General

Support to the Stabilization Coherence Fund (SCF) for implementation of the International Stabilization Strategy (ISSSS) in Eastern DRC. The fund, established in 2015, is administrated by the UNDP Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTF-O) in New York. The overall goal of the ISSSS is to strengthen the social partnerships between the state and the population in order to strengthen accountability and the management of violent conflict. This goal is furthermore divided into three results: achieving socioeconomic resilience against increased armed conflict; Improved security for women, girls, boys and men in the eastern provinces; and strengthen the legitimacy of the Congolese state and its institutions. The Stabilization Strategy is based on five pillars to deal with multisectoral and multi-dimensional challenges, as well as enabling conflict dynamics to be addressed in an integrated manner. 1) "Democratic dialogue" focuses on activities that help address the interaction of a number of conflict dynamics identified at the local level. Support is given to the population to develop the ability to analyze and transform conflicts peacefully, thus reducing the risk of mobilization by conflict actors. State actors are part of the recipients in order to transform the state-society relationship. 2) The "Security Component" deals with the interplay between the security actors and the mobilization around land and identity as a cause of conflict. Activities under this component focus on the local interplay between the military and the population. Activities support the promotion of behavioral change within the military and promote the "good behavior" of commanders and troops that will help to create internal mutual pressure to hold each other responsible. 3) The "restoration of state authority" (RSA) focuses on bridging the gap between state actors and communities and ensuring equitable delivery of services based on local needs. It also seeks to address fragmented governance structures and improve the legal framework. 4) The "Return, Reintegration and Economic Recovery" (RRR) component addresses the socio-economic causes of conflict in order to address the underlying causes of poverty, sociodemographic pressure, land access and fragmented Congolese identities. 5) Addressing "sexual violence" within the framework of ISSSS means focusing on root causes by transforming harmful gender norms. It is about discussing perceptions of masculinity and femininity in a local context and its impact on the conflict. Projects also look at how to strengthen the defense, security and justice system, and to increase the social, economic and political participation of women and girls. The trust fund is to date supported by DFID, the Netherlands, Norway and the Peacebuilding Fund.

Objectives

Improved mutual accountability and capacity of the Congolese state and society to cope with and mitigate the main factors of violent conflict in the eastern provinces and to strengthen the legitimacy of the social contract and promote long-term economic development. The International Security and Stabilisation Support Strategy (ISSSS) has developed an innovative approach to programming based on conflict analysis, targeting one or more main conflict dynamics identified in the stabilization zones. This approach allows for programming that targets: the transformation of existing, open or latent, intra- or inter-community conflicts; the strengthening of the security of women, girls, boys, and men in their communities; the fight against the exploitation and illegal trafficking of natural resources; and analyzing and addressing regional conflict dynamics identified in the priority zones. Furthermore, the ISSSS acknowledges that conflict actors (women, youth, and men) are at the center of the transformation process of the main conflict dynamics identified. In order to address the main conflict dynamics, collaboration between the State, traditional authorities, and women, youth, and men is necessary. Finally, in order to successfully transform conflict and promote sustainable peace, we need to address structural and sociocultural barriers to women's and girls' participation in these processes.

General

UNJHRO (JHRO) monitors the human rights situation in the DRC and Sweden has been supporting their office since 2016 with two different contributions. According to the embassy, and the international community at large in DRC, the JHRO is the strongest human rights actor in DRC and therefor the embassy wants to support the office. The JHRO is a joint office between the OHCHR and the human rights section of the Monusco mission in DRC. In addition JHRO is working closely with UNDP in providing training in human rights to the Army and the Police and they are also closely connected in the take-over in the withdrawal of MONUSCO. Monusco has initiated its drawdown in view of eventually leaving the country. The JHRO branches will stay in many locations and will be one of the last offices to leave. I The grant will be a general support for the country programme however there will be some soft earmarking towards areas that Sweden wants to see prioritised. The intervention will focus on the following objectives: 1. Strengthening rule of law and accountability for human rights violations 2. Enhancing and Protecting Civic Space and People’s Participation 3. Enhancing equality and countering discrimination - address leaving no one behind and root causes of inequality 4. Integrating human rights in sustainable development 5. Early warning, prevention and protection of HR in situations of conflict 6. Increasing implementation of the international human rights mechanisms

Objectives

The UNJHRO has identified a number of priorities of action as reflected in its work programme in six pillars (areas of action). These pillars are: The JHRO country programme includes six focus areas: 1. Strengthening rule of law and accountability for human rights violations JHRO is supporting Congolese authorities in the fight against impunity through technical, logistical and financial support to the military and civilian justice systems. The purpose is to ensure that perpetrators of serious human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law are brought to justice. As part of this effort actions are also taken to support transitional justice initiatives aimed at consolidating peace and justice among communities. JHRO is also engaged in the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) through the Women Protection Advisors (WPAs) deployed within the JHRO and through it's support to the Senior Women Protection Advisor (SWPA). The latter undertakes high level advocacy to support the FARDC and PNCs implementation of Actions Plans to prevent violations, ensure accountability for perpetrators and assistance to affected survivors. 2. Enhancing and Protecting Civic Space and Peoples Participation JHRO is supporting capacity building and development of policies and programmes towards the promotion and protection of human rights in the DRC. One part of this support targets national human rights institutions while the other aim at strengthening networks of human rights defenders and CSOs involved in defending various human rights. Joint protection mechanisms are put in place through coordination with protection networks, UN agencies, international NGOs and local partners across the DRC. 3. Enhancing equality and countering discrimination - address leaving no one behind and root causes of inequality JHRO is also enhancing advocacy with national institutions for inclusion of vulnerable groups, minorities including indigenous people and people with special needs. In addition JHRO is collaborating with the Government on legislation related to the rights of persons with disabilities (PwD) and is supporting advocacy of minority groups such as the need of indigenous people are taken into account in the land reform. 4. Integrating human rights in sustainable development JHRO is paying particular attention on reinforcing understanding, protection and respect of human rights principles and standards, including economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs) and business and HR principles. Within these efforts special attention is given to marginalized groups and women. JHRO also has a role in the integration of the human rights norms, recommendations and SDGs with the UNSDCF as well as in the UNCT coordinated responses, including through the Humanitarian Advisory Group and the Triple Nexus. 5. Early warning, prevention and protection of HR in situations of conflict In addition to strengthening the judiciary and ending impunity JHRO also have a mandate to protect civilians and improve their safety, in coordination with MONUSCO civilian and uniformed components, UN and civil society partners. An important part of this work is to continuously monitor the human rights situation and ensure early warning systems that can inform response measures. JHRO also supported the establishment of FARDC and PNC follow-up committees for human rights violations within their organisations. In addition OHCHR manages a robust database with profiles of personnel from defense and security services which is used help in the screening process before new staff are employed by FARDC. Furthermore JHRO provides training and sensitization for DRC defense and security forces on Human rights due diligence policy and human rights and international humanitarian law. 6. Increasing implementation of the international human rights mechanisms JHRO is also strengthening institutions and CSOs capacity on reporting to the human rights mechanisms through capacity building and sensitization on human rights, to improve their capacity to report to the human rights mechanisms (HRM) and to develop and implement joint workplans.

General

FSC is an independent Tanzanian non-profit organisation that provides grants and capacity building services to Tanzanian based civil society organisations. FCS was registered as a legal entity under the National NGO Act No 1666 in September 2002 and started its operation in January 2003. Since its inception, FCS has contributed immensely to the capacity strengthening of teh civil society sector in Tanzania. thereby ( in) directly enabling CSOs and citizens become key driving forces for positively influencing democratic governance in Tanzania and better quality of life for all. This is realised through provision of grants, facilitation of linkages, as well as enabling a culture of on-going learning within the civil society and Tanzania as a whole. FCS aspires to maintain its position as a leading financing mechanism for CSOs in Tanzania; and to effectively complement government and development partners efforts towards poverty reduction as set out in Tanzania's main development frameworks: Vision 2025 and the five year development plan 2016 - 2021.

Objectives

The Foundation for Civil Society ( FCS) Key Result Areas 1. GovernanceThe focus is on supporting social accountability, monitoring women's land rights, harmful traditional practices and conflict resolution. It is acknowledged that governance in the context of sustainable livelihoods means working across sectors and levels. This involved changing power relations, developing people capacioties ( resilience, assets base) as well as positively changing attitudes ( sense of vulnerability and powerlessness) There is also recognition between micro actions and macro conditions and their effects on people's livelihoods. In order to realise these results, FCS works with CSos at both local and national levels abd uses them as a vehicle to empower communities to address governance issues. The desired outcomes in this area are that: a) By 2020, Local government authorities ( LGAs) in areas that FCS works are delivering improved quality services. b) By 2020, decision making and democratic processes are better reflecting citizens rights especially those of marginalised groups, PWDs, minority and women. c) By 2020, communities have strong capacities and institutions for dialogue and conflict management. 2.Livelihoods and MarketFCS recognises that there is a strong linkage between governance and livelihoods. FCS approach to livelihoods is based on adressing systems, policies and structures that constrain the target groups from realising their potentials. the livelihood programme is modelled on three pathways: a) First targetting youth and women economic empowerment b) Targetting smallholder farmers access to extension services and productive assets and 3) tragetting communities resilience to climate change and management of natural resourxes. FCS has also pointed out that more and more citizens are organising through economic self-help groups including Village Community banks ( VICOBAa), saving and Credit societies as opposed to traditional NGOs. FCS intends to tap into these already organised spaces while also linking economic empowerment to social empowerment  while promoting the participation of the marginalised groups in decision making. The livelihood desired outcomes are: a) Ensuring tha youth and women entrepreneurs have secured greater access to market and livelihood assets and resources b) Enabling smallhoder farmers to access adequate extension services and improved security of tenure and; c) Ensuring that communities have increased capacity for climate resilience and are more accountable on natural resource management. 3. Capacity DevelopmentFCS collaboates with smaller and grassroots based CSOs who work directly with communities to identify innovative solutions to address poverty. The goal of this component is to contribute to the enhancement of civil society and other development actors to effectively and sustainably attain their mandates. The intention is that by 2020, FCS envisions that the CSOs they work with are strong, coordinated and able to serve their constituents effectively and efficiently. THese smaller CSOs lack proper systems especially those for financial managment, human resources management, monitioring and evaluation as well as suitable checks and balances, capacity to document and disseminate results and also low innovation in adressing societal challenges in a rapidly changing environment. FCS has modelled its programme to ensure that the supported organisations are constantly capacitated to deliver efficiently and document results in such a way that the evidence of the successes is acheived and shared widely. FCS recognises that the capacity of Civil society is central to giving voice to citizens and putting them at the center of good governance, livelihood and economic development processes that form part of their day to day living. FCS supports performance improvement, institutional growth and organisation as well as capacity to relate and link with others.FCS regards Capacity development as a means towards strengthening and enabling key actors - civil society, policy makers and private sector- to actively engage in dialogue about developing appropriate policy responses. It also focuses on identifying key knowledge gaps, equipping decsiion makers with the necessary tools, frameworks ands skill sets to effectively tacle development challenges at individual, institutional and societal levels. 4) Institutional DevelopmentThe overall objective of this area of work is to enable FCS to become a dynamic, efficient and sustainable entity that is effectively relaising its mandate. FCS intends to focus on improving its monitoring, evaluation and learning approach with a focus on constant reflection in order to maintain relevance and competitiveness. It also works on improving internal policies, systems and structures to safeguard its integrity and capacity to safeguard resources entrusted to it. This includes recruitment and retention of high quality staff as well as enhancing and diversifying the resource base so as to improve the sustainability of operations. The key objectives to ensure this are: a) FCS is delivering high quality services efficiently and effectively b) FCS has a diverse and stable portfolio of financing sources c) The internal policy environment (systems, structures, procedures) are upto date, comprehensive, relevant and fully operationalised. FCS is also complying with statutory and donor requirements.In summary, FCS main role is facilitation rather than direct implementation. Facilitation in this regard includes, but is not limited to funding/grant-making, coordination, mobilisation/leveraging resources, enabling of learning and reflections, linking and brokering partnerships and knowledge management. FCS ultimate target group is Tanzanian citizens with particular attention given to the poor, women, people with disabilities, youth. SWEDen'S PREVIOUS EXPERIenCE WITH THE FOUNDATION FOR CIVIL SOCIETY Sweden has previously supported the Foundation for Civil society in 2011. Sweden performed an Efficiency Audit and gave recommendations to the Institution and contributed MSEK 30 to the FCS Strategy 2009 - 2013. In this assessment, it has been noted that the recommendations of the Efficiency audit conducted 7 years ago have been taken onboard and the organisation has grown. It has been documented in the Report of Review of the FCS Strategy 2009 - 2013 that during this period FCS has grown and developed to become a respected institution by Stae and Non Stae Actors alike. Furthermore it has been noted that the work of FCS, its products and services are regarged as very relevant to stakeholders. FCS has also exhibited significant levels of adaptability and tenacity, and has significantly grown in terms of programmes, number of supported partners and financial resource base.  In 2018, Sweden has decided to assess possible support of MSEK 55 to the Foundation for Civil society due to a number of reasons. The FCS contribution will contribute towards the Embassy Open Space Project whose main focus is addressing the issue of shrinking democratic space, since this organisation has the capacity to make linkages with organisation working on matters of  civic space. Another reason is that Sweden’s direct support via contributions to civil society has been solid and persistent over a long period of time. Sweden has a well balanced portfolio in this regard and should remain with the support also under present circumstances. However,new approaches and innovative actions are necessary and this may include providing additional funds to ongoing contributions to address issues that are of critical importance in the civil societies. This proposed support to the Foundation for Civil Society will contribute towards this goal. This support will also enable Sweden to have local outreach as this is the only organisation that can reach community based organisations as well as vulnerable groups that Sweden does not have the capacity to reach within its current contributions. There is no other organisation with the capacity to forward funds to community based organisations in the country.