Deadline: 31-May-24
The International organization of Francophonie has launched the 5th edition of its “La Francophonie avec Elles” Fund to promote the economic and social autonomy of women through concrete initiatives on the ground, thus contributing to sustainable development.
The “La Francophonie avec Elles” Fund is a solidarity system aimed at strengthening the economic and social empowerment of women in vulnerable situations from a development perspective.
The first four editions of the “La Francophonie avec Elles” Fund have confirmed, through their concrete results, the relevance and usefulness of this system. By providing support to 254 projects, the Fund has had a significant impact on the lives of nearly 57,000 girls and women, spread across more than 34 countries within the French-speaking world. Initially created to provide support to women during the Covid-19 health crisis, the 124th session of the Permanent Council of La Francophonie refocused the Fund’s mandate on the economic and social empowerment of women in vulnerable situations.
The International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) thus continues its commitment to the socio-economic emancipation of girls and women, with the aim of achieving gender equality, the eradication of poverty and the promotion of inclusive growth.
Objectives
- The “La Francophonie avec Elles” Fund aims to strengthen the economic and social empowerment of women in vulnerable situations from a sustainable development perspective.
- The specific objectives of the Fund are:
- Improve the participation and inclusion of women in economic and social life;
- Improve women’s access to professional training;
- To support women with a view to developing income-generating activities and facilitating their access to economic opportunities.
- For this 5th edition of the “La Francophonie avec Elles” Fund, particular attention will be paid to projects targeting the employability and entrepreneurship of women.
- In addition, project proposals from small island countries are strongly encouraged.
- The “La Francophonie avec Elles” Fund supports field actions carried out by locally anchored French-speaking civil society organizations (associations, cooperatives, NGOs, etc.).
Priority Themes
- Priority themes are defined by region in order to take into account the issues facing women and the contexts in which they operate. These themes constitute preferred guidelines for the attention of civil society organizations and not eligibility criteria.
- West Africa: formalization of income-generating activities;
- Central Africa: access to economic opportunities in the fields of agriculture, forestry, livestock breeding, fishing, valorization and processing of non-timber forest products (NTFP), particularly for displaced women;
- North Africa and the Middle East: strengthening the participation of women, including migrants and refugees, in the job market through professional training;
- Asia Pacific: access to professional training oriented towards professional integration and entrepreneurship;
- Caribbean: strengthening the entrepreneurial capacity of women and girls in the areas of sustainable agriculture, forestry, livestock breeding and fruit and vegetable processing;
- Central and Eastern Europe: access to professional training towards the creation of income-generating activities (AGR) or sustainable integration into employment;
- Indian Ocean and Djibouti: access to economic opportunities in the areas of sustainable agriculture, the blue economy, crafts and local services.
Funding Information
- The selected projects will benefit from a grant which will be paid in two installments. The first tranche, representing 80% of the total grant amount, will be granted upon signature of the grant agreement protocol. The second tranche, representing the remaining 20%, will be granted upon submission of supporting documents verified and accepted by the OIF (technical execution report, financial report, invoices, etc.) at the end of the implementation of the project. Any failure to capitalize on the support of the OIF may result in the reduction or even reimbursement of the subsidy.
- The grant application must comply with several rules:
- The requested grant must not be greater than the annual financial capacities of the requesting organization, that is to say the budget managed by the organization in 2023;
- The requested grant must be expressed in euros and be between 15,000 euros minimum and 100,000 euros maximum;
- The subsidy requested from the OIF must not represent more than 80% of the total cost of the project. The remaining 20% must be provided by grant(s) and/or by the organization’s own contributions (promotion of expertise, tangible/intangible heritage, volunteers, etc.)
- Operating costs cannot exceed 20% of the total project cost. These costs include expenses related to the operation of the organization’s headquarters (rent, electricity/water bills, internet connection costs, bank fees, etc.) as well as expenses related to personnel (salaries of managers. project managers, accountants, monitoring-evaluation managers, etc.). However, all expenses linked to the implementation of the project (salaries of facilitators and trainers, training supplies, micro-credits, kits, communication costs) are not considered as operating costs. etc.).
- The budget must devote between 5% and 7% of expenses to visibility actions (creation of posters, writing of articles, distribution on social networks, production of promotional videos, participation in media events, community gathering, day of the 8 March, etc.) and plan between 15% and 20% of expenses linked to the monitoring and evaluation activity of the initiative (compilation of results indicators, monitoring of women trained and integrated into employment, etc.).
- The Management Committee reserves the right to request adjustments to projects in accordance with the priorities of the Fund, as well as to modify the amount of the grant awarded.
Target Audience
- The projects supported by the Fund mainly benefit women, particularly those in situations of poverty and vulnerability, who are at the intersection of several forms of discrimination (young women – 15-35 years old), elderly women, migrant and refugee women, unmarried mothers, single mothers, women living with HIV, women with disabilities, women from sexual minorities, etc.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible, the applicant organization must meet the following conditions:
- Be a civil society organization (CSO): Are considered CSOs: non-governmental organizations, foundations, humanitarian associations, economic interest groups, cooperatives, private research institutes and partners. Natural persons, public universities, businesses and local authorities are not considered CSOs;
- Be registered and officially recognized by the authorities of one of the 54 states and governments that are full members of the OIF for more than two years;
- Demonstrate functional, transparent and democratic governance (regular holding of meetings, general assemblies and events or activities linked to its corporate purpose; existence of a Board of Directors, possibility of acquiring new members; and production of regular reports on its activities and finances);
- Have annual financial capacities greater than or equal to the amount of the grant requested (For example, a civil society organization whose annual budget is 50,000 euros will not be able to request a grant greater than 50,000 euros).
Selection Criteria
- Eligible applications will be decided according to the following criteria:
- The supporting organization is established locally and is of modest size and resources;
- The lead organization has expertise, experience and added value with regard to the objectives of the Fund;
- The lead organization relies on partner civil society organizations and the involvement of local public authorities to implement its project;
- The project provides a response to one or more needs identified jointly with the beneficiaries. It is relevant and adapted to the local context;
- The project primarily targets women, young women and girls (15-35 years old) in situations of poverty and vulnerability;
- The project is implemented while respecting multilingualism. The use of French is encouraged as well as that of local languages for proper implementation of the project;
- Project activities take into account negative externalities that could hinder the participation of female beneficiaries (childcare, transport costs, etc.);
- The project takes into account the fight against climate change in a transversal manner;
- The project proposes clear short and medium term objectives as well as results and impact indicators that are both quantitative and measurable;
- The project describes a sustainability strategy ensuring the sustainability of the actions and its results following financial support from the OIF;
- The project has an innovative character (for example, targets a sector of activity where women are less present such as sports professions, sciences);
- The project clearly describes the communication actions that will be deployed to beneficiaries, partners and the general public to promote the support of the OIF.
For more information, visit OIF.
