“As we continue to do our work, we are keenly aware of the dark times we live in: new forms of authoritarianism on the rise; oligarchies and dictatorships as strong as ever; military build-up in multiple and escalating geopolitical battles; continuing regression of human rights; persistent systemic inequality and injustice. Alongside the steady worsening of political and physical risk to activism, we also cannot deny how these realities take a daily toll on our sense of confidence in a just future and, consequently, on our state of mind and well-being. It has become increasingly clear that collective care and self-care as integral to the act of resistance”.

- Kamala Chandrakirana, 2022. Radical Geographies.

It's been a phenomenal year of staying resilient through political crises and the tapering end of the pandemic, however, we still carry with us the shock, grief, heaviness, disbelief, and sense of urgency from the last two years. Towards the end of 2022, instead of sprinting to the finish line, we hope to tread gently and prepare for the next year with kindness, healing and compassion towards ourselves and each other. And so, Urgent Action Fund, Asia & Pacific will take a pause between 24 Dec 2022 - 8 Jan 2023 to rest and recharge its batteries.

During this period, the UAF A&P team will step away from work, including grantmaking, emails, and meetings. Collectively, we are taking this time to rest and rejuvenate. We will resume our operations on 9 January 2022. Our grant applications remain open during this pause, however, we will resume processing applications after we return.

Our organisational pause is our way of engaging in the practice of collective care and wellbeing as a feminist value and as an act of strengthening resistance and resilience. We aim to embody the strength in care that enables us to move critical resources into the hands of those that need it most — women, girls and non-binary communities that bear the brunt of crises in our regions.

With this pause, we prioritise internal collective care, and understand its importance in our ability to support the feminist movements in Asia and the Pacific.

We look forward to being in touch and resume grantmaking with renewed energy, inspiration, and vigour when we return from this pause in the new year.

Download Terms of Reference here

Short-term contract

UAF A&P’s ORGANISATIONAL REVIEW AND STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR 2024-2029

In its fifth year of operations, UAF A&P is keen to undertake an organisational review of its journey and growth as the only feminist rapid response fund working across Asia and the Pacific. The review’s insights, learnings, and recommendations will inform the five-year strategic planning process that the fund wishes to undertake to guide its organisational journey from 2024-2029. We hope to invest and engage in a process that offers clarity, collective enthusiasm, ownership and co- responsibility among staff, Board and other key stakeholders in the UAF A&P ecosystem about these priorities.

Towards this, we seek proposals from a team of contractors who can hold space, curate conversations and lead UAF A&P through the review and strategic planning process through 2023.

About the fund:

UAF A&P supports the resilience and resistance of movements led by women and non-binary activists in Asia and the Pacific by co-creating a safe environment for them to sustain their work and thrive. Guided by feminist values, individuals, organisations, and their communities are provided urgent grants and strategic support to strengthen their safety and well-being. Our mission is to resource the resilience of women and non-binary human rights defenders by strengthening and sustaining their networks of support and webs of safety and care. As a fund, we began grant- making in 2018, and to date have re-distributed over 4mn dollars to human rights activists, communities, and collectives across more than 25 countries of Asia and Pacific. Our strategies are multi-faceted and linked to a transformative agenda of achieving social justice, building a solidarity economy and re-imagining cultures, including the culture of giving in Asia and the Pacific.

What we seek from the review:

• Devise an evaluation of how we have progressed against our organisational learning question “What will it take to support the resilience and thriving of women and non- binary activists in Asia and the Pacific, and create a safe and caring environment that sustains their work?”
• Generate a collective assessment from UAF A&P’s core ecosystem comprising of its advisors, board members; donors; grantees; other allied women’s funds, including UAF sister funds; and team members.
• Draft a document that will serve as the reference and background for the strategic planning process that will follow the review

Our vision for the 5-year strategic planning:

UAF A&P wishes the planning process to be a collaborative, participatory process that includes a methodology that makes the best use of our biggest knowledge base – our team members; our grantees, current and past; advisors; board members; and our partners and sister funds. The process must result in:

• A progressive and flexible feminist map for 2024-2029 that sets out a context analysis of our work; and lessons we learnt from our review that we will take forward to response to intersectional crises and opportunities human rights defenders and their communities confront.
• An articulation of our core feminist values that will continue to be our guiding light as we face conflicts, crises, and other intersectional difficulties; and opportunities to forge resilience by focusing on thriving and creating new futures.
• An elaboration on our core strategies that will help the team to expand or contract as needed during moments of opportunities or crisis as needed.

What kind of an approach do we seek?

UAF A&P commits to be intentional in its approach to strategic planning: this process should help us to define the conditions we need to cultivate to ensure we are able to flexibly respond and reimagine the needs of our staff, the individuals, and communities we support. Our monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning approach is anchored in the Emergent Learning approach that is true to our feminist values and ways of working. We would like the chosen contractors to use methodologies that align with and complement our MEAL approach.

We are keen to continue to mount our new strategic plan for 2024-2029 on an approach akin to a bamboo scaffolding that gives us room to bend and bow with changing winds of the times ahead. We seek to be responsive and adaptive to changing civil, economic, cultural, and political conditions and funding opportunities by harnessing the collective wisdom of our ecosystem. We seek to strengthen our collaborations and draw strength from collective action.

Some core principles to the approach we would like the contractors to adapt are:

• We pay attention to learning from the past, current realities and future visions for the sake of moving towards collective vision

• Flexibility - to accommodate individuals’ schedules, contextual changes, and time zone differences

• “Just enough” strategy will include most vital elements to clarify the direction of travel and conditions needed for UAF A&P, but will encourage flexibility rather than rigidity

• Change is constant, and so any strategy must be designed to support reflexivity and adaptation

• Conversations between stakeholders are needed to learn lessons, share understanding and develop new ideas collectively

• Learning is at the center, so there are no failures, but rather learning processes and insights are valued and integrated into strategy

This is a carefully paced process, rooted in deepening trust between different people/teams in the UAF ecosystem.

Timeline: UAF A&P Board and team are convening in February 2023, and we would like the review processes to kick off at the meeting there.

We hope to align the timelines of the review and strategic planning sub-processes to the various convenings and meetings that members of our ecosystem will be at, along with finding virtual spaces to convene online for brainstorming, and consensus building. The contractors will be guided and advised by an advisory group comprising of UAF A&P staff members and board members along with the Co-Leads. While the timelines can be mutually agreed by the selected team of contractors and UAF A&P, we desire the reflective review to be concluded by May 2023, and for the strategy setting and writing processes to commence by June 2023. Discussions for this phase should ideally coincide with our annual staff reflection huddles that are scheduled usually in July-August every year.

How to apply?

We seek a team of contractors with:

• Supporting skills and experience to develop methodologies, facilitate conversations and steer convenings through 2023 to conclude a review of our journey so far.
• Research and analytical skills to conduct a multi-stakeholder study in person and virtually will be essential
• Past experience of facilitating and authoring organisational strategic planning and ability to divine the current needs and capabilities of UAF A&P and forecast our growth and expansion, and build a broad and flexible plan that supports our experimentation and creative approach.

We are looking for a team of two or more contractors with a range of diverse skills to support us through 2023 through the two key organisational processes of the review and strategic planning. If interested, please write to us with a proposal of how your team will carry out these distinct but interconnected projects, brief bios of your lead contractor and supporting contractors, a brief note on your skills and compatible work undertaken previously. As stated earlier, we are keen to seek proposals from contractors who have previously worked with feminist funds on programmatic reviews and strategy planning.

Please also include the professional fees with a break-up of the number of days required for the design, facilitation and drafting of the review and strategic plan.

Please send in your expressions of interest on or before 15 January 2023 to info@uafanp.org with the subject line “Proposal for Organisational Review and Strategic Planning Facilitation”.

As we come to the end of an extraordinary year, we set our sights on new hopeful horizons: launching our next Strategic Plan and recruiting a new Co-Lead for Urgent Action Fund Asia and Pacific (UAF A&P).

The year 2020 marked three years since the birth of UAF A&P. We decided it was timely to undertake a reflective review on how we have progressed in implementing our mission with our community and networks, moving much needed resources to women and non-binary human rights defenders across borders, and issues in our region of the world. The process was an insightful virtual coming together of our community of grantees, partners and advisors as well as our Staff and Board, mindful of where we started it all and where we still want to go. We know for sure that, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing human rights crackdowns, we persevered.

We look forward to sharing the outcome of our reflections in a new Strategic Plan, in early 2021, that will outline our next pathways to co-creating better conditions for women and non-binary defenders to survive, thrive and regenerate.

In addition to our strategic planning, 2020 also marked a pivotal point in our organisation’s journey as Mary Jane Real announced her decision to resign as Co-Lead. After being a part of our founding process, and then taking up the executive leadership with Virisila, Jane has been key to ensuring that our young organisation is both relevant and responsive to the resilience of activists and defenders around the region. We respect and support Jane’s decision to step down so she can care for her ailing mother. While we are sad to see her leave, we are proud of Jane’s legacy in shaping UAF A&P’s grounding and standing in these early years. Beginning this January, Virisila Buadromo will be leading the Fund until we recruit a new Co-Lead. From January to June 2021, Jane will support UAF A&P’s work on a contractor basis.

The UAF A&P Board has set up a Leadership Transition Team to coordinate the recruitment and selection of our new Co-Lead for Programmes and Innovation. From among our Board, Devi Leiper O’Malley will serve as the point person in charge of recruitment, and she will be supported by Roshmi Goswami and Mayan Villalba.

Please stay tuned. We plan to announce the call for applications in January 2021.

We would appreciate your support during this time of organizational change. Please spread the word and connect us to strong feminist leaders with the vision and drive to co-create new opportunities, re-define resource mobilizing and facilitate access to platforms and grants for all women and non-binary defenders across Asia and the Pacific.

In solidarity,

Kamala Chandrakirana
UAF A&P Regional Board Chair

We hope you are safe and healthy, and coping well with the difficult times we find ourselves in.

Since 2020, UAF A&P team members too have been functioning amid repeated lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with some countries, such as India, Nepal and Papua New Guinea more severely affected than others. As you probably are aware, we have several staff members working out of these countries, while others have been steadily facilitating grants or raising resources for the different needs mentioned by activists and defenders across Asia and the Pacific.

This new wave of the pandemic has taken a severe toll on us, not just professionally, but personally too. We collectively feel the need to take a PAUSE to contain the overwhelm being experienced due to the increasing and compounding contexts of crises that we are working to support as well as exist in. Therefore, we have collectively decided to take a WEEK of PAUSE - from 24 May - 28 May 2021.

As a feminist fund, we are committed to modelling the behaviour, we want to shape and inspire within the ecosystems that we all belong to and the world we hope to co-create. These  wise words of Adrienne Marie Brown have been inspirational for us:

“Care for ourselves and each other as a revolutionary practice…caring for each other is a fundamental piece of any future we will build. This doesn’t displace struggle, critique, or conflict, but rather deepens and softens these necessary human experiences, makes them part of belonging instead of a precursor to exile.”

Please support us during our PAUSE Week, we need it to be kinder to ourselves, our bodies, hearts, souls and minds, and do bear with us if our responses are delayed. We promise to be back refreshed and rejuvenated, and continue our work with renewed energy, inspiration and vigour.

 

In solidarity and co-responsibility,
Team UAF A&P

by Mary Jane N. Real and Virisila BuadromoIn a real garden, we confess, we’re not much of gardeners. But we were part of the collective that seeded Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights Asia and the Pacific (UAF A&P). We toiled like the burgeoning urban plantitas or literally “plant aunties” that took to raising mini-gardens in pots and bottles, or minuscule backyards or balconies at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic. But metaphorically, our garden was of a different kind: it’s the creation of a new organisation not from a tried and tested model or template, or a bureau steep in hierarchy and protocols, but something creative, more organic, alive and living, indigenous to the backyards of the Asia and the Pacific regions where we both grew up.

Our co-gardening journey as Co-Leads of UAF A&P of three years (2018–2020) is drawing to a close. We decided that as a way of finding closure, we reflect upon and share what we have learned together as we tried to grow UAF A&P. Hopefully, we pass on some seeds and tools to others who might want to follow our cobbled path as coordinated gardeners: many experiments, joyful successes, some failures too. Looking back, what sustained us was our shared vision, our sense of humour, and our openness to learn along the way.

Preparing the ground

Long before we became Co-Leads, we already knew each other. We were both active members of regional circles that included the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) and the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN). We kept meeting each other in many of the regional and international fora that we participated in. We got to know each other more through APWLD as we would chat and catch up in between meetings, exhausting ourselves poking and shopping at the weekend markets, indulging our love for Thai food, among many exploits that led to our friendship.

Being friends made the difference

Planting a shared vision

Sharing visions and dreaming together

When the UAF A&P Board decided on joint leadership from Asia and the Pacific and appointed us as Co-Leads, it felt like a job made in heaven.
We shared a vision on how we wanted to co-lead — which was a good start! We split the core responsibilities with one of us (Viri) taking on resource moblisation, and the other (Jane) leading on programmes. To not propagate the exploitative cultures we faced as activists, we leaned towards shaping our own feminist ethics of care, relying on our own personal practices of inner work. Mindful that these posts will challenge us, we intended to foster a culture of reflexivity and learning within ourselves, and collectively within the organisation.

But we were also aware of what we needed to work on. With several authoritarian regimes in power, and women and non-binary activists in the regions facing great danger, we felt responsible to mobilise resources to secure their resistance and resilience. We had to be mindful of not aggravating their risk so we adopted security protocols for their safety, for instance. We also put in place policies to ensure our team felt safe and supported to work with ever-present risk. We relied on establishing practices that centred collective care and well-being not just in our programmes, but also in how we worked with each other.

Tending the garden

“Small is beautiful”, we affirmed. We were familiar with the small, home gardens and vegetable gardens that our mothers and grandmothers lovingly tended in our backyards, growing staples that helped tide over lean times. We used that idea as a blueprint, and drew up a small cohort to carry out four programmes: rapid response grant making, enabling defenders, activating philanthropy, and learning and communications. They became our fellow gardeners, bringing in their own wealth of experiences and perspectives from their different contexts. And our diversity made our garden richer.

Clear and complementary roles was key to a successful partnership

It worked that we were clear about each others’ roles and responsibilities. We shared governance responsibilities and split two major programmes: rapid response grant-making and enabling defenders programmes were managed by one (Jane); and the other (Viri) supervised resource mobilisation, and communications and learning. We consulted and advised each other regularly, but deferred decision-making to the person leading the programme. This clarity ensured clear lines of decision-making and accountability, and avoided confusion.

We think differently, and we managed differently. Jane meets regularly with her younger team, Viri has a different arrangement with different members of her team based on their needs. Apart from complementary leadership and working styles, we also had a way with how we tackled problems: Jane chased the ‘big picture’, beyond the immediate and obvious; while Viri focused on the relationships and managing perceptions. Occasionally, we have to play the role of bad cop-good cop, we take that as part of our responsibility as leaders.

Holding each other with respect and generosity

This was a first foray at shared leadership for both of us. We had read some literature on this, and talked with other Co-Leads that embarked on a similar experiment. But really, there was no template we could follow, most of the time, we had to wing it. What made it work was the safe environment we created, anchored on trust and acceptance of each other. We became a trusted sounding board to the other, remained respectful of each other’s capacities.

“Many times we don’t agree, but rather than be irritated with a disagreement, I sit on it and see if I can appreciate her perspective”, reflected Viri.

We had different strengths and weaknesses, but we did not dwell on making one inferior or superior to the other. It helped that when we assumed these leadership roles, we have advanced in our personal growth and maturity, and we were no longer driven to simply act out on our insecurities. We treated each other as equals. We didn’t feel the need to check on each other’s work, or supervise each other. When necessary, we sorted issues out over a call or during face-to-face encounters, mindful of how we offered feedback. We also gave each other the benefit of the doubt that we act in good faith, and to our best capacities.

Weeding and experimenting along the way

As home gardeners, we had to learn along the way.

While delineation of roles and responsibilities helped with working to our strengths, we realised the silos created in the course of our work. Figuring out how to foster better coordination across programmes, and facilitate cross-programme collaborations is no easy feat. So we are now experimenting with co-responsibility in the new strategic plan for 2021–2023. Team members started identifying points for collaboration, for example, we rallied together as a team to disburse grants under our newly created Covid 19 crisis fund. The lessons learnt during that collaboration are now being built on to ensure our intention to break down silos do not remain ad hoc.

We tried following a standard procedure for selecting and hiring team members, but we never figured out the formula that ensured a perfect fit of people we hired with the jobs that we envisaged they would do. We agonised over tough decisions, such as not extending the contract of a team member during the first year of our operations. Did we err in candidate selection or did we fail in not helping her grow into her job responsibilities? We continue to experiment by trying to hire team members as consultants before offering full-time contracts, but that comes with no guarantees of success either.

Just as different plants in a garden adds to it beauty and utility, we valued diversity. However, ensuring all plants thrive with similar care and nourishment remains a big challenge. We realised that diversity also meant lack of a shared understanding and language on our political work to collectively respond to the increasing vulnerabilities of women and non-binary activists we engage with. Forging a collective consciousness and culture needs intentional work to be done. Apart from discussing work priorities, deliverables and deadlines, we recognise the need to respectfully confront the discomfort of our differences, interrogate how we exercise power within the organisation, and be open to learn from each other with generosity of spirit.

Recently, we faced together a turning point in UAF A&P’s organisational life. A former team member raised issues about the organisation, and how she was treated. Viri opened a collective space for team members to reflect about “the emotional aspect of our work, and talk about our issues in a way we have not done before”. Jane joined the facilitation. We realised creating a safe space to accommodate each other’s vulnerabilities is essential, and on-going organisational reflexive spaces and processes are critical to work through differences and difficult issues to foster a feminist organisational culture where accountability is rooted in a balance between individual care, and collective care and accountability of the organisation.

Read Viri and Jane’s parting notes to each other below

“Thank you for being my collaborator on our co-leadership journey. I am grateful that I got to share this journey with you. Having you by my side, made leadership joyful because I had someone to test my assumptions, share successes and learning, wine and whine about the administrative details that we both loathed but knew was a necessary evil. It has been a brilliant ride my friend, but I know we have come to the fork in the road, where we must part ways. Safe travels in your next journey!”, Virisila Buadromo

“I have grown much in sharing this journey with you. Your humour works, no fail, shifting tense moments, and allowing me to appreciate your differing perspectives. I used to joke that “you raise the money, and I spend it”, but in essence it is true. It is the ease and expertise with which you raised funds that gave me the security to grow our programmes. While we now take separate paths, I cherish our friendship and will always be around to “wine, and whine”, and support you always!”, Mary Jane N Real

Post Script: The title was suggested by our coach Marcia Keiko Kodama who guided us in the last six months of our journey as Co-Leads, and helped us pick the lessons we gained in the three years we shared leadership.

The UAF Sister Funds are deeply saddened by the news that our Sister, Tatiana Cordero Velásquez, the Executive Director of Urgent Action Fund - Latin America & Caribbean, has passed away due to complications while undergoing medical treatment. She brought a deep spirituality to her lifelong work as a feminist activist, scholar, mother, and leader of Urgent Action Fund-LAC. Tatiana’s legacy for feminist movements and funders across the globe is profound and will continue to shape our analysis and action. Throughout her career, she advocated for the values and practices of care and protection of frontline defenders.

As Tatiana joins the ancestral world, we know she is caring for us. With her, we send care to the countless defenders, comrades and sisters who were touched by her life.  

Here's the Urgent Action Funds statement.

The UAF Sister Funds are deeply saddened by the news that our Sister, Tatiana Cordero Velásquez, the Executive Director of Urgent Action Fund - Latin America & Caribbean, has passed away due to complications while undergoing medical treatment. Tatiana’s legacy for feminist movements and funders across the globe is profound and will continue to shape our analysis and action.

“We feel honoured to have had the chance to share paths with Tati. Her presence has transformed our lives, especially regarding the importance of care for ourselves, for each other and for life (...) Tati has been a loving, generous reference of collective work for many social movements in Latin America and the world. Her departure is a huge loss. However, her legacy will be present in each of our actions.” – UAF-LAC team and Board

Tatiana brought a deep spirituality to her lifelong work as a feminist activist, scholar, mother, and leader of Urgent Action Fund-LAC. Throughout her career, she advocated for the values and practices of care and protection of frontline defenders.

“Tatiana would insist that, ‘At the centre of feminism is collective care. Taking care of ourselves and each other is political!’” – Ndana

The care she led with she also demonstrated in an end-of-year appreciation for all UAF staff globally (a space she held with sister co-lead, Viri, from UAF A&P, on behalf of the Sisters) where Tatiana and all danced and swayed and listened to music together. Tatiana also took care to co-create a Colectivo de Dirección at UAF-LAC, a collective leadership body that she cultivated and supported long before her break began to undergo treatment. Our hearts are with Laura, Terry, Lorena and the UAF-LAC Board and Staff Team.

From her work with feminist collectives to ensure the inclusion of women’s rights in the Ecuadorian constitution to her advocacy for LBT rights with Taller de Comunicación Mujer, Tatiana demonstrated an unwavering commitment to ensuring each person’s right to live in freedom and full expression.

“Tatiana was a sister in the deepest sense. Guiding, supporting, pushing our political imaginations, and caring deeply. I miss her already and also feel her love, knowing it will guide our journey for years to come.” – Kate

Tatiana, embracing her own Indigenous heritage, had a profound political commitment to Indigenous communities defending land, territory, and traditions. Her belief in the fundamental dignity of every being and her love for Mother Earth guided her every step. She loved nature, poetry, healing traditions and her roots, as well as music, dance, cigarettes, fine drinks and good food consumed in community and celebration. She had a deep sense of humour and would shake her hand in the air and snap her fingers when she found something particularly funny, which was often.

“Tatiana’s spirituality and her strong connection to mother earth and all living beings was inspiring. She inspired me to embrace my own spirituality and tap into my indigenous identity and ancestors for strength and guidance. I miss her calm, her humour and beauty. Vinaka vakalevu na veikawataki. Gole ena vakacegu Tatiana. Tawaguilecavi.” – Viri

Tatiana recently said, “without a doubt our ancestors and guiding spirits are caring and looking after us.” She reminded us often that this is a time to be grateful, even as we mourn loss. We are grateful for you, Tatiana.

As Tatiana joins the ancestral world, we know she is caring for us. With her, we send care to the countless defenders, comrades and sisters who were touched by her life.

Laura Carvajal, Terry de Vries, Lorena Medina, Colectivo de Dirección, Urgent Action Fund Latin America and the Caribbean
Virisila Buadromo, Co-Lead, Urgent Action Fund Asia & Pacific
Ndana Bofu-Tawamba, Executive Director, Urgent Action Fund Africa
Kate Kroeger, Executive Director, Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights

Song shared recently by Tatiana as she held space with Viri (sister co-lead from A&P, on behalf of the Sisters) at the end of the year to appreciate all sister funds’ staff: Cuatro Vientos, by Danit

The Urgent Action Fund Asia and Pacific expresses its solidarity with India and Papua New Guinea, experiencing the deadly impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We join the international community that is currently mobilising resources and supporting communities of women and non-binary human rights defenders, as they battle the current waves of COVID-19.

New mutations of the COVID-19 virus, and delays in getting a critical mass of its nearly 1.4 billion population vaccinated have led to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in India that shows no signs of peaking. Official records peg the number of people suffering from COVID-19 at over 18.3 million, while the official death toll is being significantly under-reported as per media reports. Similar scenes of a floundering medical system, overwhelmed hospitals, infected front-line health workers and inadequate medical supplies are being witnessed in the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) too, with hardly any reportage making its way into global media outlets. While the number of cases reported in PNG stands currently at 10,000, experts say the rate of infection is at least ten times more, with the possibility of a total of 1 million people being infected in coming weeks.

Inadequate state response has resulted in poor management of the crises in both these countries, leaving ordinary citizens and non-government organisations to lead mobilising of emergency support, relief, and dignity during this devastation to communities. It is undeniable that in both countries, it is a privilege to access correct information and secure medical care or other kinds of support to fight and withstand the pandemic.

As a feminist fund that supports the resistance and resilience of women and non-binary human rights defenders across Asia and the Pacific, we are keen to understand the resources that we need to mobilise and make available to communities that are hardest hit, and with limited access to resources. Towards this,

1. We have resources available under our COVID-19 Crisis grants that individuals or communities can access to support their urgent, sustenance or medical needs.

 2. We seek support from women’s groups or collectives to support access of marginalised individuals and groups to the resources we have at our disposal.

 3. We call on other funders to offer compassion and solidarity through the resources and relationships they offer to communities in need. This means more flexibility in application, grant spending, and reporting requirements. This also means doing whatever they can to mobilise and release more funding as swiftly as possible.

 4. We offer our support and expertise to foundations and/or other philanthropic organisations in these regions, that have access to, and/or want to work with marginalised groups of women or non-binary communities.

 5. We are also keen to better understand other forms resources that we can provide or help mobilise through our international development networks to support a stronger pandemic response.

We reaffirm our commitment to supporting women and non-binary human rights defenders who are disproportionately impacted by the virus, because of their gender and other identities that are historically discriminated against. We continue to stand beside defenders across the regions who continue to forge webs of safety and care in their communities and demand state accountability. We will continue to monitor situations of women and non-binary defenders across the regions at this fragile and perilous time, as the health emergency continues to cause economic, social, and political devastation.

For more information on our grants, or ways that we can support a more inclusive pandemic response, please write to info@uafanp.org

In solidarity and co-responsibility,
UAF A&P Board and Team members

As we come to the end of an extraordinary year, we set our sights on new hopeful horizons: launching our next Strategic Plan and recruiting a new Co-Lead for Urgent Action Fund Asia and Pacific (UAF A&P).

The year 2020 marked three years since the birth of UAF A&P. We decided it was timely to undertake a reflective review on how we have progressed in implementing our mission with our community and networks, moving much needed resources to women and non-binary human rights defenders across borders, and issues in our region of the world. The process was an insightful virtual coming together of our community of grantees, partners and advisors as well as our Staff and Board, mindful of where we started it all and where we still want to go. We know for sure that, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing human rights crackdowns, we persevered.

We look forward to sharing the outcome of our reflections in a new Strategic Plan, in early 2021, that will outline our next pathways to co-creating better conditions for women and non-binary defenders to survive, thrive and regenerate.

In addition to our strategic planning, 2020 also marked a pivotal point in our organisation’s journey as Mary Jane Real announced her decision to resign as Co-Lead. After being a part of our founding process, and then taking up the executive leadership with Virisila, Jane has been key to ensuring that our young organisation is both relevant and responsive to the resilience of activists and defenders around the region. We respect and support Jane’s decision to step down so she can care for her ailing mother. While we are sad to see her leave, we are proud of Jane’s legacy in shaping UAF A&P’s grounding and standing in these early years. Beginning this January, Virisila Buadromo will be leading the Fund until we recruit a new Co-Lead. From January to June 2021, Jane will support UAF A&P’s work on a contractor basis.

The UAF A&P Board has set up a Leadership Transition Team to coordinate the recruitment and selection of our new Co-Lead for Programmes and Innovation. From among our Board, Devi Leiper O’Malley will serve as the point person in charge of recruitment, and she will be supported by Roshmi Goswami and Mayan Villalba.

Please stay tuned. We plan to announce the call for applications in January 2021.

We would appreciate your support during this time of organizational change. Please spread the word and connect us to strong feminist leaders with the vision and drive to co-create new opportunities, re-define resource mobilizing and facilitate access to platforms and grants for all women and non-binary defenders across Asia and the Pacific.

In solidarity,

Kamala Chandrakirana
UAF A&P Regional Board Chair

Step 1: Check if you are eligible to receive grant at https://uafanp.org/grants-eligibility-assessment

Step 2: Create a ProtonMail Account at https://account.protonmail.com/signup.
For security reasons, the RRG system only allows ProtonMail accounts for email. End-to-end email encryption will only work if both the sender and the recipient are using the ProtonMail service.

Step 3: Once you have your ProtonMail email, register in our system at https://apply.uafanp.org/users/sign_up. Enter your ProtonMail email address in the email box then type-in your chosen password and confirm, then click Sign Up button. Your ProtonMail account is different from our system account so it is recommended that you use a different password from your ProtonMail account.

Step 4: Check your ProtonMail account for the confirmation email from grants@uafanp.org. Click the Confirm my account link to activate your account.

Step 5: Once you have validated your registration, you can now apply for a grant. If you’re not yet logged in, log in at https://apply.uafanp.org

Step 6: Click the APPLY FOR GRANT button (top right) on the Dashboard.

Step 7: Click the Apply now button under the appropriate grant on the Apply for a Rapid Response Grant page.

Step 8: Fill-in the Application form. Do not leave any required (marked with *) information blank. If it will take you a lot of time to fill out the application form because you have a lot of information to input, you have two options:

• Save your application as often as possible (preferably every two minutes) by clicking the Save and continue button (top right) in order not to lose information then continue editing
• Type your answers temporarily on Word or any Text editing software then copy and paste your answers on the form once you're done

Step 9: Once you are done filling-in the application, Click Submit and lock button. (top right)

You will receive an acknowledgement email from grants@uafanp.org if you have successfully submitted the application with the application number as the subject. If you did not receive any email, please check if you have filled out all the required information (marked with red asterisk *) then submit the application.

For problems using the system, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions or email Esther at esther@uafanp.org.