Call for Expression of Interest: Support to People-Centered Justice Initiatives

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is pleased to announce the call for proposals from interested Justice Action Coalition (JAC) Member Countries and non-JAC countries to receive financial and technical support to implement initiatives on people-centered justice at the country level.

Background

Launched in April 2021 the Justice Action Coalition (JAC) is a multi-stakeholder, high-ambition coalition of countries and organizations championing equal access to justice for all. The guiding ambition of the Justice Action Coalition is to close the global justice gap and the goal is to achieve measurable progress in justice outcomes for people and communities by the second SDG Summit in 2023 and beyond. The JAC calls for bold action to transform justice systems. It urges countries to pivot to people-centered justice by: 

1. Gathering data on the justice people want and need and how they experience their justice journey. 
2. Co-creating strategies to become much better at resolving and preventing people’s most common justice problems, ensuring gender equality of all responses. 
3. Setting shared goals for a range of justice actors and starting implementation of strategies to achieve these goals. 
4. Investing at scale to transform justice as it is delivered to and experienced by people, reducing the number of unresolved justice problems, and creating fair outcomes.

In 2023, under the JAC Declaration, the Catalytic Fund on People-Centred Justice was established and UNDP was tasked with implementing the initiative. This Catalytic Fund focuses on supporting strategic and innovative people-centered justice initiatives at the country level to accompany JAC member countries in the co-creation of strategies for people-centered justice reforms at the national level and broker access to international expertise, partnerships, and financial support. Through this initiative, it will support justice actors in countries and follow their lead in designing data-driven and evidence-based programs and setting goals appropriate for the context. This support will help to increase the visibility of diverse and inclusive political leadership for people-centered justice. UNDP manages the catalytic funds to deliver demand-driven, short/medium-term support to countries, in order to help countries make the pivot towards people-centered justice.

How to Apply

To access the resources under the Catalytic Fund, countries are requested to send an initial letter/email to UNDP indicating their interest and political commitment to implementing people-centered justice and proposed area(s) of work in line with the set criteria (see below). 

JAC partner organizations may nominate countries to receive the catalytic funds. Once countries are pre-selected, technical support will be provided by UNDP and external partners to develop the JAC catalytic funding proposal. 

The minimum allocation for catalytic funding is USD 50,000 and the maximum is USD 200,000 per proposal.

Interested applicants should send their indication of interest by May 31, 2024 to either the following email addresses:

• Antje Kraft: antje.kraft@undp.org
• Revai Makanje Aalbaek: revai.makanje.aalbaek@undp.org

Or,

• Reach out to their local UNDP Country Office

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility criteria include those stipulated below:

1. Commitment to the principles towards people-centered justice as outlined in the JAC Declaration^[1], JAC Key Messages on People-Centred Justice, and the UNDP policy brief on people-centered justice.
2. Demonstrating that initiatives are or will be co-created between state and non-state actors such as civil society organizations, community leaders, and/or traditional or informal justice systems/actors—where applicable e.g. through a request letter by national authorities or other document articulating demand.

And more specifically, include the following details in the proposal:

1. Outcome orientation on impact for people and people-centered reforms.
2. Meet key elements for people-centered justice such as addressing complexity, empowerment of people and communities (refer to articulation of people-centered justice as outlined in the UNDP Policy Paper)
3. Continued engagement with civil society and/or informal justice systems to co-create and implement the initiative, including on monitoring, evaluation and learning; collaboration with JAC member organizations will be an asset. In the case that the applicant is a non-state actor, there should be demonstrated engagement with state institutional justice system.
4. Build on and integrate existing data on people-centered justice (when applicable)
5. Demonstrating sustainability and willingness to scale up initiative, noting that funding could go to complement an existing initiative (reform, programme, other)
6. Commit to robust Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning of the initiative to inform broader JAC efforts and workstreams.
7. Have a minimum of GEN2 on the UNDP gender equality marker and HR marker^[3]
8. Mention ongoing initiatives by authorities (government, judiciary, National Human Rights Institutions, other), community service organizations, and the international community, to avoid duplication and ensure complementarity^[4]

[1] Funds will be made available to UNDP country offices in order to work with government partners, civil society, and development partners in the country, as per UNDP Rules and Regulations.

[3] The human rights marker for UNDP is in the process of being finalized and should be utilized once in place.

[4] Note that JAC members will provide relevant information to this effect.