DOSF
Background and rationale
The Democracy Opportunity Support Fund (DEMOS Fund) is a flagship initiative of the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS) established with funding support from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida).
Set up as a transnational, civil society-led network in the ECOWAS Region, WADEMOS mobilizes, coordinates, and leverages the resources, opportunities, and collective power of its Members and other pro-democracy civil society organizations, social movements, and activists to defend, promote, and advance democratic values and reform in West Africa, including through engagement with relevant regional bodies and instruments.
With its Secretariat based at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, WADEMOS is governed by an 11-member Steering Committee, an Advisory Council and a General Assembly. For the current period through the end of 2024, the Network’s five strategic priorities are to:
- Support in-country civil society actors to safeguard and assure peaceful and credible elections and electoral outcomes.
- Protect against shrinkage of the civic space
- Protect and support at-risk frontline democracy and human rights defenders
- Support efforts toward democratic restoration in countries where democracy has collapsed
- Support national and regional efforts against violent extremism and terrorism.
Complementing these strategic goals, the purpose of the DEMOS Fund is to respond to emerging openings and other opportunities, including early warnings, to defend, revive, or reinvigorate democracy in the Region.
Objectives
The DEMOS Fund supports Network Members’ (and Member-supported) initiatives to address democratic backsliding and respond to timely needed democratic interventions within the sub-region. It specifically aims at:
Guiding principles
- The fund is competitive
- The fund is accessible to Network Members. However, it supports external organizations or individuals, and social movements. The application by external organization or individual and social movements should be supported by a recommendation from a Network Member organization.
- The fund is utilized to support two types of interventions in line with WADEMOS priority areas:
- Organizational projects from WADEMOS Network Members, recommended organizations or individuals and social groups addressing any of the five strategic priorities of the Network. This is funded under a six (6) months cycle and grants are awarded twice a year.
- Timely-needed sensitive and immediate interventions from WADEMOS Network Members, and working groups in response to the democratic reversals at national level. This may be co-created by WADEMOS and Network Members, and on the recommendation or proposal from Network Members. Applications are opened throughout the year.
Budget Ceiling
The Ceiling for funding is as follows:
- Organizational Projects support: $20,000
- Timely-needed Interventions: $10,000
Deadlines
- Organizational Projects Support: Friday, June 30, 2023.
- Timely-needed Interventions: Applications are open all year round
Managemet of the Fund
The fund shall be managed by the fund Management Committee
Funds are transferred upon approval of projects or requests by the Fund Management Committee and signature of a grant agreement between the WADEMOS Secretariat and the implementing organization
A final report, must be submitted with a financial part showing expenditures. However, the PMU is allowed to establish a system to check the initiatives implementation proces
After completion of the project and receiving the final report, the PMU will send them back to the relevant organization for an ex-post evaluation and potentially additional support