IFES Call for Proposal for Mitigation of Violence in Elections (MOVE) for 2015 General Elections
The international Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)
IFES Call for Proposal for Mitigation of Violence in Elections (MOVE) for 2015 General Elections
The international Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), an international non-governmental organisation with its head office in Washington, DC, has worked in Nigeria since 1998. IFES has a history of working with relevant state and non-state actors in Nigeria. Since arriving in the country, IFES has been building the capacity of institutions such as the INEC, civil society organizations, media, and judiciary.
Since the transition from military rule to democracy in 1999, Nigerian electoral processes have been marred by violence and the threat of violence. As the February 2015 General Elections approach, regional and religious tensions are high and the federal government continues to battle Boko Haram in the North East of the country. Furthermore, the 2015 general elections are shaping up to be more genuinely competitive than any previous elections, with a strong opposition party that is poised to challenge the incumbent for the presidency and also make gains in the National Assembly. With heightened regional and religious tensions and political stakes higher than ever, the risk that these elections will prompt violence and instability in Nigeria is considered very high. Given the history of electoral violence in Nigeria and the intensification of incidents during the past few months, it is of utmost importance to make additional efforts in order to prevent a potential outbreak of violence related to the 2015 elections.
In this context, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) proposes the Mitigation of Violence in Elections (MOVE) project, which aims to decrease the potential for outbreaks of violence before, during and after the 2015 elections. IFES plans to support the process, specifically looking ahead to the 2015 General elections across the country (February 2015), by supporting six local NGO (one in each geo-political zone) with conflict mitigation and mediation experience to identify hotspots and conduct conflict mitigation and mediation activities ahead of the 2015 elections. It is anticipated that this effort will strengthen the architecture for the peaceful discussion, dialogue, negotiation, mediation and mitigation of issues that are likely to lead to electoral violence as part of broader conflict prevention efforts. Also this support will strengthen existing conflict mitigation and mediation platforms, support targeted interventions in areas identified as hotspots, and raise public awareness about the dangers of electoral violence and the conflict mitigation and mediation tools available to political parties and the public.
Scope of Work
The MOVE project will be guided with the following objectives:
(i) To strengthen the capacity of governmental and non-governmental organizations to engage in conflict resolution and prevention;
(ii) To increase the participation and involvement of election stakeholders in the mitigation and prevention of electoral violence; and
(iii) To increase public knowledge and awareness of the dangers of electoral violence before, during and after elections and the conflict mediation tools and resources available to them.
The selected NGO in each zone would have the following scope of work;
- Provide an assessment of the election violence landscape in the zone and identifying election violence hotspots;
- Work with local CSOs and election stakeholders in the zone to assess the potential for electoral violence and share electoral violence information;
- Identify and partner with relevant CSOs and community-based organizations at the LGA level, with a focus on associations and organizations working with youth, women or people with disabilities;
- Working with community-level partners, organize at least 12 peace building town hall meetings in areas at risk for electoral violence, bringing disputants together under the same roof to endorse peaceful participation in elections and discuss alternatives to violence in resolving conflicts. Town hall meetings should be organized both before and after the general elections, and should be organized based on the risk of electoral violence in communities and the need for interventions to prevent violence;
- Design voter education materials promoting mediation and peaceful participation;
- Support at least 5 peace education programs in partnership with INEC in the zone for election stakeholders towards public awareness on election violence/conflicts (jingles, local TV drama, public awareness rallies / campaigns);
- With input from IFES, ensure that some of the town hall meetings and peace education programs are specifically targeted towards youth, women or people with disabilities, by incorporating issues that are important to those groups and conducting special outreach. Ensure that all of the meetings and programs are accessible to all community members.
- Support the development of monthly reports at the Zonal level, which will feed into one final report. These reports are expected to be submitted to IFES within the timeframes stipulated in sub award;
- Publication and presentation of final report.
Project duration
The project period of performance will be Four months, starting in December 2014 and ending in April 2015.
Budget
Funds of up to NGN9,490,000 are available for this project across the country. Budget exceeding this amount will not be considered.
Interested applicants should send a proposal with a detailing budget and budget note
Proposal requirements
The prospective recipient for each zone should submit a proposal of not more than 10 pages detailing the organizational structure, capacity and experience in doing similar work, details on implementation schedule as well as its organizational monitoring and evaluation plan. The proposal should also briefly outline what the organization sees as the main concerns in relation to election conflict, its mitigation and mediation in each zone being applied for in the country. In addition, the NGO must demonstrate a presence in the zone and knowledge of the socio-political and cultural environment of each location.
Proposal deadline
Prospective NGOs for MOVE project have until December 8, 2014 to submit their applications. All applications should be submitted electronically via:
