Sasakawa Health Foundation is implementing a grant program for organizations of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease to support people who have been severely impacted by the unprecedented crisis caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus and the social changes that have accompanied it and we are now calling for applications for the 2nd phase of the program. The support project consists of the following four pillars:

1. Responding to the direct needs of the community
   Offer relief supplies (food, medicine); provide small loans/support for livelihood creation; provide materials for children affected and/or children of persons affected to enroll in school; provide materials to enable self-care practices to be maintained; provide information on COVID-19 prevention/information on leprosy; establish hotlines; offer counselling
2. Advocacy with government
   Request local governments/authorities to guarantee access to existing support schemes, consider new support schemes to solve any other problems that persons affected are currently facing
3. Information dissemination
   Disseminate information about activities via SNS and/or any other media for the purpose of widely sharing information about project activities with various stakeholders for the purpose of raising the profile of the organization, acquiring new supporters and strengthening PR capabilities
4. Capacity-building training lectures
   Take courses to learn about fundraising, crowdfunding, social business to increase the sustainability of the organization. (SHF will organize this pillar in cooperation with the training program provider.)

Under this grant program, organizations of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease are not merely recipients of aid but gain a sense of ownership by being involved in community support, directly contributing to problem-solving and strengthening their organizational capacity. If you agree with the objectives of the grant, please check the following before applying:

Application Guidelines

Application period:

Thursday, January 14- Thursday, January 28, 2021 (Japan time)

Target organizations:

Organizations of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease applying jointly with organizations capable of proactively supporting their activities. We encourage partnerships between organizations of persons affected and their support organizations to effectively execute the above activities, such as planning good advocacy strategies and disseminating information in English.

• Organizations of persons affected by Hansen’s disease wishing to apply on their own should contact us in advance.
• Applications can also be made by branches of a national organization, up to a maximum of three branches.
•  Applications from individuals or commercial organizations will not be accepted.

Initiatives supported:

Projects that implement activities based on the above four pillars, led by organizations of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease, in countries or regions where leprosy is endemic and that have been seriously impacted by COVID-19.

Grant amount/Project period:

Program A(Pillars 1-4):
Up to US$50,000; April 2021 – January 2022 (10 months)

Program B(Mainly Pillars 1 and 4):
Up to US$10,000; April 2021 – July 2021 (4 months)

• We are going to select one or two applicants for Program A and 10 applicants for Program B for this time.
• Applicants for grants under Program A may end up receiving a grant under Program B.
• Grant amount may be less than the maximum amount of each program.
• The unused balance of the grant must be refunded.

What the support covers:

e.g.) Relief supplies, emergency aid money, transportation expenses of beneficiaries; funds for livelihood creation; materials for children to enroll in school; self-care materials; cost of creating awareness-raising materials; money to set up hotlines; volunteer training (on COVID-19, etc.), volunteer transportation expenses, daily expenses; transport expenses and personnel expenses of those in charge; advertising and communication fees.

• As a general rule, management costs should account for no more than 10% of project costs.*
• Please contact us in advance regarding purchase of equipment such as personal computers
• Please retain proof of all expenditures
• Non-applicable items:
  Personnel costs not related to the project, management costs exceeding 10% of the total grant, expenditures for which there is no justification, purchase of assets such as motorcycles, cars and land

How to apply:

Please apply using Online Application Form.

Only applications that have passed the initial screening will receive notification by Monday, February 8 of a request for a budget.

The deadline for submitting the budget is Monday, February 15. Online interviews are to be scheduled if necessary.

Drat Application Form（Excel/To be used for preparation）

Budget Sheet（Excel/To be submitted after initial screening)

Examination criteria:

Priority will be given to projects that meet many or all of the following conditions.

1.  A country/region where leprosy/Hansen’s disease is endemic, and persons affected by Hansen’s disease have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
   ＊Concerning the above, the total number of infections/deaths, the number of infections/deaths per day, the number of unemployed of the country will be used as indicators.
2. Government/local authorities have no support scheme for persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease or, for whatever reason, persons affected are not able to access them.
3. There are no support activities by international NGOs or international organizations for persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease.
4. The organization of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease has regal status or aims to be registered in the near future, and has daily activities where members gather regularly to improve their circumstances, fight to defend their rights, etc.
5. The organization of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease does not have legal status, but the support organization does.
6. The organization of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease or its support organization has a bank account that can be used to receive the grant.
7. The organization of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease has a detailed understanding of the actual situation of the intended beneficiaries.
8. The organization of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease or its support organization has experience of activities related to the project, such as equitable distribution of relief supplies and/or provision of self-care services.
9. Ability to send reports, communicate information in English (either the organization of persons affected by leprosy/Hansen’s disease or its support organization)
10. Organizations willing to sustain the activities after the project ends by keeping plans and structures in place, and seeking funding.　

Outline of Grant Implementation

Examination Schedule

Grant Application: January 14 (Thursday)- January 28 (Thursday), 2021 (Japan time)
Notification of results of initial screening: February 8 (Monday), 2021
Deadline to submit budget sheet: February 15 (Monday), 2021
Online interview: February 9 (Tuesday) – March 2 (Tuesday), 2021
　*Online interview is to be scheduled if necessary.
Notification of results of second screening: March 11 (Thursday), 2021
　

Project Schedule

<Program A>

Project period: April 1, 2021 – January 31, 2022
Conclusion of contract: March 11 (Thursday) – March 24 (Thursday), 2021
Remittance (80% of total in principle): 31 March (Wednesday), 2021
Interim report: September 14, 2021
　*Reporting period: April 1 – August 31, 2021
Final report:  February 14, 2022
*Reporting period: April 1, 2021 – January 31, 2022
Final remittance (balance of payment up to contract amount): Middle of March 2022

<Program B>

Project period: April 1 – July 31, 2021
Conclusion of contract: March 11 (Thursday) – March 24 (Thursday), 2021
Remittance (80% of total): 31 March (Wednesday), 2021
Final report: August 14, 2021
Final remittance (balance of payment up to contract amount): Middle of September 2021

Handling of personal information:

Personal information collected at the time of the grant application will be used for administrative purposes related to the grant project, grant recruitment, event information, questionnaire implementation and various notifications, in accordance with the Foundation’s policy on the protection of personal information.

If you have any questions about these application guidelines, please contact us at: grant@shf.or.jp. Please be reminded that we do not accept queries addressed to personal email addresses.

Read about our COVID-19 response here.