Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust: Peace and Security

Overview

General Eligibility - all programmes

JRCT is interested in funding work which:

• is about removing problems through radical solutions, and not simply about making problems easier to live with
• has a clear sense of objectives, and of how to achieve them
• is innovative and imaginative
• and where the grant has a good chance of making a difference.

Within its areas of interest, the Trust makes grants to a range of organisations and to individuals.

If your organisation is a registered, excepted or exempt charity based within any of the four jurisdictions of the UK and all of your work fits within their published programmes, they encourage you to consider applying for unrestricted or core support, although you may apply for programme or project funding if you prefer.

If you are based outside the UK and you are registered as a charitable organistion in your local jurisdiction, you may apply for general support if all of your work fits within their published programmes, and the following criteria are also met:

• your organisation is governed by an unpaid board
• your organisation is not for profit
• your organisation's formal purposes fall within the list of charitable purposes recognised within English law.

For all other organisations or individual applicants, you may apply for a specific project or defined programme of work that would provide public benefit and further our aims as set out in our published policies.

Peace and Security

Vision

As a Quaker Trust, they believe that peace and security are built on values of equality, human rights, justice and environmental sustainability. They believe that sustainable peace cannot be achieved through the use of armed violence, which results in countless deaths, long-term physical and mental injury, human rights violations and curtailment of civil liberties, displaced populations, economic damage and impoverishment, and environmental harm.

Following more than a decade of the “War on Terror”, they believe that many aspects of the dominant approaches to defence and security are counter-productive and can serve as drivers of violent conflict both overseas and in the UK. They are also deeply concerned at the extent to which the values that underpin these approaches are embedded at all levels of society in the UK.

They seek a shift in the UK defence and security paradigm away from highly militarised and “securitised” responses towards a new approach based on participatory and accountable governance, human rights, non-violence, diplomacy and mediation, and environmental sustainability.

They wish to support a transition towards:

• the use of 'soft', rather than 'hard' power as a first line of response to conflict within our society and around the world
• the de-legitimisation of violence as a tool for responding to conflict, securing interests or projecting power
• a culture of human rights and non-violent problem-solving, promoted at all levels of society.

JRCT is also keen to support work that responds to the dual harms of the Covid-19 pandemic and systemic racism. They have amended their funding policy below to reflect this.

Funding Priorities

JRCT wishes to prioritise support for charitable work on the following issues:

• Challenging militarism
  • They are interested in funding work which:
    • highlights and holds the UK government to account for the human, economic, environmental and security costs of militarised responses to conflict
    • scrutinises and challenges the use of new technology for warfare
    • exposes and challenges the economic drivers of war, especially the arms trade
    • highlights and challenges the culture and values of militarism in the UK
    • promotes conscientious objection to military service as a globally recognised and applied human rights.
• Scrutiny of counter-terrorism measures in the context of human rights and peacebuilding
  • They are interested in funding work which:
    • promotes greater transparency and accountability in relation to government counter-terrorism policy
    • challenges state abuses of power in relation to counter-terrorism
    • advocates policy responses to the use of terror tactics which address their underlying causes
    • challenges the use of counter-terrorism policies which foment conflict or undermine opportunities to build peace.
• Building support for alternative approaches to defence and security
  • They are interested in funding work which:
    • articulates and builds support for models of defence and security which address the root causes of conflict and injustice, and which are based on non-violence, dialogue and mediation, human rights and environmental sustainability
    • addresses the risks of nuclear weapons and articulates options for non-nuclear security
    • offers ideas and action on the re-shaping of violent masculinities which underpin the military system
    • promotes the understanding and effective practice of non-violence in social change.
• Responding to harms of systemic racism

JRCT is keen to support work that responds to the harms of systemic racism related to their policy areas. The Trust also recognises that the problems they seek to address are multidimensional and intersecting, linking to colonialism, gender, climate, and access to and control of resources. Specifically, they wish to encourage work that scrutinises and holds to account the defence, security, and counter-terrorism responses and policies of powerful institutions and actors. Their priority will be to support initiatives that work towards transformative social change based on justice, peace, and sustainability. This includes work which:

• Holds the UK government to account for the short, medium, and long-term harmful consequences of its security and counter-terrorism policies, in particular where they demonstrate disproportionate negative impact on minoritised groups and communities of colour
• Scrutinises, exposes, and promotes greater transparency of UK government security and counter-terrorism policies, in particular on how they are experienced by minoritised groups and communities of colour
• Enables full participation in the development of alternatives to current UK security and counter-terrorism approaches. This work would involve envisaging and designing policies framed by peacebuilding and informed by those most affected and harmed by them

JRCT recognises the full human and economic costs of doing this work, including the emotional labour involved, and encourages organisations to make the welfare of staff and volunteers a central aspect of their strategy.

In addition, they recognise that some of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic can be long-term and ongoing, and the Trust is still open to applications that look at the effects of COVID-19 where they fall within the guidelines of their Peace and Security concerns.

They wish to support organisations or individuals who promote values similar to their own when working towards peace and security.  They do not fund those who advocate aggressive military responses to conflicts.

JRCT understands the interconnected, global nature of issues of peace and security. However, as a UK-based Trust with modest resources, it is primarily interested in supporting work which is focused on achieving impact in the UK context. Work which is focused on European or other international institutions (such as the UN and NATO) will only be considered if it is capable of resulting in significant impact in the UK context.