Tips from PLAN International for writing a strong proposal for the IAC activities

Put Your Thoughts into a Proposal Here are some tips from PLAN International for writing a strong proposal for AIDS 2008 Programme Activities (Cultural Activities, Global Village, and Youth Programme).

Tip 1 - Know your audience and write to grab their attention:

• There are two audiences for your proposal: 1) the volunteers (HIV experts from around the world) who will review, rank, and determine whether your proposal is selected and 2) the delegates who will see it at the Conference.
  

• Your proposal has to get the attention of the volunteer reviewers or else you will not get the opportunity to formally share your work with other delegates at the Conference. The reviewers use a set of criteria to help them make decisions about which proposals to select. Criteria are based on the kind of programme they want to create for the Conference and the capacity of the person and organization submitting the proposal to implement the activity.
  

• Remember that the Conference provides an opportunity for people who are actively involved in HIV responses to come together and share information. This means that your audience is made up of people who are already quite knowledgeable about HIV and committed to making a change. They want to learn about innovative approaches from other places of the world and important ideas that could improve their work.
  

Tip 2- Design an activity that fits with the Conference's priorities and
meets the selection criteria:

• The reviewers are looking for material that fits with the theme of the Conference: "Universal Action Now". This theme emphasizes the importance of world action, in response to HIV/AIDS epidemic, taking place at the global, regional, national and local levels, and achieved by both individuals as well as collectively. "Universal Action Now" also calls attention to other issues that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS such as inadequate healthcare and social injustices such as poverty and gender inequalities. Think about how you can relate your own experiences and knowledge to the Conference's focus. What can you contribute and share with other delegates.
  

• The International AIDS Conference has a large-scale focus. Your work should a) be explicitly connected to broader HIV issues and b) have implications for HIV responses in a geographic region (for example, Latin America) or globally.
  

• The reviewers want to know that your work will have a positive impact in the global HIV response. Explain how including your work in the Conference programme will make a difference in other people's work.
  

• The reviewers are looking for innovative and creative ideas. Consider what is new, different or interesting about your work and how you can present it in interactive and engaging ways.
  

• The reviewers are looking for proposals that bring together people from different organizations and from different countries to offer a variety of perspectives on issues. Consider how you can design a proposal with other members of the Plan Youth Delegation.
  

• The reviewers aim to create a Conference programme that is representative of the different geographic regions of the world and includes the voices of marginalized and particularly affected groups (such as women, youth, orphans and vulnerable children, sex workers, indigenous peoples, etc). Be explicit about how your proposal accomplishes one or both of these priorities.
  

Tip 3 - Think like a reviewer when writing your proposal:

• Your proposal needs to clearly communicate what you want to do at the Conference as well as why and how it will benefit other delegates.
  

• People want to hear more about your project than simply a description of what you did. They want to know how you did it, what was unique or innovative about you did it, why you did it that way, what challenges you faced and how you overcame them, and what you learned that could be useful for other people's work.
  

• The reviewers are looking at how well you communicate your ideas. Know the key messages you want to convey and be sure to communicate them in clear, concise, and easy to use language. Read your proposal out loud to ensure it makes sense. Check your grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. Be sure to explain any acronyms and/or jargon.
  

• Be sure that you have answered all the questions in the application. Stay within the word count.