The International Harm Reduction Development Program (IHRD) invites applications for funding of policy and advocacy activities to advance harm reduction efforts for sex workers in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The goal of this new funding initiative will be to change environments affecting the health and rights of sex workers.

All organizations are invited to apply to IHRD for funding, including sex worker advocacy groups, human rights organizations, legal service providers, harm reduction providers and others. Funding can be used for a 12-month project or for a one-time activity or outcome. IHRD welcomes proposals for innovative projects and activities. From this application process, IHRD hopes to fund approximately 10 projects in late 2004. All funded projects will be eligible for on-going training and technical assistance.

The application deadline is September 10, 2004. For more information, click here.

• CPS Announces International Policy Fellowships

The Central European University Center for Policy Studies (CPS) is calling for proposals for its year 2005-2006 International Policy Fellowships (IPF) program, which is affiliated with the CPS and the Open Society Institute-Budapest. Broadly speaking, an open society is characterized by a reliance on the rule of law, the existence of a democratically elected government, a diverse and vigorous civil society, and respect for minorities and minority opinions.

The CPS International Policy Fellowships are intended to support the analytical policy research of open society leaders and connect these Fellows with professional policy networks and opportunities. The program aims to improve the quality of analysis in countries where the Soros foundations network by ensuring that these leaders are able to conduct research in their home region while maintaining local affiliations and a high degree of mobility and intellectual freedom. The product of each fellowship will be a detailed analysis of a major issue to be published in English and translated into other languages.

Fellows will be provided with a one-year stipend, research-related expenses including travel, needed communications equipment, publication costs, etc. to work full-time on research of their design in one of the above areas. The amount of the award will vary depending on standards in the Fellow's country of residence and the budgetary needs of the proposal. Online applications are due September 15, 2004. For more details and information on how to apply, click here.

     WSIS Gender Caucus Announces Small Research Grants

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Gender Caucus is launching a program of small grants to support innovative research on gender and information communication technologies (ICTs) during 2004-2005. It is anticipated that there will be two rounds of calls for proposals and that the supported research will be completed in time to be presented on Gender Caucus panels at the second World Summit on the Information Society scheduled to be held in November 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia. The overall objective of the research program is to enlarge the knowledge base for gender-sensitive policy on ICTs. Projects, which can be related to activities anywhere in the world, are expected to fall into one of three general areas: documentation, analysis and evaluation of efforts to mainstream gender into ICT policy; applications and content; and theories and methodologies. To be considered for the first round of research grants, interested parties should submit their proposals by 15 August 2004 to research@genderwsis.org. Click here for more information.