Deadline: 26-Jun-23
The French Development Agency (AFD) is launching the multi-country call for projects FSOF “Feminism, women’s empowerment and economic participation”.
It is intended to finance a development project led by a consortium of civil society organizations (CSOs) from all countries of the world, to support the action of feminist CSOs in partner countries of French development policy, with priority given to Africa, South Asia and Latin America/Caribbean.
Objectives
- to improve the rights, empowerment and economic participation of women, particularly the most vulnerable, using a rights-based approach that takes into account factors of inequality; and to broaden the scope of action and expertise of local feminist associations on these issues.
- support capacity building for feminist movements in partner countries of France’s development and international solidarity policy,
- support local feminist associations to improve the rights, empowerment and economic participation of women, especially the most vulnerable, according to a rights-based approach and taking into account the factors of multidimensional inequalities,
- broaden the field of action and expertise of local feminist associations on these issues.
Themes
- Thematic issues of this call for projects:
- increase access to the economic sphere and productive resources (and their control over them) for women and LGBTQIA+ people,
- improve decent work, employment, rights and equality in the formal and informal,
- promote gender-transformative policies and practices, in particular by care economy
Sectors Concerned: Women’s empowerment (gender, education and training, bodily autonomy, legal framework, economic development).
Components
- Component 1: Provision of flexible funding to local feminist CSOs (at least 50% of the total budget of €10M = €5M)
- Activities to support gender equality in and through the economic empowerment of women and LGBTQIA+ people
- Support activities for the functioning / development of formal or informal feminist CSOs local on the ground
- Component 2: Strengthening the technical capacities of local feminist CSOs
- Development of a technical and financial management training offer
- Support for the development of a strategic plan and a viable economic model
- Support for the definition of advocacy messages, establishment of synergies with other ongoing actions, capitalization of good practices, development of content and communication media
- Component 3: capitalization, sharing of practices and networking
- Communication, visibility
- Animation of a community of practices (capitalization of the expertise of CSOs, mechanisms of transfer of knowledge and experience between them).
Funding Information
- Amount: €10 million, and duration of the project: 3 to 4 years (rapid start expected)
- 9,900,000 euros in grants.
- Project Duration: Between three and four years (the proposal will need to justify the proposed duration).
Leverage Effects Searched
- The removal of barriers to access by women and LGBTQIA+ people to basic prerequisites, beyond the strictly economic sphere, as well as to productive resources (and their control over them), in order to be able to empower themselves economically and assert their rights.
- Improving decent work, employment, rights and equality for women and people LGBQTIA+ active in formal and informal economies
- The promotion of gender-transformative policies and practices, particularly in the care economy; advocating for laws, standards and policies that promote women’s rights and empowerment;
- Strengthening the capacity for action and the individual and collective bases (“ life skills”, soft skills and empowerment of women) supporting their economic emancipation;
- The strengthening and sustainability of alliances between feminist CSOs working in favor of the theme;
- The involvement and change of perception of actors in favor of the economic empowerment of women and LGBQTIA+ people;
- The amplification of the voice and representation of women and LGBTQIA+ people in their societies and with authorities, with regard to issues related to their education and empowerment;
- The production and promotion of local knowledge to guide feminist action.
Geography Involved: Priority (but not exclusively) African continent (including North Africa, excluding Sahel), South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Call for Projects
- Within the framework of the Support Fund for Women’s Organizations (FSOF), AFD is launching the call for proposals “Feminism, Women’s Empowerment and Participation in Economic Life. With a budget of 9.9 million euros in grants, this call for projects aims to finance an intermediated fund managed by associations:
- French and/or international and/or national organizations from Southern countries, structured in consortium, and working in partnership with structures, notably local ones
- meet the definition specified in the FSOF’s Strategic and Accountability Framework 2020-2022, i.e. feminist civil society organizations in all their diversity, whether formally constituted or not, whose objective is to act in favor of gender equality and to transform gender-based social relations in a sustainable manner, and particularly those whose main mission is the defense and promotion of the effective rights and empowerment of women and girls;
- with expertise in women’s economic empowerment and gender equality, based on a multidimensional approach to inequalities, including issues of access by women and LGBTQTIA+ people to basic prerequisites, beyond the strictly economic sphere, as well as to productive resources (and their control over them), in order to be economically empowered; improving decent work, employment, rights and equality for women and LGBQTIA+ people working in the formal and informal economies; and promoting gender transformative policies and practices, particularly in the care economy;
- having experience in facilitating transformational mechanisms on gender, in terms of a rights-based approach, particularly in the field of employment and economic empowerment of women, according to an inclusive approach that takes into account multidimensional inequality factors;
- having previous experience in partnership with feminist civil society organizations, in networking and in financing their activities
- with capacity to deploy communication channels with local and community-based CSOs in diverse contexts;
- Skills in building community and civil society organization capacity and identifying good practices;
- Prior experience in action research/capitalization (intellectual production, South-South knowledge sharing), advocacy, influence, and political action;
- With in-depth knowledge of the ecosystems of the proposed countries of intervention;
- Proven administrative and financial management skills in multiple and varied geographical areas;
- with operational/management capacities for multi-actor projects, including in remote areas of intervention.
Eligible Project Holders
- This call is open to non-profit organizations, French, international or national civil society organizations (CSOs) from all countries of the world, including partner countries of France’s development and international solidarity policy, formed in a consortium led by a lead CSO.
For more information, visit AFD.