Call for Business Models for the Global Youth Anti-Corruption Network

The Global Youth Anticorruption Network (GYAC) and the World Bank Institute (WBI) Voices Against Corruption Program are launching a competition to call for proposals from students, recent graduates in Business Schools, and other interested and qualified individuals, firms or groups for  a detailed business model that will steer the network towards sustainability. The proposal should consist of an outline for the business model as well as an indication of qualifications and relevant experience.  The winning proposal will be shortlisted for the awarding of a $10,000 consultant or firm contract to conduct research and produce the business model. The first draft of the business model will be due within 60 days after the consultant/vendor contract is awarded, and the final copy should be submitted within 90 days. Young academics, business school graduates/students, and firms are encouraged to apply.

Please submit your proposals to info@voices-against-corruption.org by August 17^th2012, where you can also contact us with any queries you have.

About

The Global Youth Anti-Corruption Network (GYAC) is an informal global network of civil society organizations - youth led or with active youth participation - that work on anti-corruption issues. It brings together youth between the ages of 18-35 active in anti-corruption efforts, young journalists, socially responsible musicians, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts.  GYAC involves them in the fight against corruption by sharing emerging innovative practices for awareness raising, advocacy, mobilization of youth and by building their capacities for local level anti-corruption work

Origin and Goal

The World Bank Institute (WBI) initiated the idea of a youth anti-corruption network in mid-2009, with the goal to provide space where youth can set their own agenda for innovative reform approaches and learn from each other.  WBI a) initiated the creation of the network by involving already existing anti-corruption organizations led by youth or with strong youth involvement , b) provided support for  capacity building  to network members in various governance areas and on new tools, i.e. Internet and Communications Technology (ICT) so that the youth will be enabled to drive the reform processes, and c)supported  the network for a few years while helping the network in its goal to reach its operational and financial sustainability.

In addition to young activists working on anti-corruption issues, the unique character of the GYAC network is nurtured by three distinct communities of a) young musicians, b) journalists and c)ICT experts. The involvement of these groups who previously did not work together helps members draw on their complementary talents in the fight against corruption. Music serves as an effective tool to spread the message, mobilize and educate masses, and start a dialogue about corruption even in difficult environments where such topics cannot be discussed openly. Journalists help spread the news and support the local level initiative of the members by promoting them on various social media, newspapers, websites, blogs, radio and television. The ICT component encourages and supports anti-corruption activists to use innovative technologies for their work on the ground.

Growth and Structure

The GYAC network was formally launched during the Global Voices Against Corruption Forum in May 2010, in Brussels. Within two years, the network grew from a handful members to over 1,000 active anti-corruption activists, journalists, and musicians who are actively exchanging on the network’s online platform, www.voices-against-corruption.org. GYAC’s 2^ndannual Voices Against Corruption Forum in Nairobi in April 2011, attracted 120 activists, journalist, musicians, and ICT experts from more than 60 organizations around the World.

GYAC members are engaged in anti-corruption efforts ranging from raising awareness, to promoting budget transparency, or monitoring local government projects. The network remains informal and loosely structured.  At present, the network’s activities rely on the voluntary engagement of its members, their activities, as well as capacity development support by WBI, in partnership with Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI) and the British Council (BC) Global Changemakers program. In its efforts to move towards self- sustainability, the network has elected an Global Coordinating Body (GCB) composed of one representative from each of the six geographical region represented (i.e., Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Africa, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific), plus a media and an ICT advisor.  The GCB has strengthened its ownership of the network and finalized a charter for the network. The GCB is now requesting your support to help develop a business model to ensure sustainability of the network. In particular, the GCB would like to find out how the impressive volume of high quality music songs that the networks’ annual global music competitions produce can be exploited to create an autonomous revenue stream to fund project work in their respective countries.

GYAC’s components

Music and the annual Fair Play Song Competition

The network runs a global competition for original songs on the theme of anti-corruption by youth bands and musicians aged 18-35. It is called Fair Play, and has proven to be a highly successful imitative that attracted hundreds of bands from around the world, which produced over 200 songs that have been watched thousands of times on the web and generated a lot of interest for the networks work. The most recent music videos of the Fair Play music competition can be viewed at http://www.anticorruptionmusic.org. An important aspect for the development of the business model is that the copyright of the music on the website is being donated by the musicians and belongs to the GYAC network.

Winners of the music competitions are awarded the opportunity to travel and perform during the annual GYAC forums to spread their anti-corruption message and display their talent in front of an international audience. In 2010, bands from Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Palestine/Lebanon showcased their talent in Brussels. They also got an opportunity to perform during the Brussels Music Festival, which took place in public places. They jointly produced, recorded, and performed an international song on anti-corruption during the three day Forum. Similarly, in 2011, bands from Vanuatu, Uganda, Colombia and Bulgaria/Nigeria were selected to come to Nairobi to collaborate and to perform. The songs they performed represented regional diversity in music style and the way artists interpret corruption challenges that are affecting their lives. They also collectively produced, recorded, and performed three new songs on anti-corruption.

Fair Play remains a very unique component of GYAC and the only such program carried out on a global scale. It has been able to attract a lot of media attention from around the World, including from the BBC, Voice of America, and television channels and newspapers in the Philippines, Kenya, DRC, Cameroon, Vanuatu, Colombia, South Africa, and Indonesia, among others. In 2012, the winners of the third edition of Fair Play will perform in Brasilia, Brazil, in front of the participants of the 15^thInternational Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC).

Journalists

The network includes a group of young journalists who raises awareness around the initiatives run by GYAC. Hundreds of blogs and newspapers stories have appeared about the network and previous annual forums held in Brussels and Nairobi. The involvement of young journalists and activists also helped to raise the word and promote the 14th IACC conference held in Bangkok on the web, where the members of GYAC participated in partnership with Transparency International and the IACC. The network has the capacity to raise the profile of its events through its presence on the web and various social media outlets, including a strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace etc.

ICT & Mini Grants Program

The network benefits from the ICT expertise of several of its members who work with the activists to produce innovative solutions to complex social accountability problems. In Nairobi, GYAC members came together with ICT experts from leading ICT initiatives such as Ushahidi, Frontline SMS, Rapid SMS, and others to share their experience. The activists learned about innovative tools and how they could help the type of work they’re doing on the ground while the ICT experts learned about new areas where their tools could be used effectively to contribute to development through new ICT mediated transparency and participation initiatives. In order to promote the cooperation, GYAC started a mini-grant program with the British Council Global Changemakers program that awards $3000 in seed funding to kick start innovative anticorruption projects that use ICT.  There have been ten projects that have been implemented in different countries as part of the program. Ten more grants will be given this 2012.

Business Model Guideline

• The business model needs to serve as a pathway for the network to move towards its sustainability, and as a step by step guide to consolidate all of its different components into a mutually beneficial ecosystem.  It needs to provide options and proposed models on the:
• a)Establishment of revenue creation channel(s) ranging from fundraising from various sources, in particular exploiting, on the one hand, music produced through the network’s global Fair Play music competitions and, on the other hand, members’ expertise in regards to third party monitoring as independent young civil society watchdogs in support of Government or donor funded development projects. This work should also look at new models of micro-donations, kick-starter, music downloads for a fee or linked to donations per download, etc.
• b)Establishment of an independent funds handling mechanism that will function as a trustee for the Global Youth Anti-Corruption Network (GYAC), and will be able to disburse fund for funding of both the network’s core functions and of country level project work in collaboration with a GYAC secretariat, which will be responsible for day to day operations of the network and its activities. The funds handling mechanism needs to be a legal entity able to process financial transactions, and receive donations, sponsorships, etc.;
• c)Establishment of solid and consistent GYAC branding, including the promotion and expansion of such brand;
• d)Better integration and collaborating environment for GYAC members and among CSO activists, musicians, journalists and ICT experts;
• e)Amendments in the GYAC Charter that will allow the smooth execution of the Business Model.
• The submitter(s) of the winning proposal will produce the business model document upon reference to GYAC documents, including the Charter and interviews with GYAC GCB members, other general members of the network, WBI staff, British Council Changemakers (BC-GCM), Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI), and other relevant parties as required.

The Proposal

The proposal should consist of an outline for the business model that the individuals, firms and parties intend to base on along with their qualifications and relevant experience.  A winning proposal will be selected and shortlisted for awarding a $10,000 consultant or firm contract to conduct research and produce BMG based on the proposal. The first draft of the BMG will be due within 60 days after the consultant/vendor contract is awarded, and the final copy should be submitted within 90 days.  Young academics, business school graduates/students, and firms are encouraged to apply.

The proposal should not exceed 4 pages and should include:

1. An outline of the proposed business model and description of research /methodology compared to existing business model (s) that the document will be based on. (Citations are required if the proposal is based on or existing models)
2. Qualification and relevant experience of the person(s) submitting the proposal.
3. Example(s) of similar/related work done by the person(s) submitting the proposal (if any).

GYAC Fact Sheet.pdf