Deadline Date: May 18, 2026
The United Nations Development Programme is inviting grant applications to strengthen citizen engagement, transparency, and accountable governance in Lesotho through a digital public participation and project monitoring platform.
The focus areas of the assignment include enabling inclusive and continuous participation through virtual engagement spaces for citizens regardless of geographic location, time, or financial limitations; strengthening feedback and insight generation through structured engagement mechanisms and social media listening capabilities; improving transparency and accountability through open access to information on public programmes and projects, including budgets, timelines, implementation progress, and outcomes; and supporting responsive and efficient governance through continuous digital engagement, timely corrective actions, improved service delivery, and visible feedback mechanisms such as “You said – We did” approaches.
The platform will create opportunities for citizens, including rural and marginalised communities as well as Basotho in the diaspora, to participate more actively in governance processes. It is intended to move citizen engagement beyond occasional physical consultations and make participation more accessible throughout planning, implementation, and monitoring stages.
The assignment also seeks to strengthen government capacity to collect, analyse, and interpret citizen feedback. By integrating platform-based engagement systems with social media sensing capabilities, the initiative will support the identification of emerging concerns and enable data-driven decision-making in policymaking, legal drafting, project implementation, and service delivery.
Transparency and accountability are central to the initiative, with the platform expected to provide citizens with accessible information on public projects and programmes. Public dashboards, project lifecycle tracking, geo-referenced monitoring, and evidence-sharing features will help improve oversight and ensure government actions and responses remain visible and traceable.
The project is also designed to support efficient governance by reducing dependence on resource-intensive physical consultations and institutionalising lower-cost digital engagement systems. The platform will facilitate structured escalation of citizen concerns, encourage timely interventions, and help strengthen public trust in government institutions.
The expected duration of the assignment is 120 days, with an estimated prize of up to $40,000.
Eligible applicants must demonstrate the capacity to implement the proposed project within the set timeframe and show adequate financial, material, human, and non-financial resources. Projects should demonstrate financial, social, and environmental sustainability and have the potential for scale-up or replication. All projects must be inclusive and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Support for initiatives related to tobacco, alcohol, drugs, firearms, and other dangerous substances or tools is not allowed.
Eligible applicants must be based in Lesotho either through citizenship or establishment. Applications are open to individuals, companies, and teams.
For more information, visit UNDP.
