Criteria

The general criteria

Hivos funding is bound by a number of general criteria. For instance, Hivos supports organisations in a limited number of countries. Also, support is given only to organisations who are working within the seven Hivos sectors. Furthermore, organisations need to be non-gouvernmental, secular, professional and result-oriented.

The most important funding criteria in respect to your organisation are that:

• It operates in Hivos countries or regions;

• Its objectives are in line with Hivos policy and sectors;

• It is secular (i.e. non-religious);

• It is non-governmental;

• It shows a concern for gender-equality, environment and human rights;

• It has a good organisational capacity;

• It shows professional quality in its field of work;

• It is output and result-oriented;

• It has a sound financial plan.

Hivos supports organisations in a limited number of countries. These are: Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nicaragua, Peru, South Africa, Syria, Tanzania, Timor Lorosae, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Hivos supports organisations in a limited number of policy areas. These are: Financial Services & Enterprise Development; Sustainable Production; Human Rights & Democratisation; Hiv/Aids; Arts & Culture; Gender, Women & Development; and ICT, Media.

Please note that Hivos coordinates the allocating of funds with other Dutch and European development organisations. If your organisation already has an agreement with Novib, ICCO, Cordaid, Plan Netherlands, you are not eligible for Hivos support.

The sectoral criteria

Hivos funding is limited to seven sectors, namely Financial Services & Enterprise Development; Sustainable Production; Human Rights & democratisation; Hiv/Aids; Gender, Women & Development; Arts & Culture; and ICT & Media. Find out more about the specific criteria for each of these sectors.

Sector Financial Services & Enterprise Development

• Producer organisations (primary and secondary sector) that meet social and environmental criteria: organisations of farmers, processors of agricultural products, and business persons in the crafts and handiwork sector;

• Financial institutions (tertiary sector): local credit institutions such as savings and credit cooperatives, non-commercial/non-profit banking and credit institutions, special funds and commercial banks;

• Organisations specialised in training, advice and lobbying such as trade unions, networks of credit institutions and producer organisations, vocational training schools, consultancy firms, training institutes and approval or standard organisations.

Sector Sustainable Production

• Organisations that develop alternatives and put them into practice: sustainable production methods, sustainable consumption patterns and behaviour;

• Organisations that countervail unsustainable developments threatening people's livelihoods, e.g. deforestation, mining, pollution, industrial agriculture;

• Organisations that adopt an integrated approach, e.g. fighting for the rights of the neediest people to use the environment, while keeping an eye on the sustainable management of water, soil and biological diversity;

• Organisations that broaden the basis for the sustainable management of natural resources by forming strategic alliances.

Sector Human Rights & Democratisation

• Organisations that promote basic political rights;

• Right to participation/representation in public affairs;

• Freedom of expression;

• Right to information;

• Freedom of association;

• Right to vote and to be elected in genuine periodic elections;

• Freedom of assembly;

• Organisations that promote the rights of specific groups, such as:

o Indigenous peoples;

o Dalits and Scheduled Tribes in India;

o GLBT people;

o Human Rights defenders.

• Organisations that address key factors underlying human rights violations:

o Corruption;

o Impunity for human rights violations;

o Lack of human rights awareness.

Sector Hiv/Aids

Promotion of the human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS is one of the elements of Hivos policy in the sector AIDS.

Other criteria are:

• Prevention, awareness, information;

• Lobby, advocacy, influencing policy;

• Organisation building, network development, communication;

• Emancipation and sexuality.

Sector Gender, Women & Development

• Women´s organisations that promote the rights and interests of women:

o Participation in decision-making;

o Sexual and reproductive rights;

o Inheritance and property rights;

o Combating violence against women.

Special attention is paid to capacity building and strengthening the performance of women's organisations.

• Mixed organisations that promote gender equality in their programme activities and within their own organisation. Support is aimed at creating conditions within the organisation for a genuine process of change, also in the longer term.

Sector Arts & Culture

• Artistic production;

• Cultural and artistic exchange;

• Promotion, Marketing and Distribution;

• Cultural infrastructure;

• (Member) organisations of artists;

• Economic or educational services for the Arts & Culture sector;

• Organisations that provide a podium for artists;

• Capacity building initiatives;

• Research and critique of the arts.

Sector ICT, Media & Knowledge Sharing

• Gaining access to the internet;

• Producing and publishing Southern content on the world wide web;

• Developing and enhancing own ICT capacities;

• Using networking and collaborative technologies;

• Applying e-commerce and e-business models;

• Campaigning for free and unrestricted cyber rights for all.