Apply for Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Environments (RISE) Grants Challenge

Deadline: 07-Jun-2024

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is accepting applications for the Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Environments (RISE) Grants Challenge to address gender-based violence and environment linkages.

The Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Environments (RISE) grants challenge is a first-of-its-kind grant fund that supports activities designed to address gender-based violence and environmental linkages in environmental and climate-related programmes and generate evidence on promising interventions.

Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and managed by IUCN, the RISE grants challenge is a direct response to a landmark study on gender-based violence and environment linkages by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which USAID’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hub (GenDev) commissioned through the Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT) partnership.

The 2024 RISE Call for Proposals is the fifth RISE grants challenge open call. A new cohort of RISE grantees will join the four previous cohorts, growing a community of practice and contributing to critical knowledge and strategies toward meeting interlinked global goals of eradicating gender-based violence and securing a healthy and peaceful planet.

RISE Grants Challenge Scope, Purpose and Objectives

• The overarching purpose of the RISE grants challenge is to fund projects that address gender-based violence that is occurring within and linked to environment and climate-related sectors.
• In 2024, the RISE grants challenge seeks to fund applications that adapt strategies to prevent, mitigate and respond to the risk of gender-based violence and environmental linkages in the context of the dual global biodiversity and climate crises. This year, RISE will accept applications addressing gender-based violence across biodiversity and climate contexts, challenges and sectors, with a specific earmark for at least several projects to address gender-based violence in fisheries sectors.
• The RISE grants challenge encourages applications that also deliver improved rights-based, gender-responsive, socially inclusive conservation, climate action and sustainable development. In 2024, they continue to be interested in intersectional approaches that include or emphasise vulnerable groups such as Indigenous women, environmental defenders, youth, and women and girls who are underrepresented and marginalised in their communities, among others.
• The RISE grants challenge seeks to build evidence and cross-sector collaborations in three primary ways, investing in: a) existing environmental projects that leverage RISE funding and technical support to embed gender-based violence prevention, mitigation and/or response in an integrated manner to environmental work; b) existing gender-based violence and environment programming that aims to continue, scale up or replicate an intervention; or c) new projects that address gender-based violence and environment linkages at the global policy level.
• The RISE grants challenge will support strategies to address gender-based violence in environment and climate-related programming through:
  • Existing environmental projects that leverage RISE funding and technical support to embed gender-based violence prevention, mitigation and/or response in an integrated manner to environmental work 
    • Applicants may seek funding to complement an existing environmental project, specifically to integrate strategies to address gender-based violence. In this case, the grant will support efforts related to addressing gender-based violence in relation to the concurrent biodiversity and climate change crises. Applying for this type of support requires the specific written support of the original funder and implementing partners. This additional grant will fund interventions, such as GBV-integrated training; policies; policy reform, including developing robust organisational sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment safeguarding practices; partnerships; M&E collection and communication; and/or other activities to be determined by the applicant.
  • Continuing, scaling-up or replicating existing projects addressing gender-based violence in environment sectors 
    • Applicants may seek funding to complement an existing project already addressing gender-based violence in the environment sector or environmental programming. In this case, the grant will support efforts to continue, scale-up or replicate the existing project. This additional grant will fund interventions, such as GBV-integrated training; policies; policy reform, including developing robust organisational sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment safeguarding practices; partnerships; M&E collection and communication and/or other activities to be determined by the applicant. Applying for this type of support requires the specific written support of the original funder and implementing partners and will need to specifically articulate how this grant builds on the learnings and results of the first grant or programme.
  • New programming that addresses gender-based violence and environment at the global policy level 
    • Applicants may seek funding to implement strategies at the global policy level to address the intersection of gender-based violence and the environment. In this case, the grant will support the unique development of a new project focused on developing, contributing to, or implementing a global-level policy to address gender-based violence in environment programming. This could include activities such as policy analysis, advocacy, capacity building, and stakeholder engagement to influence and/or implement global policies and frameworks that integrate GBV considerations into environmental programming.

Funding Information

• The RISE grants challenge seeks to fund up to six projects between USD 100,000 – USD 400,000 each, with implementation timelines of 18-24 months.

Eligible Geographies 

• The RISE grants challenge is global in overarching scope and aims to foster and share learning across global, regional, national and subnational levels. RISE grants challenge projects must be implemented in one or more of the targeted 18 countries or be non-area based global policy focused projects.

Eligibility Criteria

• The RISE grants challenge is open to legally registered local, national, regional or international organisations, including but not limited to:
  • Non-governmental organisations (NGOs);
  • Grassroots, local and community-based organisations (CBOs), including women, and youth-led organisations;
  • Civil society organisations (CSOs);
  • Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations (IPOs);
  • Women-owned/women-led enterprises;
  • Faith-based organisations (FBOs);
  • International non-governmental organisations (INGOs);
  • Intergovernmental organisations (IGOs);
  • Universities and other academic institutions that are not publicly funded;
  • Research institutes and think tanks;
  • Private sector companies (international, regional, national, local) (for-profit organisations must clearly demonstrate that the proposed project pursues strictly non-profit objectives and does not generate any income);
  • Consortiums, partnerships and other already existing forms of collaboration;
  • Organisations that are members of IUCN and/or others with track record improving environment outcomes; and
  • Organisations that have previously applied for and/or received RISE funding (these applicants must specifically articulate how another grant builds on the learnings and results of the first).

For more information, visit IUCN.