International Fund for Cultural Diversity - call for applications

The International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD) - a multi-donor fund established by UNESCO - announces its 7th call for funding requests. Public authorities, institutions and NGOs from developing countries that are party to the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions may apply.

The International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD) is a multi-donor fund established by UNESCO under Article 18 of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Its purpose is to promote sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing countries that are Parties to the 2005 Convention.

It does this through support to projects that aim to foster the emergence of a dynamic cultural sector, primarily through activities facilitating the introduction and/or elaboration of policies and strategies that protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions as well as the reinforcement of institutional infrastructures supporting viable cultural industries. The IFCD is notably used to promote South-South and North-South-South cooperation, while contributing to achieving concrete and sustainable results as well as structural impacts, where appropriate, in the cultural field.

The beneficiaries of the IFCD are the following:

Parties (public authority/institution) to the 2005 Convention from developing countries;

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) coming from developing countries that are Parties to the 2005 Convention, which meet the definition of civil society* and criteria regulating admission of its representatives at meetings of organs of the Convention as mentioned in the Operational Guidelines relating to the role and participation of civil society;

International non-governmental organizations (INGOs), which meet the definition of civil society* and criteria regulating admission of its representatives at meetings of organs of the 2005 Convention as mentioned in the Operational Guidelines relating to the role and participation of civil society, and which present projects with impact at the sub-regional, regional or inter-regional level.

The IFCD supports projects that are consistent with the main objective of the IFCD and cover the following areas of intervention that lead to structural change:

the introduction and/or elaboration of policies and strategies that have a direct effect on the creation, production, distribution of and access to a diversity of cultural expressions, including cultural goods, services and activities;

the reinforcement of corresponding institutional infrastructures*, including professional capacities and organizational structures, deemed necessary to support viable local and regional cultural industries and markets in developing countries.

The project implementation period shall be between 12 and 24 months.

The maximum amount that can be requested from the IFCD per project is US$100,000.

Applications for funding requests to the IFCD will be evaluated on the basis of the criteria on how the funding request:

addresses the objectives, priorities and areas of intervention of the 2005 Convention and the IFCD;

meets the needs and priorities of the country where the project will be implemented and is deemed to be feasible and relevant;

contributes to achieving concrete, measurable, realistic and sustainable results;

has a potential structural impact leading to the emergence of a dynamic cultural sector;

promotes South-South and North-South-South cooperation;

ensures that the project’s long-term objectives can be met and promotes the sustainability of the project;

satisfies the principle of financial accountability

Deadline for applications: 15 April 2016

Since 2010, the IFCD is providing around US$ 5,8 million in funding for 84 projects in 49 developing countries, covering a wide range of areas, from the development and implementation of cultural policies, to capacity-building of cultural entrepreneurs, mapping of cultural industries and the creation of new cultural industry business models.

Discover projects funded since 2010 by IFCD

Please note: there is a separate grant call from UNESCO for the International Fund for the Promotion of Culture (DEADLINE: 31 May)