Comic Relief has launched a funding program for organizations supporting refugees on the move along the key migration routes, from Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to Europe, including the UK.
Overall aim is to support refugees and people seeking asylum to safe, legal and dignified routes to fulfilling and happy settlement, whether that be in the country of destination, transition country or country of origin.
Whilst all the work Comic Relief fund should be rooted in and informed by service delivery with effective participation of people with lived experience at the heart, they are looking for a mixed portfolio which aims to achieve holistic social change through a combination of:
- Direct service delivery at grassroots level
- Shifting public attitudes and countering negative narrative through campaigns, the arts, media, popular culture both in the UK, Europe and further afield
- Changes to policy, practice and legislation
Approaches
- Comic Relief is looking for innovative and solution focused approaches, but successful applications must demonstrate:
- That they are working in collaboration with other organizations, or through funded partnerships to achieve greatest impact
- That the work is informed by people with lived experience, aiming to shift the dial so that more people with lived experience can genuinely and tangibly shape the sector and systems impacting on their lives
- Whilst applications must evidence the above, Comic Relief welcomes innovative approaches to social change for example; using the arts, working with the media, using technology, sport for change or different funding models for reaching fragile and conflict-affected areas.
- Comic Relief deliberately not being prescriptive in any specific issues the work should be tackling as they want that to come from the grassroots, people living and working with this experience. But some of the challenges they have identified during the scoping of this call which you may want to address include, but are not limited to:
- Lack of access to services (including psychosocial) and basic human rights
- Lack of data and information flows
- Hostile environments
- Negative public attitudes and media coverage
- Barriers to integration
- Ongoing risk of violence, trafficking, detention, state enforced brutality
- Increased risks for vulnerable groups including women, unaccompanied or separated children and stateless refugees
- Increased risks for people working or volunteering on the ground, including risk of criminalization
- Inefficient and ineffective implementation of legislation and policy leading to broken and chaotic systems
PLEASE NOTE: Comic Relief recognizes the need to improve the provision of specialist immigration and asylum advice in the UK. They are taking a collective approach to addressing that and collaborating with other funders to develop a pooled fund, separate but aligned to this program, which will aim to increase access to justice for people in the immigration and asylum system in the UK.
Comic Relief will therefore NOT priorities applications that aim to increase access to and improve UK legal systems through this Across Borders funding program.
Funding Information
Funding is available for a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 5 years.
Country Focus
- This call is focused on organizations working along the key migration routes from Middle East and North Africa into Europe, including settlement in the UK. Comic Relief knows that routes into and through Europe change due to border closures and shifting socio-political contexts, and that many people are ‘stuck’ or forced to take increasingly dangerous and informal routes to reach their destination country.
- Comic Relief therefore wants to hear from you about why your work and collaboration with partners will help achieve positive social change for those making or having made that journey into Europe and the UK.
- Funding is split between the UK and International work:
- For organizations applying for UK based work, it should be clear from your proposal that you are committed to working with and informed by people who have made that journey .
- For organizations working along a route into Europe, Comic Relief does not identifying one specific route, but your proposal should outline the context of the specific route (or routes) you’re referencing and why it’s important.
Comic Relief is looking for:
- Partnerships and collaborations
- Intermediaries that can reach grassroots organizations
- Cross sector partnerships
- Direct service delivery as well as innovative approaches that might engage the arts, media, tech, sport etc
- Movement along migratory routes rather than place-based approaches, unless they have reached their destination
- Commitment to genuinely ‘shifting the power’ to refugees and asylum seekers and grassroots responses
- Working towards systemic change to improve the lives of refugees and asylum seekers
- Appropriate measures are in place to reduce risk and harm in as much as possible
- Appropriate, risk-based, measures to ensure that financial crime and sanctions risk is managed effectively
How to Apply
Interested applicants can apply via given website.
For more information, please visit https://www.comicrelief.com/funding/opportunities/across-borders-routes-safety-refugees
