Deadline: Ongoing Opportunity
With the support of the US State Department’s Secretary’s Office on Global Women’s Issues, Search for Common Ground (Search) is launching a global Women, Peace and Security Rapid Response Fund to support local efforts in women, peace and security (WPS).
The SHE WINS Rapid Response Fund (RRF) is a global funding mechanism administered by Search for Common Ground. It is designed to respond to urgent needs in the current women, peace and security (WPS) landscape across 78 countries (listed below). The objective is to provide simple-to-access funds directly to a diverse range of women-led initiatives to respond to emerging crises, and seize new openings for the advancement of WPS outcomes in fragile and conflict affected contexts.
The rapid response funding will support a diverse range of women-led or women-serving initiatives to respond to and seize new openings for the advancement of WPS in fragile and conflict affected contexts. The rapid response funds will support local groups to respond to changing contexts, including closing contexts or preventing backsliding on previous accomplishments.
Thematic Areas
- Initiatives to eliminate barriers, including legal, structural, social, and security-related barriers, to women’s increased, active and meaningful participation in countering violent extremism (CVE), peace processes, and conflict prevention, transformation, or resolution processes.
- Efforts to respond to emerging conflict, violent extremism (VE), crises, or environmental disasters or other WPS settings, which are representative of all affected populations.
- Efforts to leverage and maximize emerging political openings particularly in peacebuilding contexts to promote inclusion in the WPS space.
- Advocacy initiatives and mobilization that may result in the advancement of the WPS agenda such as efforts to address structural barriers to meaningful participation in a formal or informal peace process, including identify effective ways for the inclusion of women and marginalized groups.
- Technical and logistical support to women peacebuilders, negotiators, mediators, advocates, and other stakeholders to participate more effectively in ceasefire negotiations, constitution reform, political dialogues, or peace or mediation processes at the Track I or II level.
- Efforts to mitigate barriers to women’s access to decision-making spaces, catalyze women’s leadership, and elevate the voices of local women peacebuilders to shape the global, international, or national policy environments on peace and security.
Funding Categories
- In-kind support: In-kind support for specific, time-bound activities contributing to WPS work. Activities under this stream may include: travel for key activities, support for one-off activities or convenings, procurement of goods and services, including consultancies, technical assistance. Under this stream, funds will not be issued to the applicant, but the goods or services will be procured by Search and provided as in-kind assistance to the local organization or group.
- Amount: $500 to $25,000
- Timeframe: 3 months or less
- Medium grants: Support to key small initiatives undertaken by local organizations or groups for quick impact. Activities under this stream may include specific deliverables based on responses to changes in the context to protect women’s rights or safety in closing spaces, or new, emerging opportunities to advance inclusive peace and WPS.
- Amount: $25,000 to $100,000
- Timeframe: 3-9 months
- Large grants: Larger rapid response projects will support longer term efforts. Only a small number of awards is envisioned under this stream of funding.
- Amount: $100,000 to $250,000
- Timeframe: 9-12 months
Eligible Countries
- The funding window is currently open for local women-led groups in the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte D’Ivoire, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, the Federated States of Micronesia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nauru, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Venezuela, the West Bank and Gaza, Yemen, Zimbabwe.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Women, Peace and Security Rapid Response Fund invites applications from women-led or women-serving groups, including non-governmental organizations and coalitions. The funds are available globally. While applicants do not need to be officially registered as a non-governmental organization, applicants will need to show demonstrable experience in administering successful, and preferably similar initiatives.
Ineligible
- Support to individuals
- Construction or infrastructure activities
- Costs incurred before or after the specified dates of the grant
- Alcoholic beverages
- Explicitly religious activities, including those that involve overt religious content such as worship, religious instruction, prayer, or proselytization
- Costs of entertainment, including amusement, diversion, and social activities and any associated costs are unallowable
- Vehicles
For more information, visit Search for Common Ground.
