ACT Ubumbano invites proposals from community and activist organisations, churches and organisations of faith for support for action that targets injustices faced by their communities.

These actions may be responses to the impact of climate change, or environmental, gender and economic injustice on communities, or they may be campaigns to change particular situations that communities are struggling with.

The action must be implemented and completed by 30 November 2022.

Proposals may be for a maximum of ZAR30,000 (Thirty thousand South African Rands).

Proposals must be completed and submitted online at https://gmsp.smapply.io/prog/ACT_SSF/
The deadline for submission is midday on 23 May 2022. You are encouraged to complete the online application as early as possible.

What will be supported?

There is limited funding available for this call. ACT Ubumbano will consider the following in making allocations:

1. The proposed work is led by or directly involves people who are affected by the issue.
2. The proposed work targets the root causes or conditions of injustice.
3. The proposed work has potential to bring new knowledge that can be shared with others.
4. The budget is in proportion to the action that will be undertaken.
5. The organisation has demonstrated capability to undertake the action, or has a plan to work with others who have the capability.

Who can apply?

The opportunity is open to any registered non-profit organisation or association that is part of the ACT Ubumbano network, or willing to work with ACT Ubumbano partner organisations in Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Any funding is intended to help with taking action for change or in solidarity with those who are under stress. It is not intended for general or core support for organisations, although some of the funds may  be used for organisational costs.

ACT Ubumbano will NOT support any action that undermines the dignity of people and the earth. Actions will not be supported that are:

• Homophobic or discriminatory against people from the LGBTI+ community,
• Sexist and undermining of the dignity of women,
• Xenophobic and discriminatory against foreign nationals,
• Generally harmful to any vulnerable or marginalised group in society, or
• Environmentally destructive and working against efforts to fight climate change.

Who is ACT Ubumbano?

ACT Ubumbano is a resource to organisations working for social justice in different fields. We believe that there is strength in collaboration, and by sharing knowledge and experience – as well as by linking up for joint action where possible – communities can more effectively defend their dignity and bring change.

Questions can be addressed to thabo@actubumbano.org.

[av_layout_row border=” min_height_percent=” min_height_pc=’25’ min_height=’0′ color=’main_color’ mobile=’av-flex-cells’ mobile_breaking=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” id=” custom_class=” aria_label=” av_element_hidden_in_editor=’0′ av_uid=’av-rhjeo’] [av_cell_one_fourth av_uid=’av-jaqr4′] [/av_cell_one_fourth][av_cell_one_half av_uid=’av-coei8′] [av_heading heading=’ACT Ubumbano Team on the move ‘ tag=’h2′ link=” link_target=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=” margin=” padding=’30’ icon_padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” icon_color=” show_icon=” icon=’ue800′ font=” icon_size=” custom_class=” id=” admin_preview_bg=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” av-medium-font-size-1=” av-small-font-size-1=” av-mini-font-size-1=”][/av_heading] [av_masonry_gallery ids=’2404,2403,2402,2401,2399,2398′ caption_elements=’none’ caption_styling=” caption_display=’always’ size=’fixed masonry’ orientation=” gap=’1px’ columns=’3′ av-medium-columns=” av-small-columns=” av-mini-columns=” items=’24’ paginate=’none’ color=” custom_bg=” overlay_fx=’active’ animation=’active’ container_links=’active’ link_dest=” lightbox_text=” lazy_loading=’disabled’ id=” custom_class=” av_uid=’av-l1enj36y’] [av_textblock size=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” font_color=” color=” id=” custom_class=” av_uid=’av-kpe78kj8′ admin_preview_bg=”] The first quarter of the year has been very busy for the ACT Ubumbano team. We convened a meeting of Ubumbano Voice Project facilitators, and will be expanding the reach of this work to new communities. We also convened 2022’s first Learning Hub with over 20 activists and community organisations participating. The process was very effective in allowing people to share their experiences and learn from each other. We look forward to future opportunities to connect again.

The Team has also made a commitment to connect more meaningfully with partner organisations and individuals. We visited Faith to Action Network in Kenya, and spent some time with the Christian Council of Mozambique where we need to engage with greater attention to the language barriers. Partners came together in Malawi to connect with the team, and provided a good opportunity to collaborate with SAFCEI around climate change and community struggles.
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Being online and using the Internet are becoming increasingly important to social justice and human rights work. But the technology most of us rely on is vulnerable to censorship, surveillance, and corporate manipulation. Tech can be expensive, and when it is “free” we often pay with our privacy and personal information.

The Yetu Infotech Collective envisions a people’s internet that is user owned and controlled, de-commodified, free/affordable, safe and secure – a communications network that enables a world where all the resources required for life are produced democratically in harmony with the biosphere by each according to their ability and shared according to their needs – a world where everyone enjoys equality and dignity and are free to contribute their creativity and live in peace.

Yetu works to build the internet from below by supporting working class community initiatives to establish and maintain secure and affordable networks and provide progressive civil society organisations, and social movements in particular, with affordable and secure communication technology and capacity to maximise the benefits of information technologies while mitigating the risks. They are a user/worker controlled Non-Profit Company united by a common commitment to gender liberation, anti-racism, solidarity, participatory democracy, and environmental and economic justice.

Act Umbambano is supporting Yetu to develop the Mamela.org and Vuka.news online platforms designed to serve the information and expression needs of South Africa’s marginalised majority and centre the voices of progressive CSOs

Click here to visit their website.

The Karibu Foundation has launched a 2.5-year pilot project in participatory grantmaking in Sub-Saharan Africa, where African activists and civil society members are currently designing and making decisions on the grantmaking process. The project, known as the “Karibu New Realities Grant,” (KNRG) aims to practically put into effect the ethos of ‘nothing about us without us’ and to continue to shift power also in Karibu’s grantmaking.

In their newsletter “Voices from the South”, there is an update on the process of building this pilot project from the African “Core Group” of the KNRG themselves. The Core Group frames the update through the experience of “Bongi ” – a fictional (but representative) civil society leader living in Southern Africa whose network is seeking funds for systemic change work.  Here they discuss the need to move decision-making power closer to the “Bongis” in Africa, but also the need to ease application processes for movements on the ground.

Click here to read more.

kopano – Rollbacks, Resilience and Reinvention, recognizes the rollbacks experienced in our organizing and advocacy, celebrates and builds on our resilience, and explores how to reinvent our movements to make freedom a reality for all in southern Africa.

There are four ways to participate. Click here to find out more and register.

Registration closes on Wednesday, 13 April 2022. Registration and scholarship applications will be processed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Ubumbano Community Voice project is a digital platform for community activists in Southern Africa to share stories of their struggles for dignity and justice. It encourages activists to write about their experiences, and helps to amplify the voices of those often not heard in society. The platform hopes to challenge mainstream narratives that often speak on behalf of communities.

Earlier this month we hosted 15  people who have been facilitating the rollout of this Voice project in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Eswatini and South Africa to share experiences and think through strategies to scale up this work. We all made commitments to spread the reach, to involve more people in writing and telling their stories, and to find innovative ways to get the messages out.

Visit the website to read more.

The African Feminist Charter beautifully and boldly noted “We reclaim and assert the long and rich tradition of African women’s resistance to patriarchy in Africa. We henceforth claim the right to theorize for ourselves, write for ourselves, strategize for ourselves and speak for ourselves as African feminists”.

It is in this spirit that the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) will be hosting the 1st African Feminist Academy for Climate Justice and invites you to be part of this exciting journey of reclaiming knowledge and power for the health of our people and planet.
The Academy will bring together African women’s rights organizations, girls and young women-led organizations and feminist groups to be abreast with science, history, politics, and economics of climate change.

A weeklong workshop followed by weeks of individual work and mentorship will create opportunity for the participant to learn, interact and supported by amazing feminists from different fields, all of them on one mission, reclaiming Feminist Climate Justice. Throughout the Academy, participants will have opportunity to (re)claim and share knowledge, interrogate concepts and narratives, theorize, write, and stand resolute in their truths.

To read the full call for applications and to apply, click here. The deadline for applications is 18 March 2022.

We have created a network of women, a safe space where we support and celebrate one another. What we have learnt is that women struggles are similar. At times, we feel like we are not deserving of the spaces we find ourselves in. We have had ladies make contact outside of the group, stating that they don’t feel like they have achieved much, as there is women doing amazing work in the group. When they engage, we help them see things differently, and celebrate where they are. The platform accommodates women from all walks of life. In terms of our practice, we learnt that one needs to be willing to put in the work for their own development. The approach we use is a hand up, not a hand out.

Our dream is to run the organisation as a global movement. We plan to organise an annual conference where women who are part of our network can come together and celebrate each other. This will be ImPower’d Woman Awards, and focus on a broad range of categories. We also plan to launch ImPower’d Kidz Book Club, where we will assist each other with strategies that we can use to read to our children. Lastly, we want to write our own book where women stories will be told.

Solidarity to us is all about standing together for a common cause. Ours is that of women empowerment, and what brings us together is the books we read on a monthly basis. As we read, we also get an opportunity to tackle women issues, and also be there for one another. We are united, for our own development. Social justice speaks to equity, and ensuring that barriers that prohibit the equal exercise of rights and privileges are removed. There is a lot of opportunities that exclude woman, so we have created a network where we share opportunities amongst each other. As women, we can and we must.

Follow ImPower’d Woman Book Club on social media: