Context

In its five previous rounds from 2011 to 2019, the Abbara program supported 55 independent artistic and cultural organizations from the Arab region in their capacity as entities that are fundamental to building cultural sectors dedicated to serving and promoting the advancement of their societies. Over the years, the Abbara program witnessed these organizations develop and evolve, and simultaneously encounter difficulties. The independent organizations weren’t always able to overcome the challenges they faced, which led 19 of them to suspend their work. The Abbara organizations that are still active and the Culture Resource remain in contact and, in some cases, their relationships have evolved into robust partnerships.

Under the economic stagnation and related repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, many artistic and cultural organizations have had to cancel or suspend their activities for indefinite periods. Some have even been forced to shut down. In the Arab region, the cumulative effects of the pandemic struck at a time when most Arab countries were already gripped by the political, economic and humanitarian crises that have shaken their stability and put the entire region at unprecedented risk. Due to the lack of essential governmental support for the artistic and cultural sector in most Arab countries and the lack of measures or arrangements to alleviate the immediate strains of the crisis on cultural actors, the entire cultural and artistic sector with its diverse organizations is fighting for its survival while its individual members are struggling to continue work under the adversities of the pandemic. 

In response to these circumstances and in the framework of its ongoing interactions with participant organizations and its efforts to strengthen networking between them in order to foster the arts and culture sector across the region, the Abbara program has launched an exceptional initiative to support the independent artistic and cultural organizations from the Arab region that took part in one of the five previous Abbara rounds. 

What is the Abbara Support Initiative? 

The Abbara program aims to support and empower independent cultural and artistic initiatives and organizations from the Arab region. In this framework, the program is now offering exceptional financial support to cover basic organizational expenses (administrative staff salaries, rental payments, running costs, etc.) to help organizations adjust to the current circumstances and survive at this time of rapid change. 

Through this initiative, Abbara will support 10 to 12 independent artistic and cultural organizations active in the Arab region and that have participated in one of the five previous Abbara rounds. The organizations will be eligible for grants of up to $15,000 covering a period of 6 to 12 months, depending on the individual needs of the organization.

Application Guidelines

Organizations wishing to apply to the Abbara Support Initiative should submit a Letter of Intent with the required supporting documents attached to the e-mail below.

  • The deadline for submitting the Letter of Intent and supporting documents is Friday 10 July, 2020 before 4:00 PM Beirut time. 
  • Grants of up to $15,000 are available for each beneficiary organization. Any independent artistic or cultural organization that benefited from Abbara support in one of the previous five rounds may apply on the condition that the organization is still active.
  • Organizations that still have an open Abbara grant may not apply to this initiative. 
  • The Letter of Intent and supporting documents should be submitted in Arabic.
  • E-mail the letter and supporting documents to [email protected]. 
  • Include the name of the applicant organization in the e-mail subject line. 

Note: Applications that do not meet the requirements will be eliminated and not forwarded to the jury. 

Letter of Intent 

Please fill in this form which includes:

  • General information about the applicant organization;
  • Special questions related to Abbara’s program; 
  • The Letter of Intent should be written in Arabic and not exceed four pages.

Supporting Documents

  • A photocopy of the organization’s legal registration;
  • The organization’s organigram: please include all permanent full- and part-time staff members;
  • A file containing short biographies of three key members of the organization;
  • A narrative report (or the equivalent) on the organization’s activities during 2018 and 2019;
  • The organization’s budget for 2018 and 2019 mentioning funding sources. The figures should be in US dollars;
  • A list of funding sources (both confirmed and anticipated) for 2021.

The budget form can be downloaded here. 

Selection Process

After the application deadline, all applications received will be assembled and screened to ensure the eligibility of the applicant organization and that the applications are complete and include the Letter of Intent and the required supporting documents. 

All applications that meet all these conditions will be forwarded to an independent three-member jury of specialists.

The jury evaluates the application files and selects the grantees on the basis of the following set of criteria:

  • The nature of the context in which the applicant organization is operating;
  • The challenges that the organization is facing and its ability to assess its needs and priorities; 
  • The organization’s vision for how to overcome challenges and its ability to develop and apply innovative means to readjust;
  • The specific internal measures and practices that reflect the organization’s capacity for responding to the challenges; 
  • The organization’s governance practices;
  • The availability (or the possibility of securing) the minimum amount of resources needed to deal with the crisis;
  • The organization’s ability to collaborate and contribute to the support of the arts and culture sector.

For further questions on the program and how to fill in the application form, please contact the Abbara team: [email protected]