ENHANCING CIVIL SOCIETY CAPACITY IN POLICY ADVOCACY: CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Introduction

The Adaptation Network (AN) has received funding from the NAP Global Network (NGN) to run a pilot project. The goal of the project is to help civil society organisations (CSOs) take part in national planning on climate adaptation in South Africa. South Africa’s National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS, 2020) is the country’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Under the new Climate Change Act (No. 22 of 2024), all climate-related policies and programmes must be reviewed to make sure they align. This big review process, which will take place over a few years, is a chance for civil society to share their views and be part of shaping climate policy. The AN want to use this opportunity to support smaller CSOs—especially those that work with vulnerable and/or marginalised communities—so that they can take part in the development of climate policy in a meaningful way.

Purpose

For climate policies to be fair and effective, they must include the many different voices and perspectives that make up South African civil society. To achieve this, government and civil society groups need to work together. However, many smaller CSOs may not have the resources or capacity needed to participate in policy engagements. This means that the voices of vulnerable and/or marginalised groups are often underrepresented or absent in the resulting policy.

This pilot project will work with three CSOs representing marginalised and / or vulnerable groups. It aims to strengthen their capacity to bring these voices into national climate policy.

Approach

One of the biggest challenges in taking part in policy discussions is language. Policies are often written in a formal and complex way, which can be hard to understand— even when translated from English into other local languages. In an effort to be inclusive, government officials often hold public meetings to present policy being developed and gather input into it. But these meetings are often held in cities or online, making it difficult for people in rural areas or those without internet access to take part. Time to attend is also an issue for many, so perspectives gathered by CSOs can be a useful way to represent groups of people. Even when people do attend, time is usually limited and the information shared is broad and complex, leaving little space for real input or discussion. In response to these challenges, this pilot project aims to build the capacity of CSOs to understand policy language, and to help them share the lived experiences of their communities in ways that policymakers can relate to. The project also aims to support CSO-led engagement and advocacy processes that can reach more people and allow for deeper engagement with policy issues.

This project will:

• Help each CSO identify the climate adaptation needs of their community
• Support each CSO to identify and understand the policies that affect them
• Use local language and visual aids to explore policy terminology and how it connects with local experiences
• Co-develop a climate adaptation advocacy strategy with each CSO
• Host a CSO-led event where community perspectives are shared with government stakeholders

The project will be a joint effort between the AN team and the selected CSOs. It will require time and involvement from CSO staff. The project will contribute towards CSO staff time spent on project work and will cover project-related costs.

Project Duration

Project activities are expected to start in early June 2025 and will run to the end of November 2025.

Selection Criteria

A short list of potential CSOs will be selected to participate in this pilot project based on the following criteria:

• A registered CSO working with marginalized communities in South Africa
• Nature of the organisation’s constituency
  • The project is designed to benefit marginalised
• Organisation’s aim and objectives
  • Preference will be given to organisations whose aim is to represent marginalised and climate vulnerable constituents.
  • Organisation’s objectives must align with climate
• Size of organisation, including size of constituency/membership
  • Organisations are sought that have sufficient capacity to sustain the advocacy strategies developed through this pilot.
• Geographical location
  • Preference will be given to organisations representing mostly rural constituencies, and located in the following provinces:
    • Eastern Cape
    • Limpopo
    • Northern Cape
    • KwaZulu-Natal

Application Details

If you are interested in applying for this opportunity, please complete this Google form

by midday (12 pm) on the 28^th May 2025.

If you wish to know more about the opportunity, or have any queries, email the AN Coordinator at coordinator@adaptationnetwork.org.za.

Shortlisted CSOs will be notified, and a final selection will be made based on interviews with the shortlisted CSOs. Only those shortlisted will receive a response to their application. Those not receiving a response by the 5th June can assume their application was not shortlisted. Successful CSOs will be required to become an AN member if not already a member.


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