The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women is accepting applications for its 21st grant cycle (2017). Civil society organizations are invited to submit grant proposals for a minimum of US$50,000 up to a maximum of US$1 million for a period of three years. The application deadline is 5 December 2017. The complete Call for Proposals detailing criteria, eligibility requirements and application guidelines are available at: http://grants.unwomen.org/
With its 21st grants cycle, the UN Trust Fund looks to support organizations that qualify for funding under the following three programmatic areas:
(1) Improving access for women and girls to essential, safe and adequate multi-sectoral services to end violence against women and girls;
(2) Increasing effectiveness of legislation, policies, national action plans and accountability systems to prevent and end violence against women and girls; and
(3) Improving prevention of violence against women and girls through changes in knowledge, attitudes and practices.
Applications from women’s rights, women-led, and small women’s organizations are prioritized, in recognition of them being the driving force of the ending violence against women agenda, as well as being at the forefront of reaching women and girls survivors at the grassroots level. To be considered a “women-led organization”, the organization must demonstrate that it is governed and led by women. For the UN Trust Fund, this requires evidence that a minimum of 51 per cent of leadership positions across various decision-making levels in the organization, including in management, senior management and board levels are held by women.
Please note that in addition to the general programmatic areas of work, this year the UN Trust Fund is also accepting applications under the following thematic windows:
- Special window addressing violence against women and girls in the context of the current forced displacement and refugee crisis: It is well-documented that violence and the risk of exploitation against women and girls rises dramatically, throughout the cycle of displacement, from the country of origin and into the host country. The UN Trust Fund’s special window of grant-making will focus on addressing the issue of sexual and gender based violence in humanitarian crisis context, experienced by refugee and internally displaced women and girls. Organizations working on forced displacement related issues in all ODA recipient countries are eligible. Priority will be given to grassroots women’s organizations, working towards mid- to long-term interventions (as opposed to emergency response) that address the issue of sexual and gender based violence faced by refugee and internally displaced women and girls.
- Special window addressing violence against women and girls with disabilities: Despite the growing global focus on persons with disabilities driven by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the inclusion of disability in the Sustainable Development Goals, violence against women and girls with disabilities in particular has been broadly overlooked. To highlight this issue, the UN Trust Fund has open a new grant-making window focusing on addressing the issue of violence against women and girls with disabilities. This thematic window presents an opportunity to engage in efforts to both prevent violence from occurring in the first place and to complement the actions of the response system to avert repeated cycles of violence against women and girls with disabilities. It also has the potential to provide valuable evidence of ‘what works’ that can be used to foster considerable change in this area. Organizations working on addressing violence against women and girls with disabilities in all ODA recipient countries are eligible. Priority will be given to organizations with longstanding intersectional experience in both disability and violence against women and girls, and where proposal development has been led by women and girls with disabilities.