Our goal is to create a conference that is accessible to as many people from the democratic school movement as possible. For many people, unfortunately, the cost of attending such a conference is prohibitive and hence puts the experience beyond their financial capacities. We intend to help alleviate this situation by providing subsidies—either full or partial—to as many people as we can. Our main focus will be on those from developing nations, but this will not preclude subsidies to those from developed nations who lack the necessary financial resources to attend.

Subsidies will provide support for some combination of air fare, conference fees, accommodation, and meals, depending on individual needs.

Note that in order to raise the funds for these subsidies, we are applying for foundation grants as well as asking for donations. Some foundations require information about potential beneficiaries before they will even process an application; hence, we ask that anyone wishing to apply for a subsidy provide us with the following general information:

1. Name
2. Country
3. Name of school or organization (if applicable)
4. Age*
5. Sex*
6. Experience in the democratic school movement
7. If applicable, outline any past involvement with IDEC you have had, or your school or organization has had.
8. Contact details (ie., email address, street address, phone number)
9. What costs would be involved for you to attend. Please give us an estimate of the dollar cost for items such as transport to the airport, air travel to Vancouver (YVR), visas, etc? If you need to be subsidized for conference fees and accommodation and meal expenses, we will add those costs to the estimate in order to determine the total subsidy required.
10. What is the financial situation of yourself or of your school or organization -- why do you need a subsidy?
11. Would it be possible for you to raise some percentage of the money needed? If so, what percentage do you think you could raise?**

See the following notes for more information:

• If you need subsidies for a group you are organizing, please forward the relevant information for each member of the group (including children).
• **Our rationale for this question is that the more money people can raise themselves, the more people we will be able to subsidize; however, raising part of the money needed is not a requirement for receiving a subsidy. The fact that you might need a full subsidy will not prejudice our assessment of your application: it will be considered on an equal basis with other applications.
• We are applying for a grant from the Commonwealth Foundation, which stipulates that only people from Commonwealth countries are eligible for any funds they might grant; however, there is no such restriction on funds we might receive from other foundations.
• *If anyone has objections with regard to items 4 and 5, please be aware that these items are included because gender and youth are issues of great concern for some of the foundations to which we are applying, in particular, the Commonwealth Foundation and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

 

If you wish to apply for a subsidy please send an email to Helen Hughes hhughes@telus.net.




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LIST OF COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES

Commonwealth Foundation members 1. Antigua and Barbuda 2. Australia 3. Bahamas 4. Barbados 5. Belize 6. Botswana 7. Brunei Darussalam 8. Cameroon 9. Canada 10. Cyprus 11. Dominica 12. The Gambia 13. Ghana 14. Grenada 15. Guyana 16. India 17. Jamaica 18. Kenya 19. Kiribati 20. Lesotho 21. Malawi 22. Malaysia 23. Malta 24. Mauritius 25. Mozambique 26. Namibia 27. New Zealand 28. Nigeria

29. Pakistan 30. Papua New Guinea 31. St Lucia 32. St Vincent and the Grenadines 33. Samoa 34. Seychelles 35. Sierra Leone 36. Singapore 37. Solomon Islands 38. South Africa 39. Sri Lanka 40. Swaziland 41. Tonga 42. Trinidad and Tobago 43. Uganda 44. United Kingdom 45. United Republic of Tanzania 46. Zambia Commonwealth countries not Foundation members 1. Bangladesh 2. Fiji Islands 3. Maldives 4. Nauru 5. St Kitts and Nevis 6. Tuvalu 7. Vanuatu