Opportunity Information: Apply for SFOP0009543
The grant opportunity titled Fostering Human Rights-Centered Internet Governance (Funding Opportunity Number SFOP0009543) is a discretionary U.S. Department of State program administered by the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. It is structured as a grant (CFDA 19.108) and is intended to support a single award, with an award ceiling of $987,650. Eligible applicants are limited to nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status, excluding institutions of higher education. The opportunity was created on March 27, 2023, with an original application deadline of May 30, 2023.
At its core, the program is designed to strengthen human rights-centered approaches to internet governance by using inclusive, rights-respecting, multi-stakeholder models. In practice, this means bringing together civil society, governments, and private sector actors in ways that reflect how internet and digital policy is actually shaped, while ensuring the process is participatory, transparent, and grounded in human rights obligations. The State Department specifically emphasizes alignment with U.S. policy priorities for an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet, signaling a preference for governance and policy approaches that avoid fragmentation, censorship, discriminatory access, and insecure or rights-violating digital ecosystems.
A central priority is empowering women and youth and increasing gender equity and equality in digital and cyber policymaking. Rather than treating women and young people as passive beneficiaries, the opportunity calls for meaningful inclusion of their voices and leadership in decision-making spaces where technology policy, cybersecurity rules, platform regulation, content governance, data protection, and related digital issues are debated and set. The emphasis on women and youth suggests the program is meant to address persistent gaps in representation and influence in internet governance forums, as well as the real-world consequences of those gaps, such as policies that fail to account for gendered harms online or that overlook youth perspectives on digital rights and safety.
The grant is also explicitly capacity-building oriented. It asks implementing partners to strengthen the organizational, technical, and policy development capacity of local and/or regional civil society organizations and activists, with particular attention to youth-led and women-led groups. Capacity building here is not limited to training in abstract concepts; it is framed around enabling these organizations and activists to engage directly and regularly with governments and private sector actors. That language points to sustained engagement rather than one-off workshops, aiming for ongoing participation in consultations, standards discussions, regulatory processes, and other governance mechanisms where accountability can be demanded and where policy outcomes can be influenced.
Another key feature is the program focus on accountability for human rights obligations across the digital ecosystem. The description makes clear that the scope goes beyond narrow, technical internet governance and extends to laws, policies, and regulations that shape the real-world impacts of digital information and communications technologies. This includes the downstream effects of digital rules on freedom of expression, privacy, association, non-discrimination, safety, and access to information, as well as the responsibilities of both states and companies in preventing and remedying rights abuses. In other words, the opportunity is not only about getting underrepresented groups into the room, but also about equipping them to advocate for rights-respecting practices and to push back against policies or corporate practices that undermine human rights.
Taken together, the opportunity funds a program that builds durable civil society influence in digital governance, centered on women and youth leadership, using multi-stakeholder engagement as the operating model, and aiming to shape both internet governance processes and the broader legal and regulatory environment affecting digital life. The intended outcome is a more inclusive and rights-respecting digital policy landscape, with stronger local and regional actors who can engage power holders consistently and effectively, and who can help keep governments and companies accountable to human rights standards in the design and regulation of digital technologies.Apply for SFOP0009543
- The Department of State, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in the other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fostering Human Rights-Centered Internet Governance" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.108.
- This funding opportunity was created on Mar 27, 2023.
- Applicants must submit their applications by May 30, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $987,650.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.
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| FY 2023 American Spaces Digital Literacy and Training Program Apply for SFOP0009621 Funding Number: SFOP0009621 Agency: Department of State, Bureau Of Educational and Cultural Affairs Category: Other (see text field entitled Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity for clarification) Funding Amount: $1,900,000 |
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