Deadline: May 27, 2021
Applications for the UNAOC/BMW Group Intercultural Innovation Award 2021 are now open. The Intercultural Innovation Award is a partnership between the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group that selects and supports the most innovative grassroots projects that encourage intercultural dialogue and work toward a more peaceful and socially inclusive world by building mutual respect among peoples of different cultural and religious identities, rejecting violent extremism and embracing diversity.
Benefits
Following a competitive process, ten organizations will be selected to receive the Intercultural Innovation Award.
- Based on their needs, recipients will receive a monetary grant to help their projects expand and replicate (total funding available in 2021: USD 200,000).
- They will also benefit from a one-year mentoring program, which will include capacity-building training in a multitude of areas, from communications to fundraising and project management.
- Recipients of the Intercultural Innovation Award will also become members of Intercultural Leaders, an exclusive skills and knowledge-sharing platform developed by UNAOC and BMW Group for civil society organizations and young leaders working on promoting intercultural dialogue worldwide.
Eligibility
Organizations that submit a project to the competition need to fulfill each and every one of the following criteria to be deemed eligible:
- Organizations must be registered as a not-for-profit organization, such as a non-governmental organization, charitable organization, research and educational institution, labor union, indigenous group, faith-based organization, professional association, foundation and local or municipal branches of government.
- Applying organizations must have been operational for a minimum of 2 years before April 2021; with funding base and project implementation (i.e. the organization must show registration as non-profit in their country of operation by April 2019 or earlier).
- Applying organizations must be managing a project focused on promoting intercultural dialogue and fostering diverse and inclusive societies, and who are willing to expand their range of action. Examples include projects in the fields of promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, preventing xenophobia, violent extremism, and hate speech, promoting the use of sport, art and culture as tools to drive social change and foster social inclusion.
- The applying organization must have the willingness to expand the range of action of the project with UNAOC, the BMW Group and Accenture.
- Organizations that have previously received any UNAOC support are not eligible to apply to the Intercultural Innovation Award.
- Projects that have been submitted to previous editions of the Intercultural Innovation Award and were not selected, are eligible and encouraged to apply again. However, applying organizations cannot have been winners of previous editions of the UNAOC Marketplace of Ideas or BMW Group Awards.
Selection Criteria
Shortlisted projects will be evaluated against a comprehensive set of criteria. These criteria include three main categories:
The Project
- Relevance – is appropriate for the targeted audience and in the local context where implemented, taking into account the necessity of the project, challenges posed by Covid-19, and which SDG it is tackling.
- Quality – undertakes an in-depth analysis of problems/issues and sets a consistent intervention strategy.
- Clarity – sets clear objectives and draws a logical connection between activities, outputs and outcomes.
- Innovation – pushes beyond boundaries and excels in the use of original and novel methods (social media, arts, pedagogical approach, innovative training, etc.)
- Measurability – impact of the project is measurable (i.e. number of beneficiaries, polls on attitude change, assessment of behavioral changes, clear policy changes, etc.)
- Sustainability – demonstrates ability to be sustainable in the mid-long term.
- Replicability – has the capacity to be replicated and scaled up in different settings. This is a key evaluation criterion.
The Organization
- Organizational structure – is capable of achieving the goals set in the project.
- Intercultural commitment – has proven interest and commitment in fostering diverse and inclusive societies (e.g. past reports, reference letters, etc.).
- Work plan and budget – has set a realistic budget to replicate or expand the project.
- Transparency – has made genuine and demonstrated efforts to adopt a policy of transparency.
- Equality – has adopted equality and diversity policies as reflected in staff members, membership and activities.
The Application
- Clarity – shows an effective communication of ideas and provides relevant examples.
- Conciseness – provides clear and concise responses to questions.
- Persuasiveness – includes insightful arguments and engaging narrative.
- Applicants are encouraged to reflect on how the project has coped with the challenges that have occurred in the context of Covid-19 and how the project contributes to building back better.
Application
Apply by Thursday, 27 May 2021, 5:00 PM EDT (New York time).
For more information, visit UNAOC/BMW Group.
