Deadline: 31 May 2016
The Mama Cash was the first international women’s fund in the world and is still alive and kicking. Mama Cash was conceived around a kitchen table in Amsterdam in 1983. Since then, it has grown from a group of five feminist activists into an international fund that supports women’s, girls’ and trans people’s movements around the world.
Each year, Mama Cash supports about 100 courageous groups, organizations, networks and women’s funds that are led by women, girls and trans people. Grantees include groups, organisations, networks and other women’s funds. They are led by and work for sexual and ethnic minorities, adolescent girls, trans people, indigenous women, low-income women, single mothers, women with disabilities, migrant women, sex workers, rural women and women workers in both formal and informal sectors.
Geographic Focus
Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants include include groups, organisations, networks and other women’s funds. They are led by and work for sexual and ethnic minorities, adolescent girls, trans people, indigenous women, low-income women, single mothers, women with disabilities, migrant women, sex workers, rural women and women workers in both formal and informal sectors.
- Applicants must be based outside of the United States or Canada.
- Grant seeking organization must have annual operating budgets below EUR200,000.
- Applicant organization or initiatives must have their primary mission to promote the women’s, girls’ and/or trans people’s human rights.
- Individuals or businesses are not eligible to apply for Mama Cash Grants.
- Applicants must work from a feminist and/or women’s rights perspective; self-led by women, girls and/or trans people they serve.
- Applicants must push for structural and fundamental change and be connected to other organizations in women’s rights and/or other social justice movements.
How to Apply
Applicants must first send LOIs available on the website. The letter of Interest form is available in six languages- English, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese, and Dutch.
Past Grantees
- 2012-2013 Grants of €35,000, €60,000 to a social group Supporting the Empowerment for Women and their Rights Development Cooperation (Steward-Org) in South Sudan.
- Grants of €50,000 to Women Fund Tanzania – Empowering Local Heroes (WFT). WFT supports women’s groups working for political participation, against religious fundamentalisms, and for sexual and reproductive rights and racial justice in Tanzania, through grants, capacity building and strategic convenings.
- Grants of €25,000 to Vacha Trust working for the empowerment of adolescent girls in the slums of Mumbai, India, through providing rights education and capacity building for leadership skills. Vacha Trust also uses creative art like theatre, photography and film to empower girls to express themselves.
- Grants of €43,000 to Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA) in Nepal. This grant supported thirteen Mama Cash grantees from four South Asian countries to attend a grantee meeting and participate in CREA’s Count Me In! conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, from April 16- 18, on countering violence against marginalised women and trans people. Groups shared strategies for working holistically to counter violence and build inclusive anti-violence movements.
For more information about these grants, please visit Mama Cash Call for Applications 2016.
