Flexible Response
Empowering local partners…
INSPIRES FRF provides USAID missions and partners with easily accessible and flexible support in the form of technical assistance and subgrants to local organizations. It is intended to be both proactive, as warning signs of closing space begin to emerge; and reactive, as civic space begins to shift. The effort is built around ICNL’s longstanding and successful Legal Enabling Environment Program (LEEP) but has been expanded under INSPIRES to encompass a broader array of common civil society needs in challenging environments, including capacities around information, finances, connectivity and resilience.
Generally, FRF interventions are between $10,000 to $70,000 over a period of up to 18 months, but there is flexibility to adjust those parameters based on identified need. ICNL will implement approximately 10-20 LEEP interventions per year through INSPIRES; and other consortium members will likely conduct between 5-10, for a total of approximately 15 to 30 interventions per year during the life of the project.
INSPIRES COVID-19 Response
Priority categories of activities where INSPIRES can consider support for civil society actors in closing civic space related to COVID-19 include, but are not limited to, the following: the legal enabling environment, the media and information space, financial viability, and strengthening civic ties. Illustrative examples of activities can be found below.
Legal Enabling Environment activities:
Monitoring the implementation, enforcement, and impact of emergency policies and procedures
Written analysis or comments on laws, amendments, and regulations
Capacity building to enhance local legal expertise and civil society advocacy
Assistance navigating new legal restrictions
Media, Information and Public Image:
Media and information ecosystem mapping
Strategic communications development
Sharing information that saves lives
Media and internet law and policy analysis and advocacy
Access to Resources:
Legal and regulatory frameworks to enable financial sustainability
Innovative avenues to maintain financial sustainability
Strengthening Civic Ties:
Alliance building and convening
Constituency strengthening