Granting guidelines

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Granting guidelines 

End Water Poverty operates on the principle that social change starts with civil society: without human rights defenders, there are no human rights.

We specialise in funding community-led direct civil society action that advances accountability, justice and human rights.

Each year we provide grants of £1,000-£5,000 through Claim Your Water Rights so civil society can support communities to claim their rights to safe water and sanitation.

Who is eligible for funding?

Every EWP member is eligible to apply for a grant. Each member can only submit one concept note per application cycle; multiple submissions from the same member will be discarded. Members applying for grants must be able to receive funds from international organisations according to their national laws and processes.

Over the course of each financial year we strive to reflect the geographical spread of our membership through our grants. Over the years we’ve funded over 22 organisations in 12 different countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. To ensure funds are distributed fairly among EWP’s different regional constituencies, we will provide a maximum of two grants per country so submitting joint concept notes with other members in your country or region could strengthen your chances of receiving funding.

Given the dearth of international funding for local advocacy, we devote most funds to grassroots campaigns. We will not fund applications from INGO members unless they are submitted jointly with members working at sub-national level.

What will we fund?

The all-encompassing nature of Claim Your Water Rights allows members to advocate on a range of different human rights issues related to water and sanitation. This means members can adapt their campaign approach to their local or national context while working in global solidarity under one banner.

While Claim Your Water Rights is designed to embrace diverse approaches and content areas, we have identified several themes that are strategically important to the coalition and of common interest to members working across different countries and continents. To serve as many members as possible, we select concept notes that engage with at least one of the following sub-themes:

    • Climate justice:  water depletion, pollution and extractive industries
    • Corporate accountability: business and human rights
    • Expanding civic space: legal empowerment, meaningful participation, protesting and more
    • Media influencing: Using radio, TV, written and social media to inform, influence and empower
    • National and international human rights institutions: strengthening, collaborating, lodging complaints, making submissions
    • Public control of water and sanitation services: resisting privatisation, making the case for public ownership
    • Supporting marginalised communities to claim their rights: examples include asylum seekers and refugees, indigenous communities, informal settlement residents, LGBTQI+ communities, rural communities, sanitation workers, waste pickers, women and girls, etc.

    Claim Your Water Rights strategies are designed and delivered by our members. In the past few years, members have employed varied and creative rights claiming actions. These include:

      • Community mobilisation
      • Lobbying national and international human rights bodies
      • Demonstrations, protests and rallies
      • Direct engagement with government
      • Documenting, monitoring and publicising data
      • Litigation
      • Lodging complaints to regulators or national human rights institutions
      • Media influencing
      • Mobilising elected representatives
      • Research and policy advocacy

        This list is not exhaustive or prescriptive. We will fund campaigns that utilise a variety of tactics.

        What won’t we fund?

        • Partisan political actions
        • Provision of services and infrastructure development
        • One-off events that are not related to wider advocacy
        • Unsolicited proposals from non-EWP members

        What do we expect from members who receive funds?

        We expect all members who receive funds to:

        • Seek value for money.
        • Proactively share campaigning experience and expertise with other EWP members at national, regional and international levels. This could include speaking at learning exchanges, contributing written case studies or organising joint events.
        • Publicise work online, tagging @EndWaterPoverty on social media.
        • Send regular updates to End Water Poverty’s senior engagement officer, including pictures, videos, documents, news clippings, weblinks.
        • Submit a mid-project and final project report that covers the activities and aims stated in your concept note with links to outcomes and outputs.
        • Complete campaign activities typically within six months.

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        How do I apply for a grant?

        End Water Poverty opens calls for concept notes at least once a year. Download and complete the concept note form and submit it to [email protected]. The secretariat adjudicates against the published criteria and provides written feedback to members whose applications are unsuccessful.

        Apply for a grant