Disability Rights Fund Releases 2010 Request for Proposals:

PRESS RELEASE

Disability Rights Fund Releases 2010 Request for Proposals:
First Round to Address India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Ukraine
FEBRUARY15, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Diana Samarasan, Director
Telephone: 617-261-4593
Email: dsamarasan@disabilityrightsfund.org

BOSTON, MA – The Disability Rights Fund (DRF)—a grantmaking collaborative between donors and the global disability community which supports the human rights of persons with disabilities—today announced its first 2010 grants round, “Moving Rights Forward.” Grantmaking in this round will be targeted to disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) in three countries where DRF is currently working, Mexico, Ukraine, & selected states in India, as well as one new country, Indonesia.

The broad objective of the Fund—which was officially launched in March 2008 and is a Project of Tides—is to empower DPOs in the developing world and Eastern Europe/former Soviet Union to participate in ratification, implementation and monitoring of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD).

In the first round of 2010 grantmaking, applicant organizations from Indonesia, Mexico, Ukraine and eligible states in India may apply as: a) single organizations or partnerships for 12-month Small Grants and/or b) national DPO-led coalitions for 24-month National Coalition Grants. Grants to single organizations will range from USD 5,000 to 20,000 and will support efforts to build CRPD skills and to develop rights-based advocacy and monitoring on the CRPD. Grants to national DPO-led coalitions will range from USD 30,000 to 50,000 per year (60,000 – 100,000 over 24 months) and will support advocacy toward ratification of the CRPD, passage of specific legislation to accord with the CRPD, or the production of alternative/parallel reports.

Interested organizations are urged to review the full eligibility criteria and application details posted at the Fund’s website, http://www.disabilityrightsfund.org/grant.html. Any questions on the proposal process should be directed to info@disabilityrightsfund.org. The deadline for Small Grants applications is March 29, 2010; the deadline for National Coalition Grants applications is April 12, 2010.

As DRF’s Director, Diana Samarasan, said, "DRF's 2010 grantmaking process illustrates our commitment to DPOs working to advance the CRPD in current target countries as well as our commitment to the expansion of such opportunities for new countries and organizations.”

In 2009, the Fund made 82 one-year grants to organizations in 14 countries (India, Mexico, Ukraine; Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru; Ghana, Namibia, Uganda; Bangladesh; and Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands), totaling USD 1,933,050. Grants ranged from USD 5000 - 70,000 and supported CRPD skills-building, local rights advocacy, and national-level CRPD promotion, implementation and monitoring by DPO-led coalitions.
DRF’s donors include Aepoch Fund, the American Jewish World Service, an anonymous founding donor, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the Open Society Institute, The Sigrid Rausing Trust, and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).