Deadline: 28-Sep-2025
The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund is inviting civil society organisations in Uzbekistan to apply for funding to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of women and children who have returned from Northeast Syria and Iraq, along with other vulnerable members of their communities.
This call for Expressions of Interest is part of GCERF’s broader mandate to strengthen community resilience and prevent violent extremism by funding local initiatives that address these critical issues.
Following the establishment of a Country Support Mechanism in April 2025 and the approval of an Uzbekistan Investment Strategy in August 2025, GCERF’s work in the country is focused on improving services and support systems in communities where returning women and children reside. The emphasis lies not just on immediate assistance, but also on building lasting social cohesion and equitable access to support and opportunities. The aim is to develop locally anchored solutions that respond effectively to unique challenges faced by vulnerable groups undergoing reintegration.
The funding is structured to work through consortium-based models, where a Principal Recipient takes on the role of managing grant funds and providing technical and operational support to partner organisations serving as Sub-Recipients. In certain well-justified cases, direct grants to standalone organisations may be considered. All grantees are expected to collaborate with GCERF to develop detailed proposals, including work plans, theories of change, budgets, and results frameworks, with the goal of finalising grant agreements by mid-December 2025.
The proposed programme should cover a period of 24 months. Grants will be issued to civil society organisations, with consortia strongly preferred, for a maximum of 500,000 USD over the duration of the grant period. This scale of funding aims to ensure that projects have both the depth and continuity required to deliver meaningful and sustainable results.
The beneficiaries of this programme may include women and children repatriated from Iraq and Northeast Syria, along with vulnerable women and children in the communities where they live. This group may encompass survivors of gender-based violence, women raising children alone, migrant women workers, and children left unsupervised. Community and family members of returnee women and children in targeted mahallas, as well as mahalla activists, are also central to the initiative. In addition, frontline workers such as social workers, teachers, psychologists, medical personnel, and religious leaders will benefit through enhanced skills and resources. Local and national authorities, including hokimiyats, are likewise considered key stakeholders in creating a supportive environment for reintegration. The programme is designed to be implemented across the entire Republic of Uzbekistan.
Through this initiative, GCERF seeks to strengthen local capacity by supporting training for frontline workers—social workers, educators, psychologists, religious and community leaders—equipping them with skills in trauma-informed case management, stigma-free support, and community engagement. The vision includes enhancing coordination at the neighbourhood level, fostering dialogue to reduce exclusion, and building locally owned reintegration mechanisms that ensure support is accessible and sustained.
In parallel, the program envisions direct support for returning women and children and other vulnerable community members, such as female heads of households and survivors of gender-based violence. By offering economic and educational assistance—such as vocational training, entrepreneurial opportunities, micro-grants, and apprenticeships—GCERF aims to reduce socio-economic vulnerabilities and reinforce durable integration within communities, thereby addressing deeper drivers of instability and extremism.
This opportunity represents a chance for community-focused groups to contribute to sustainable peace and resilience in Uzbekistan. Organisations with the capacity to deliver technically sound, community-informed programs that align with GCERF’s strategy are encouraged to consider this path to meaningful impact.
For more information, visit GCERF.
