Capacity Building Project 2.0, Appel à candidature, pour les associations Tunisiennes

Who are we?

Association Cooperation for Tunisia (ACT) is a Christian organization that has been engaged in community development work in Tunisia for 40 years. ACT desires to see transformation in the lives of marginalised, vulnerable, or disadvantaged people in Tunisia, the groups that work with them and the society in which they live, made evident through increasing justice, dignity, and hope.

ACT’s current work falls into four thematic areas: Community Development; Capacity Building & Civil Society; Employability & Job Creation; Advocacy & Social Justice. 

ACT seeks to embody the following principles of transformational development:

• Our work is based in our belief in God’s desire for us to work toward restoration of right relationships with creation, neighbours, self, and God.
• Our work reflects our core values of affirmation, participation, service, and integrity.
• We believe that transformation comes through meaningful relationships in the communities where we live and work.
• We promote sustainability by building the capacity of local actors and by seeking to address root causes rather than simply treat symptoms.
• We seek to work holistically, addressing poverty in all of its interconnected forms: economic, social, emotional, physical and spiritual.
• We recognize that transformation must first begin in our own hearts, and so we seek to apply these principles in our whole life, not just our work.

Project Context

The Capacity Building Project 2.0 (CBP2.0) is an initiative of ACT in partnership with Norwegian Development Partners (NODEPA) funded by DIGNI/NORAD. The goal of the project is to strengthen civil society so that it has greater positive impact on democratization, human rights creation, and poverty alleviation.

ACT’s first Capacity Building Project ran from 2019 through 2022, serving five relatively new local associations. In response to the positive feedback received from these associations as well as from other partners who participated in the project, ACT has elected to launch a second, expanded version of the project.

The CBP 2.0 will provide training and support to 10 local associations for 3 years, building their capacity and providing real opportunities to develop the skills that will help them feel more empowered to collaborate, advocate, act, evolve and thrive.

Project objective:

Over the past 10 years, an astonishing number of local associations have been established in Tunisia, but few are actively working and even fewer are achieving their desired impact. The CBP 2.0 aims to reinforce and further develop ten young local associations to support them in making a deep and lasting impact on the communities in which they are working.

 Project results:

• • Increased Organizational Capacity, that will be achieved through a series of foundational trainings such as Good Governance, Project Development, Proposal Writing, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Financial Management, as well as other more-advanced and specialized trainings based on the needs of the participating associations. 
  • Increased Project Capacity, that will be demonstrated through a small-scale project planned and implemented by the association itself and funded by ACT, to put into practice the lessons learned through the organizational capacity trainings.

• Increased Network Capacity, that will be built through a series networking meetings with other local associations, regional and national authorities and international organizations to broaden the network of each participating association and allow for greater change through collective impact.

Criteria:

The selection of the associations will be based on the following criteria:

1. The association is based in one of the targeted governorates (Tunis, Ariana, Ben Arous, Manouba, Zaghouan, Nabeul, Bizerte, Beja, Jendouba, Kef), is Tunisian led (President, Vice President, Treasurer, and General Director if applicable are all Tunisian citizens and residents) and has a legal registration in Tunisia.
2. The association shares ACT’s values (affirmation, participation, service, and integrity), is primarily engaged in serving vulnerable or marginalized groups, and is not strictly political nor religious.
3. The association has not existed for more than 5 years and has an annual budget of less than 100.000 TND.
4. The association has at least four members and its organizational leadership is committed to actively participating in the CBP Steering Committees, trainings, and follow-up work.
5. The association has a demonstrated history of project work in their field.
6. The association agrees to actively work to promote healthy gender relations, environmental stewardship, and human rights in their work.