Applications are now open for the Omega Resilience Awards – Africa (ORA – A) Fellowship Programme for the 2025 cohort. Applications are invited from visionaries, activists, academics, artists, IT specialists, communicators, organisers and public intellectuals involved in movements or struggles that highlight opportunities for creating a more resilient world and future in the face of the global polycrisis.
Application Deadline: 15th February 2025
About the Fellowship
The Omega Resilience Awards (ORA) Fellowship Programme is designed to identify visionaries―activists, academics, IT specialists, communicators, artists and problem solvers―who work in an intersectional fashion, are involved in movements or struggles in Africa and are not more than 45 years of age. The fellowship targets individuals who understand that the old approach to solving problems in silos is no longer viable and that, instead, we need to apply a systems-thinking approach but not in a way that paralyses complexities and blurs peculiarities. It aims to create a pool of resilience workers who can translate complexities into actionable steps that help communities to slow down, if not reverse, damages done to them by the cascading crises encapsulating the world today―a community of people who can frame what a more resilient future might look like for their communities and constituents. The ultimate purpose of the fellowship is to build global hubs of resilience with innovative activists, academics, artists, communicators, etc. committed to long-term involvement in generating knowledge in radical movements for transformation and system change.
An ORA Fellow must be able to help their society understand the nature of the global polycrisis and imagine what it will take to chart a path toward a more resilient future.
ORA – A fellows are expected to unpack the dimensions of the polycrisis while imagining the future from an African perspective. They will also be tasked with developing new tools and models of thinking, leadership, communication and engagement in response to the challenges of the global polycrisis. Success in this task is reliant on knowledge of the traditions and cultures of Africa including subsisting concepts of well-being that are not predicated on growth, accumulation, or dispossession. Examples of such concepts in different African languages are Ubuntu, Eti uwem and harambee. Eti uwem, for example, captures the idea of living in harmony with nature and all peoples and incorporates dignity, respect, rectitude, integrity, solidarity, and contentment.
ORA is a project of Commonweal, a US-based NGO dedicated to healing, resilience and justice. For almost 50 years, Commonweal has brought together communities of dedicated people to explore the emerging challenges that the world faces.
Omega Resilience Awards – Africa comprises the African cohort of fellows, running alongside two other ORA fellowships convened in Latin America and India. The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) is the anchor organisation for the African cohort.
Who Will Be Considered?
While the diverse stressors that culminate in the global polycrisis are increasingly manifesting in the form of extreme weather, drought, famine, migration, and extinction, it is agreed that the bulk of the impacts will be felt by generations just emerging and those yet to be born, with a disproportionate burden falling on people living in the Global South.
ORA – A Fellowship Programme focuses primarily on identifying young African communicators, artists, activists, academics, grassroots organisers, IT specialists, and public intellectuals, under the age of 45, who are engaged in translating for their audience the connections between seemingly disparate phenomena―climate change, water crisis, food crisis, health crisis, environmental degradation, gender issues, wars, economic crisis, political crisis, and migration―and showing how they interact to form the polycrisis.
Preference will be given to applicants whose works highlight the intersections of the various stressors and demonstrate how Africans are effectively responding to the polycrisis, by sharing stories of constructive actions that foster resilience through diverse platforms and media.
While we realise that communicating the full weight of the polycrisis can be intimidating and sometimes overwhelming, ORA-A is looking for people who can render complexity comprehensible and serve as sense-makers for their target audience.
The questions we seek answers to, include but are not limited to the following: What does the polycrisis look like in a particular region, country, or community? What shape does a resilience response take? We believe strong candidates can emerge from any walk of life – art, activism, business, journalism, academics, information technology, or the public sector.
The critical criteria for the selection of an applicant are their ability to understand the complexity of the polycrisis, how it manifests in their communities, and the capacity to communicate complexity in ways that empower people to act and a vision for how to facilitate collective action towards a more resilient future. ORA – A is looking for candidates who can use different channels, media, languages, strategies, and formats to reach diverse audiences. Candidates with an existing body of work that they think meets these criteria are encouraged to apply as are those who have projects yet to be realised due to a lack of support.
ORA – A anticipates that Fellows will use their stories and projects to illustrate the scope of the global polycrisis, the array of skilful interventions in response to the cascading crisis, and create better understanding of how the polycrisis affects different regions and what messages inspire action, hope and resilience.
Eligibility
- The fellowship is open to African residents in Africa, preferably those involved in movements and who have their origins in the communities of struggle.
- Applicants/Nominees must not be older than 45 years of age.
- Applicants/Nominees are expected to show history of experience in activism and innovative thinking.
- All applicants/nominees must be active change-makers in their communities.
- Applicants/Nominees must commit to participating in regular seminars/webinars throughout the programme and be willing to create media (e.g. articles, podcasts, video, photographs, etc.) that can be shared across ORA’s diverse media channels.
- Applicants/Nominees must provide two (2) verifiable references to validate their application.
Award
- The ORA Africa fellowships are awarded yearly. The 2025 fellows will receive $10,000 support each for their respective projects.
- ORA Africa fellows would focus on work on the polycrisis.
Candidates can be drawn from a diversity of backgrounds and sectors. The goal of the Fellowship is to encourage cross-sectoral thinking and engagement that explores the intersection between issues such as those listed below, that are too often treated in isolation.
- Environment
- Gender
- Health
- Education
- Agriculture/Food Systems
- Craft
- Economic Inequality
- Politics and Policymaking
- Cultural narratives that undermine tolerance and equity
- Marginalization, prejudice, and discrimination
- Technology
- Security etc.
Requirements
- Complete and submit the online application form. Access the form at this link.
- Letter of intent (one page) stating why you believe you (or a nominee) are a great fit for the the fellowship.
- Proposal outlining clearly what you intend to achieve with the fellowship, the nature of the activity/research you wish to carry out, and the resources you will need to reach your set goal if selected. The proposal must show the polycrisis issue(s) the proposed project intends to address. Such issues may include but are not limited to environment, gender, health, education, agriculture/food systems, craft, economic inequality, etc. Strong preference will be given to candidates working in an integrated fashion across diverse issues.
- Applicants/Nominees should be willing to connect with and be part of a community of other Fellows; they should also be willing to participate in monthly online seminars organised by ORA-A as well as periodic online convenings organised by ORA-Global where all three cohorts (from Africa, India and Latin America) are gathered.
For any clarifications, please feel free to contact
OduduAbasi Asuquo – ORA-A@homef.org
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