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The Fund for Gender Equality is pleased to announce its second Call for Proposals for innovative programmes to help women achieve political and economic empowerment. The Fund will award multi-year grants ranging from USD 200,000 to USD 1 million for impact-oriented programmes around the world.
The first phase of the grantmaking cycle, for the Arab States region, has now been closed. Grants will be announced mid January 2012.
In 2012, the Fund will invite proposals from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Please check back in January 2012 for more information.
Key Documents:
Support Our Global Effort to Advance Gender Equality
When the Fund began in 2009, 1,239 applicants from 127 countries submitted proposals, representing more than USD 3 billion in requests. Of those, the Fund could support only 1.2 percent of requests, yet more than 50 percent of applicants had viable and strong proposals that could have been funded. This figure is a snapshot of the great need for support towards this cause, but it is also a testament to the potential to be unleashed.
The Fund anticipates a high volume of applications for its 2011–2012 grantmaking cycle.
To continue to significantly advance gender equality and women’s rights through grantmaking of this scale, UN Women is calling on UN Member States, the private sector, and individuals to contribute to this vital source of funding for women and gender equality advocates around the world.
The time is now! Join us by contributing to the Fund for Gender Equality. To donate, please contact the Fund for Gender Equality Secretariat. Individual donors can also make a donation online.
Review Process for the 2009–2010 Grantmaking Cycle
Applications were submitted in five languages (Arabic, English, French, Russian, and Spanish) and represented:
- 1,239 applications from 127 countries: 543 Catalytic (44% of all applications) from 110 countries, 696 Implementation (56%) from 111 countries (view the list of applications by country).
- 28% with a focus on political empowerment, 25% with a focus on economic empowerment, and 47% focused on both political and economic empowerment.
- 53% (660) presented formal partnerships of two co-lead organizations, with more than three-quarters of all applicants identifying additional strategic partners that would participate in programme implementation.
- 70% (877) of all applications met the basic eligibility requirements: 80% (445) of Catalytic and 64% (432) of Implementation.
- In total, applicants requested more than US$2.3 billion: $177 million in the Catalytic category and $2.2 billion in the Implementation category.
The grant review process ensured a rigorous and competitive assessment of applications:
- A Technical Committee (TC) of 39 women’s economic and political rights experts based in the regions (Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and the CIS, and Latin America and the Caribbean) was responsible for proposal review.
- TC members reviewed and scored the proposals according to their potential to achieve sustainable impact in the lives of women and to advance gender equality laws and policies that had been agreed upon at national levels.
- Each proposal was reviewed by at least two TC members. Top-scored proposals then underwent a rigorous ranking process a comprehensive assessment and to identify the most promising programmes.
- 27 Catalytic Grants were selected on the basis of Concept Note application in December 2009.
- 22 Implementation Semi-Finalists were invited to complete in-depth full-fledged proposals in February 2010. Semi-finalists received technical assistance from experts in monitoring and evaluation on the development of logical frameworks to define their expected results. Technical Committee members assessed and scored Full-Fledged Implementation Proposals for their promise of substantial gains in women’s economic and political empowerment and considering thematic and regional diversity.
- 13 Implementation Grants were selected in July 2010.
- The Fund’s Steering Committee, composed of donor, governmental and NGO representatives from partner countries, multilateral agencies and the private sector, reviewed recommendations from the Technical Committee (in both grant categories) and ratified final grant selections.
