Deadline: 14-Dec-23
Through the “Sport for women’s empowerment” program, the GIZ and FIFA are joining forces to combat gender inequalities and gender-based violence and promote and facilitate women’s access to leadership, professional integration, entrepreneurship, life skills, governance, access to healthcare etc. using sport as a development tool.
The Sport for Women’s Empowerment Programme is a great opportunity to contribute to empowering girls and women through the transformative and bridging power of sport. Supporting projects that address gender inequalities and foster female leadership lies at the heart of Germany’s Feminist Development Policy.
The focus will be on women’s empowerment. All sports are eligible for this call for projects. Projects involving football will however be prioritized when carried out by a FIFA member association.
Funding Information
- The “Sports for Women’s Empowerment” program can finance between €18 000 and €22 000 including VAT for each winning projects. Any application submitted outside this range will be considered ineligible.
Duration
- Projects will run for a minimum of 9 months and a maximum of 11 months starting from March 2024.
Eligible Projects
- The project must:
- Take place in one of the eligible countries mentioned. Areas classified in red by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs are eligible;
- Prioritize women and girls while recognizing the importance of men and boys in women’s empowerment. Special attention will be given to projects that specifically, directly, or indirectly target vulnerable women who are victims of intersecting discrimination;
- Use sport as a women’s empowerment tool. All sports are eligible. For projects involving football, those supported by a FIFA member association will be given preference. For other sports, there are no specific priority rules;
- Ensure that the total expenses do not exceed €150,000 (excluding valuations);
- Take place between March 2024, after the signing of the financing agreement, and conclude no later than February 2025, with a minimum implementation duration of 9 months and a maximum duration of 11 months.
- Projects should use sports as a means to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals with a specific focus on using it as a critical lever to address the vulnerabilities identified and faced by women and young girls.
- Projects must integrate the traditional criteria of development aid:
- Project alignment with its social, environmental, and institutional context and relevance to public policies, plans, and national, regional, or local development directions;
- Consistency with existing public and private mechanisms;
- Agreement from local or national authorities required;
- Project sustainability: the ability to manage and achieve economic balance in the long term (covering operating and maintenance costs) once the investment phase is completed;
- Involvement of beneficiaries: participation of beneficiaries in project design and management and local community ownership of results.
Ineligible Projects
- The following projects are not eligible:
- Microfinance, microcredit, microsavings, and cascade financing projects;
- Relating only to the transport of equipment (local purchasing and the development of local trade are given priority, unless this is not possible);
- Relating only to field evaluations;
- Whose main activity is solely the organization of an event;
- For purely sporting purposes.
Eligible Countries
- Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, Tunisia
- Latin America: Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru
- Asia: India, Indonesia, Pakistan
- Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia
- Middle East: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon
Eligibility Criteria
- Organizations recognized to be of public utility (associations, foundations, local authorities, sports clubs, sports federations, economic interest groups, cooperatives, government bodies) are eligible to register and submit their funding requests.
- These structures must meet the following criteria:
- Be recognized to be of public utility and have been registered in the project’s host country for at least 2 years (with proof of registration);
- Have annual resources equal to or less than €500,000, based on the latest approved annual financial statements. This criterion does not apply to FIFA member associations, for which there is no annual resource limit
- Be legally independent and autonomous and not have been convicted of practices prohibited by local authorities or of acts of corruption;
- Have an accounting system in compliance with the national accounting standards of the relevant country. The accounting system should allow an external expert to have an overview of the entity’s business transactions and financial position within a reasonable timeframe;
- Have properly prepared financial statements, for example, by an external auditing body
- Comply with national procurement standards;
- Demonstrate a long-term strategy and vision and have a monitoring and evaluation system in place.
- Non-FIFA member football federations will not be eligible.
For more information, visit FIFA.