United States private voluntary organizations and non-governmental organizations, and international NGOs are invited to submit applications to World Learning for sub-grants under the DCOF-funded SPANS/GSM Program. Two to four subgrants of up to $2,500,000 (for a three-year program) will be made to programs for projects to improve the safety, well being and development of highly vulnerable children.

Interested organizations may submit applications under either the “Strengthening Systems of Child Protection” Strategy or the “Improving Family-Level Assets and Income Generation Opportunities Through Economic Strengthening Activities” Strategy. Further details on these strategies and the RFA will be available from January 8 through World Learning’s website (link below). The deadline for questions on the RFA is January 15, and applications must be received by February 12 (Update: Feb. 26 – see below).

NOTICE: January 22, 2010

APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR RESPONSES TO WL SPANS/GSM RFA #5

THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS IN RESPONSE TO THE SPANS/GSM RFA #5 RELEASED BY WORLD LEARNING ON JANUARY 8, 2010 ON BEHALF OF USAID HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010 AT 1 P.M EST. AMENDMENTS TO THE RFA WILL BE POSTED BY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010 ON WORLD LEARNING’S SPANS/GSM WEB SITE

This report provides a summary of key findings from evaluations of four programs, two in Kenya and two in Tanzania, supporting orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC). This study was conducted by MEASURE Evaluation in 2006-2007 and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The overall aim of these evaluations was to ascertain the extent to which program interventions are effective in improving the well-being of OVC and their families, and the interventions’ cost-effectiveness in achieving key outcomes.

The report findings include affirmation that initiatives extending beyond OVC to include guardians and the general community were found to be associated with some positive outcomes for guardians, as well as for the children under their care. For instance, support group participation of OVC guardians was associated with positive psychosocial outcomes for guardians as well as less household abuse and more prosocial behavior of the children in their household. Further, two interventions that provided guardians with an opportunity to supplement family income were associated with reduced household food insecurity and achieved such success at a low cost per beneficiary. Additionally, study findings highlight the importance of involving guardians in the development of interventions targeting children

This study investigates the determinants and characteristics of women’s income in Mali. Malian men and women do not entirely pool their incomes within the household, and women’s income is particularly important in influencing child health and nutritional outcomes. The study estimates two different models: an income determinants model and a model that describes different categories of women based on their income-generating activities. Results from model 1 show that women in the irrigated rice zone have the highest incomes, ceteris paribus, followed by women in the coarse grains zone. The cotton zone produces the lowest women’s incomes, despite having the highest men’s and household income levels. Other significant determinants include the women’s age, being married to the head of the household, the composition of the household and asset levels. In the second model, different income-generating activities have different impacts on incomes, depending on the region in which the women live. Women in the cotton and coarse grains zones receive the highest marginal benefit from participating in the sale of wild products, such as shea butter, but not in the irrigated area, where more profitable agricultural activities exist for women. The results imply that agricultural growth and higher household incomes do not automatically lead to gender equity or better welfare for women and children. In the cotton zone, particularly, complementary interventions are needed to counteract the negative impact of cotton production on women’s incomes.

USAID/Russia is making a special call for the submission of concept papers that support partnerships between non-profit organizations and the private sector. Applications addressing the following thematic objectives are sought:

• Cooperation between civil society, government and business to advance local economic and social development.
• Improved entrepreneurship in the North Caucasus in the areas of agriculture, and small and medium enterprises.
• Improved private sector involvement in combating tuberculosis and improving the health and well-being of women, children and youth.

The purpose of this Annual Program Statement Addendum is to:

• harness the unique skills, perspectives, and resources of the private sector, private foundations, local governments, and other organizations to address development challenges within Russia;
• increase the total value of resources available to address development needs in Russia; and
• enhance the financial sustainability/diversity of non-governmental organizations in Russia.

Follow the link below for more details about this funding opportunity.

The SEEP Network’s HIV & AIDS and Microenterprise Development (HAMED) Working Group is holding a weeklong online conference that addresses savings-led approaches in HIV & AIDS integrated programming. Discussion will be facilitated by HAMED members with the expert assistance of a panel of Savings-Led guest ‘speakers’ who will draft expert posts during the course of the weeklong conference. This conference is designed to be an open dialogue space for interested MED and public health professionals, a learning platform, and source of virtual peer review.

The Women’s Refugee Commission is holding a three-day highly participatory workshop designed to bring practitioners from throughout the region to learn new techniques, share experiences, and collect tools designed to improve practice on the ground. Two days of the workshop will focus on findings from the Women’s Refugee Commission’s three-year research project on livelihoods in refugee, IDP, and returnee settings and will include practice sessions on usage of the newly released Livelihoods Field Manual. A third day of the workshop will cover findings on the Commission’s project on livelihoods as a tool of protection against gender-based violence and how GBV and livelihood programs should complement each other to better protect women.

Apply for this event by July 10, 2009

Participants will be required to cover their own travel expenses. Meals and materials will be provided. There will be a very limited amount of financial assistance available to local NGOs only for partial coverage of travel and hotel expenses.

To request an application or for any questions, please contact Gillian at: gillianda@wrcommission.org

The W. K. Kellogg Foundation works in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa. The foundation focuses on children, and has three funding priorities: 1) Learning; 2) Food, Health, and Well-Being; and 3) Family Economic Security.

The foundation seeks proposals that have the potential to:

• Have a measurable impact on children and families who face significant barriers to opportunity for success
• Strengthen the “opportunity grid” (the systems and services) within communities that create opportunities for children
• Make significant and sustainable change
• Engage promising innovative solutions and technologies
• Work in partnership with communities, governments, businesses, and experts
• Leverage support from other sources
• Build on existing Kellogg Foundation work

Grants are awarded on an ongoing basis. Follow the link below for more details, or see the links above for region-specific information.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation’s primary goal is to support and initiate programs that directly serve the needs of children living in urban poverty. Their focus areas are education, childhood health, and family economic stability through microfinance.

Currently, most of their funding for economic initiatives is focused on projects in urban India, while African funding focuses on childhood health. This regional/sectoral focus is not an official requirement in their application process, but priority is given to projects that align with the Foundation’s geographic and sectoral focus areas.

To learn more, see the foundation’s FAQs.

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. Apply using the link below.

This paper looks at the impacts of the food price crisis on developing countries and examines the direct and indirect effects on consumers and producers. It analyses the implications of these impacts on children’s wellbeing. The distinct features of childhood poverty and vulnerability mean that children are likely to be affected by the food price crisis in different ways at both the household and intra-household level.

There are two major effects of higher food prices on developing countries and their populations.

• One is direct: as the higher international prices of food push up local prices, food becomes less affordable for consumers but provides an incentive for local farmers to increase their production of foodstuffs. In both cases real incomes and welfare of the population, including the poor, are affected.
• The second is indirect: as the higher cost of imported food leads to trade deficits that depress the level of activity in the economy leading to unemployment and lower government revenues that might depress spending on public services.

This brief outlines the major findings of a research project into livelihoods and parental planning in Southern Africa. The aim of the study was to find out how parents and other caregivers are planning and acting to secure their children’s future. The intention was to paint a broad picture of people’s livelihoods to understand their perspectives and experiences, what is affecting their families and welfare, which interventions they are benefiting from, and how they are responding. The results of qualitative household research in rural Chikwawa District in Malawi, as well as peri-urban Amajube District and urban Durban in South Africa, indicate that vulnerable people are aware of the threats to their welfare and that they have limited options to sustain their families and livelihoods, let alone provide their children with the means to achieve a stable existence.