After a 2020 full of challenges and great resilience by everyone in many walks of life, we know that social needs and inequalities have increased exponentially in the context of the pandemic.
Latin America was already the region of the world with the greatest inequality, and today it is also one of the regions most affected by COVID-19. Not only healthcare systems have reached their limit, but also disenchantment with our political classes. This disapproval has been reflected in various political, social and cultural manifestations. Latin America has not stopped there, and hundreds of collective initiatives have emerged from citizens in rural and urban areas seeking to address the failures of public systems, to demand, make visible and connect advocacy processes with the aim of improving people’s quality of life.
In this context we are launching the Fund for Civic Empowerment Organizations. Pulsante is seeking to strengthen and consolidate an active citizen body through the support of organizations working in pursuit of participation, involvement of excluded voices and improvement in the quality of our democracies. Financial support of 80,000 to 120,000 dollars will be granted, and the processes will have a duration of 18 to 24 months. In addition, the organizations selected may request technical support on issues such as communication, political advocacy, gender focus and digital safety, among others. The call will be open from March 23 to April 30, 2012.
One of the first and most interesting lessons learned from Pulsante’s first line of support, the Rapid Response Fund, is the potential of collective action to achieve advocacy processes in the defense of the civic space and democracies. With this in mind, we have designed this call with a look to strengthening local, national and regional ecosystems that trigger long-term changes in power structures. The central objective is to support processes that amplify voices historically underrepresented in democratic processes in Latin America.
Pulsante’s team is ready to receive your proposals and we hope to receive applications from organizations from all over the region. To learn more about the call, visit: pulsante.org/en/organizations_fund.
Now is the time to rebuild our democracies from a collaborative understanding focused on respecting the rights of every person in all corners of the continent. Act now!
