fellows, to realize the practical implementation of their vision.
Participants hail from a range of backgrounds, including NGOs, politics, government, academia, the private sector, and the media.
Young Leaders participate in a series of skill-developing sessions, workshops, roundtable discussions, and cultural events aimed at engaging with the spectrum of issues that affect human rights outcomes, in addition to keynotes, panels and debates featuring prominent international human rights voices.
The Forum is at the core of the Fourth Echenberg Family Conference on Human Rights, which will be held at McGill University in Montreal from October 11-17, 2015, and is organized by the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. Held in conjunction with the Young Leaders Forum, the Conference will explore the theme of “Human Rights and Leadership” and will focus on individuals and groups who have set themselves apart in their promotion of human rights and access to justice through innovation, entrepreneurship, collaboration and creativity.

McGill Echenberg Fellows

At the conclusion of the Conference, participants of the Young Leaders Forum are named McGill Echenberg Fellows. The Fellows remain active in a vibrant community of human rights professionals, supported by a Secretariat at the Centre. The program offers the opportunity to interact and collaborate with members of an exceptional community of committed advocates, 20 to 25 of whom will be joining us for the 2015 Forum.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, you must:
  • Be under 30 years of age as of July 31, 2015;
  • Hold a university degree in any field*;
  • Possess high oral proficiency in English; and
  • Have shown leadership, innovation, creativity, and/or entrepreneurship in your area of focus.
The Conference will select 25 Young Leaders for the Forum on the basis of their track record of leadership, commitment, and impact in their respective fields. Previous Fellows have shown leadership and entrepreneurship through pursuits such as serving as members of advisory boards, founding or supporting non-profits, development initiatives, or social enterprises.
For those selected, the Conference will cover all costs, including travel expenses to and from Montreal, accommodation, meals, and visa expenses.
*The Conference has made exceptions to this eligibility criterion under exceptional circumstances where applicants have demonstrated a particularly strong fit for the Young Leaders Forum.

How to apply

Please submit your completed application form [.docx], a photocopy of an official ID confirming your age, two letters of recommendation, and proof of university graduation to youngleaders.law@mcgill.ca byOctober 31, 2014. Please use “Application – International Young Leaders Forum 2015” as the subject of your email.
Your recommendation letters should be written by individuals who know you in an academic or professional capacity and can provide a detailed assessment of your potential to contribute to the Forum.
For more information,click here

Monday 20 October 2014

2015 Commonwealth Shared Scholarships – information for candidates

Commonwealth Shared Scholarships are offered by the CSC in partnership with UK universities. These scholarships are intended for students from developing countries who would not otherwise be able to afford to undertake Master’s level study in the UK, to gain skills and knowledge which will allow them to contribute to the development of their home countries.

Levels and subjects of study

Shared Scholarships are for taught Masters’ courses only; awards will not be made for undergraduate or PhD study, and will not cover any pre-sessional English language teaching.
Candidates can apply to study subjects related to the development of their home country at participating UK universities only.
Shared Scholarships are usually tenable for one-year Master’s courses only.

Terms and conditions and eligibility

To apply for a Commonwealth Shared Scholarship, candidates must:
  • Be Commonwealth citizens, refugees, or British protected persons
  • Be permanently resident in a developing Commonwealth country (a full list is available in the Commonwealth Shared Scholarships 2015 prospectus)
  • Be available to commence their academic studies in the UK by the start of the UK academic year in September/October 2015
  • Hold, by October 2015, a first degree of at least upper second class Honours standard
  • Not have undertaken studies lasting one year or more in a developed country
  • Be unable themselves, or through their families, to pay to study in the UK

How to apply

All applications must be made through your host UK university. You must check with them in the first instance for specific advice on how to make an application and for their own closing date.
All Commonwealth Shared Scholarship candidates must be selected and put forward to the CSC by their host UK university, and must submit their application to the CSC using our Electronic Application System (EAS).
Candidates must apply for a Commonwealth Shared Scholarship using one of two methods, as instructed by the university:
  1. Via university: Applying to the university in the first instance using the university’s own application form. If selected, candidates will then be asked to submit an application to the CSC using the EAS. Any applications made via the EAS only and not directly to the university first will not be considered.
  2. EAS only: Applying to both the university and the CSC at the same time using the EAS.
Each university has its own closing date for applications. Any applications received after this date will be deemed ineligible.
The table on pages 5-6 of the Commonwealth Shared Scholarships 2015 prospectus indicates the method of application and closing date for each university.
Candidates may apply to more than one university, but only one offer of a Shared Scholarship may be accepted.
Full help on how to apply using the EAS is provided in our guides, which should be read in full before making any attempt to use the EAS.
The EAS will close to applicants on 16 April 2015 and no further applications can be submitted after that date. Candidates should note that most university closing dates fall before 16 April and you must submit your application by the date advised by the university to which you are applying.
How to access the EAS
All enquiries about Commonwealth Shared Scholarships should be directed to the university to which you wish to apply.
 http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/apply/shared-scholarships/info-candidates/

Thursday 16 October 2014

Draft Recommendations from the Gender Pre-Forum to the High Level Dialogue, Kigali, Rwanda



Introduction
1. From 6 – 7 October 2014, two hundred men and women, drawn from Gender Experts from African Union (AU) Member States, AU Organs, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Development Partners, Civil society Organisations, academia, media, private sector and think tanks across Africa met in Kigali, Rwanda to foster a deeper understanding of the trends, challenges and opportunities for women in strengthening democratic governance towards silencing guns in Africa by 2020. It was also aimed at identifying practical initiatives and strategies that can be explored to enhance women’s inclusion and engagement in peacebuilding and democratization processes in Africa.
2. The principal aim of the Pre-Forum was to examine trends, challenges and opportunities for enhancing the role of women in contributing to ending conflict and attaining sustainable development in Africa
3. Organised by the African Union Commission within the African Governance Architecture Annual Dialogue Series on Democratic Governance (DGTrends) the Gender Forum was convened as part of the build up to the High Level Dialogue on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance that will be held from 30 -31 October 2014 in Dakar, Senegal. The Forum was co-hosted and supported by the Government of Rwanda, Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, the United Nations Development Programme, Rwanda Governance Board, GIZ and UN Women.
4. Following deliberations on the current trends, challenges, prospects and opportunities for women in democratic governance and peacebuilding, participants noted the following issues and recommendations.
Emerging Issues
5. Acknowledged that women and girls suffer disproportionately from the effects of armed conflicts in Africa which has been exacerbated by democratic governance deficits which continue to trigger violent conflicts on the Continent.
6. Further acknowledged the pivotal role women have and continue to play in conflict prevention and post conflict reconstruction and recovery as well as development of strategic interventions that address violent conflicts on the Continent. Such interventions are pivotal in silencing the guns in Africa by 2020 and should be strengthened and sustained through investment in strong, resilient, participatory, efficient, effective and inclusive democratic governance institutions and processes.
7. Noted that despite the fact that women and girls are often the most affected during violent conflicts, they are relegated from conflict resolution and peacebuilding initiatives, rendering them victims rather than actors in these processes.
8. Further noted that despite efforts to provide affirmative action aimed at enhancing their participation in public spheres, there still exist gaps in effective participation of women democratic governance systems.
9. Reaffirmed that women’s participation in peace efforts is a matter of gender equality and universal human rights which is crucial to achieving sustainable peace, economic recovery, social cohesion and political legitimacy.
10. Reiterated the need for enhanced women’s leadership and participation in effective management of diversity, natural resource governance and socio-economic development of the Continent.
11. Acknowledged the progress made in the adoption of African Shared Values norms, institutions and strategies especially the Constitutive Act, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance; the Protocol to the African Charter for Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) and the AU Gender Policy (2009).
12. Recalled that there are also various regional and international instruments that bestow obligations and commitments on members to address women empowerment, inclusion in democratic governance and socio-economic policy making as well as implementation processes, although many have either not been ratified or implemented
13. Commend the African Union for the appointment of a Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security and reiterated the need to provide necessary support for the execution of her mandate.
14. Inspired by the progress made by Rwanda through adoption and implementation of effective transitional justice that include innovative and locally owned solutions to accountability, national unity and reconciliation as well post conflict reconstruction and development, participants commended Rwanda as an exemplar of what is possible on the continent with visionary leadership and participatory democratic governance to silence the guns in Africa by 2020. They further called on Rwanda to share comparable lessons with the African Union and other countries on the continent that are emerging from Conflict.
Recommendations
A. Women’s Participation, Access and Leadership on Democratic Governance Towards Silencing the Guns in Africa by 2020
15. The African Union should work more closely with Member States in the implementation of African Shared Values Instruments particularly the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Good Governance and the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa aimed at enhancing inclusive participation of women in democratic governance processes on the continent. Such engagement should go beyond elections observation to also include devolved and local governance, public service and socio-economic empowerment.
16. The African Union should provide political and technical support to Member States in the implementation of regional commitments to addressing governance deficit on the continent especially on unconstitutional changes of Government. In that regard, the African Union Commission through the AGA Platform should scale up advocacy ratification, domestication and implementation of regional, continental and international instruments that guarantee the rights of women to effectively participate in socio-economic and political development processes of the Continent.
17. The Africa Union Commission through the Inter-Departmental Taskforce on Conflict Prevention should develop an action plan and implementation Strategy aimed at engendering the conflict prevention, peacebuilding and post conflict reconstruction and development programmes of the Union.
18. AU Member States should strengthen democratic governance structures at the national, and local levels that facilitate dialogue, engagement and inclusion of African citizens particularly women and youth in order to ensure inclusive development interventions on the continent.
19. The Africa Governance Architecture should develop and build strategic partnerships and initiatives with regional and national civil society networks, women formations, media, faith based organisations and development partners to enhance the capacity and involvement of grassroots women in democratic governance and peacebuilding initiatives.
20. Member States in closer collaboration with civil society should strengthen and implement civic education policies that are aimed at enhancing civic awareness and duty among citizens at the national and sub national levels on governance challenges and opportunities to improve democracy.
21. The African Union should intensify efforts aimed at providing the opportunity for women to play more pivotal roles in the conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts of the AU Panel of the Wise, mediation, preventive diplomacy as well as post conflict reconstruction and development.
22. The African Union should proactively discourage confrontational politics in democratization processes on the Continent and encourage and support consensus building among all stakeholders in seeking to silence the guns in Africa by 2020.
23. The AGA through its citizen, youth and civil society engagement strategies should partner with civil society organisation, media and various Member States national structures in share and implementation of comparable practices on the continent including success stories of armed conflict resolutions and peacebuilding initiatives, which can be used to guide current efforts of silencing guns and restoration of sustainable peace and reconciliation in post conflict countries.
24. The AGA should institutionalize the Gender Forum to the Annual High Level Dialogue on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance in Africa.
B. Respect for the Rule of Law and Upholding Constitutionalism in Silencing the Guns by 2020
25. The African Union should strengthen structures for Member States reporting on the administrative and legislative measures undertaken to implementation of various AU Shared Values Instruments.
26. The African Union through the Pan African Parliament should partner closely with Member States Parliaments in the oversight of compliance to various national, regional and continental commitments and obligations
27. Member states should institutionalize the quota systems in their respective countries to enhance affirmative action on women’s participation in elective positions.
28. Civil Society Organisations should strengthen their interventions around advocacy on the various normative frameworks that engender popular participation of African citizens.
C. Promotion and Protection of Human and Peoples’ Rights in Silencing the Guns
29. The Africa Union Organs and Institutions with human rights protection and promotion mandate should be strengthened to effectively and efficiently monitor member state compliance of agreed norms and standards.
30. The African Union should strengthen accountability mechanisms at the regional level especially at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to ensure Member states live up and implement legal commitments on the rights and welfare of women and girls.
31. The African Union, in line with its dedication of the 2015 Summit to Women’s Rights, should advocate for the universal ratification and strengthening of administrative and financial measures as well as structures for the domestication and implementation of the Maputo Protocol by Member States.
32. Member States and Civil Society should cooperate and coordinate efforts to attain credible and legitimate transitional justice processes and initiatives which promote innovative home grown solutions to post conflict reconciliation and social cohesion in post conflict situations on the Continent.
33. Member States should provide adequate legislative and judicial mechanisms to address impunity and crimes committed against women and girls during conflict situations as deterrent for future occurrences.
34. Development Partners should support measures and initiatives aimed at enhancing the institutional capacity of state and non-state actors in the advocacy, monitoring, reporting and documenting best practices on the promotion and protection of women’s rights.
D. Enhancing the Role of Women in Humanitarian Assistance in Silencing the Guns by 2020
35. Member States should ensure national disaster policies and response initiatives involve and include women including building the capacity of national disaster preparedness institutions and first responders on the vulnerabilities of women and girls during conflict and post conflict situations.
36. Members States should adopt policies and mechanisms aimed at strengthening structures for Early Warning and Early Action at national levels to stem the outbreak of conflicts on the Continent.
37. Member states and Development partners should collaborate on measures aimed at enhancing social security for citizens to ensure durable solutions to peacebuilding on the Continent.
38. Civil society organisations should develop structures aimed at providing complementary psycho-social support in post conflict situations in Africa. This should focus on partnering with Member states in the rehabilitation, reintegration and resettlement of victims of conflict.
39. African Union Member States should put an arms embargo on countries emerging from conflict to stem the tide of arms proliferation on the continent.
40. The Africa Governance Architecture through its Humanitarian Assistance Cluster should develop a humanitarian assistance coordination model to ensure effective and efficient deployment of humanitarian assistance in conflict and post conflict situations.
Conclusion
41. In conclusion, participants expressed satisfaction at the quality of discussions and called on the African Union Commission to prioritize the implementation of the various recommendations from the meeting. The AU Commission, through the AGA Secretariat was tasked with ensuring that the recommendations are widely shared and disseminated and a follow process to support and ensure effective implementation in a participatory and inclusive manner.
42. Participants expressed their immense gratitude to the African Union Commission, the Government of Rwanda, the Rwanda Governance Board, the United Nations Development Programme, the GIZ and INFONET for convening and hosting the meeting as well as for the warm hospitality accorded to all delegates during the stay in Rwanda.

http://dgtrends.org/draft-recommendations-from-the-gender-pre-forum-to-the-high-level-dialogue-kigali-rwanda/

Call for Essays: Africa Youth Day

Women account for about half of Africa’s talent base. As a group, they have been marginalized and their economic, social, political and environmental contributions go in large part unrealized, underutilized and undervalued.
Poverty and HIV/AIDS still carry a female face. Women’ education is often sacrifice because of various socio-economic and cultural reasons and women are among the most affected by conflicts and violence. Empowering their participation in the community and the workforce greatly increases economic growth, reduces poverty, enhances societal well-being, and helps ensure sustainable development in all countries.
 It is against this background that the African Union Heads of State and Government have dedicated next year, 2015, as the “Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063″. As a prelude to these celebrations, the African Union Commission is celebrating this year’s Africa Youth Day under the theme: ‘Delivering on the Potential of Africa’s Young women.’
 Celebrated on the 1st of November, The African Youth Day aims to promote an increased recognition of youth as key agents for social change and economic growth in all aspects of African society. The event also aims to contribute and channel the youth motivation, energy and idealism to reinforce the efforts towards the achievement of a sustainable development in the Africa.
 To open up this discourse, the African Union Commission invites young Africans to submit an essay of not more than 1500 words, which identifies and makes the case for policy measures to support the empowerment of young women. Entries are encouraged to be evidence-based, drawing on experiences of the writer or other individuals or institutions.
 WORTH
  • Finalists will be invited to celebrate the African Youth Day at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and engage with Ministers of Youth from across the continent. Winning essay shall be published and presented at various high level policy meetings in 2015.
 ELIGIBILITY
  1. The competition is open to young people (18-35) from African Union Member States.
  2. Only one essay is allowed per entrant.
  3. Essays should be submitted in any of the AU languages i.e. English, French, Portuguese and Arabic
  4. Photographs and other illustrations that enhance the article are welcome, although these must be original to the author and be copyright free.
  5. Submission should be made to essays@empoweryouth.today
DEADLINE: 20th October, 2014

Friday 10 October 2014

ENGAGEMENTS


NCI President advocating for implementation of youth policy in Nigeria

ENGAGEMENTS




NCI President participating in the zonal launching of the Nigeria Youth Agenda on Political Participation as a chief host alongside the national coordinator Youth Alliance on Constitution and Electoral Reforms (YACORE) Abdulrahman Abu Hamisu, Representative of UNDP-DGD Nigeria and Cynthia Mbamalu from YIAGA  in Toscana Villa Enugu

ENGAGEMENTS


NCI President as the Enugu state YACORE team leader led a delegation to INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) office in Enugu to partner with the commission for sensitization towards effective participation of young people during 2015 elections.

ENGAGEMENTS



During a capacity building training organized by NCI in collaboration with ACE Foundation in Enugu.

NCI President engaged in public voter education and sensitization during the INEC voter registration in Enugu state Nigeria.
New Century Initiative Enugu
WE PARTNER FOR SOCIETAL DEVELOPMENT
INTRODUCTION
NEW CENTURY INITIATIVE (NCI) Enugu is a youth development organization founded to intervene in social, economic and political development of young people in Enugu state and Nigeria. NEW CENTURY INITIATIVE is  pure into development activities with her major aims which includes:
To strengthen youth representation on issues that affects their well-being for nation building.
To foster relations between young people and governmental organizations and development partners at various levels.
OUR VISION
To build a free, wealthier, democratic, peaceful and successful society where development is the watch word.
OUR MISSION
To discover and develop positive value system for our people and leaders in our society, and the actualization of the national dream.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
NEW CENTURY INITIATIVE (NCI) Enugu was founded by a young African leader who has the passion to participate in the development of social, economic and political activities of his community and nation at large.
Having participated in different national and international youth development programs, he believes in domesticating and helping other young people to share his vision. He has engaged is various social development projects from his days as a student till date. He’s in the front-line advocacy for ratification, domestication and implementation of various youth policies including the African Youth Charter and the National Youth Policy among others. He’s the current President (Head of operations, research, advocacy and programs) NCI, Enugu state Coordinator of YACORE and National Coordinator African Youth Union Nigeria chapter.
OUR TEAM
LIST OF OFFICES
The Head of the organization
The Head of Research
The Head of advocacy
The Head of programs
The Head of Publicity/ Secretary
The Head of Information
The Head of Public Relations
The Head of Accounts and Audit
MEMBERSHIP
Membership of NCI shall be through the membership of affiliates of NCI/ partnership and the person shall not be less than fifteen years of age and above thirty five years of age.
A person or group of persons shall not be or claim to be bona fide member(s) of the organization if he/she is not a bona fide member of the New Century Initiative (NCI).
  WE BELIEVE THAT'S WHY WE'RE SET TO ACHIEVE.
  JOIN AND SUPPORT US TODAY AS WE BUILD A NEW NIGERIA.
  WE SAY
  THANK YOU
Contact us today:
Tel.: +2348034798576, +2348180162982, +2347088980442.
Facebook: New Century Initiative-NCI
Twitter: @new_initiative

WELCOME ADDRESS BY NEBO OBINNA COLLINS AT THE SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA ZONAL LAUNCHING OF THE NIGERIA YOUTH AGENDA ON POLITICAL PARTICIPATION



PROTOCOLS
The Representative of the Enugu State Ministry of Youth Devt.
Resident Electoral Commissioner INEC Enugu.
Dr Yunusa Tanko, IPAC National Chairman.
The Representative of the National Orientation Agency.
SSA to the Enugu State Governor on Youth.
Commissioner for Human Development and Poverty Alleviation, Enugu

My name is Nebo Obinna Collins the Enugu state coordinator Youth Alliance on Constitution Review and Electoral Reforms. (YACORE).
Over the years, there have been several meetings, summits, conferences, fora and symposiums addressing the issue of youth inclusiveness in policy making and decision taking at all levels of government. It is no longer news that the youth made up the 60% of the Nigeria population, but at the same time the most politically and economically marginalized group in the Nigeria population.
I am so delighted this day that the Nigerian youth serving in political parties and youth CSOs were able to bring themselves together for over 24 months with the support of the UNDP/DGD engaged debates, roundtables and conferences all in a bid to improve the quality of youth participation in electoral politics in the build up to the 2015 general elections and beyond.
I am also happy that the Nigeria Youth Agenda on Political Participation captured the views and aspirations of young people irrespective of political, religious, ethnic and sectional interests. This national document is a welcome development for building the future of the Nigerian youth towards positive political participation.
I thank God that this is happening in my time, now I have a story to tell the younger generation coming after us. We the young people of Enugu state and the south-eastern Nigeria have accepted to join this moving train for the good of our people and for the good of our nation.
I welcome you all to Enugu (the coal city state).
Enjoy your stay for this programme and enjoy the beautiful city we’ve got.
Dee je nu!
Ala nu!!
Unu ejee!!!
Nnoo nu!!!!