Deadline: 31-Jul-23
The Women’s Fund Asia through its Strengthening Feminist Movement (SFM) grantmaking programme is supporting women, girls, trans and intersex rights activists, groups and networks, working at the local, subnational and national levels in Asian countries.
Types of Grants
- Institutional: This grant covers institutional and administrative costs, including salaries, rent, audit, and other operational costs. Institutional grants can also be used to fill funding gaps of ongoing/new programmes and collaborations, as per the need of the groups. Only for organisational applications.
- Programmatic: This grant supports specific programmes/projects, whether ongoing or new initiatives. For both individual and organisational applications.
Funding Information
- Individual grants will be up to USD 8,000 for a period of 1 year.
- Organisational grants will be of two categories:
- One-year organisational grants up to a maximum amount of USD 15,000.
- Two-year organisational grants up to a maximum amount of USD 30,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Individual activists
- Must be 18 years of age or older.
- Must identify as a woman, girl, trans, or intersex person.
- Must be a national of and must be based in one of these 16 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
- Must work on women, girls, trans, and intersex human rights issues with direct links to women’s, trans, intersex, and other rights-based movements sub-nationally or nationally.
- Civil servants, and/or those affiliated with and holding office in political parties, are not eligible to apply for this call.
- Current partners who hold a Leading from the South and Strengthening Feminist Movements grant extending beyond 31 January 2024 are not eligible to apply.
- Organisations
- Must be based in one of these 17 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
- Must have advancement of women, girls, trans, and/or intersex rights as a focus of their vision, mission, and programme.
- Must be committed to feminist principles and rights-based approaches.
- Must fulfil the following criteria with respect to annual budget:
- To apply for a one-year grant: Maximum annual budget of USD 100,000.
- To apply for a two-year grant:
- Minimum annual budget of USD 25,000 and maximum annual budget of USD 100,000,
- Additionally, applicants for the two-year organisational grant must fulfil the following criteria: have received at least one WFA grant from 2017 onwards, and can receive foreign funds as grants or donations.
- Must be led by women, girls, trans, and/or intersex persons. This means:
- Both the board and staff should be led by a woman, girl, trans, and/or intersex person (18 years or older).
- Both the board and staff should be composed of at least 60% women, girls, trans, and/or intersex people.
- Must not fall into any of these categories:
- Groups using strategies such as raid and rescue, anti-sex work, anti-abortion, and anti-LGBTIQ, among others;
- Groups whose primary purpose is service delivery, humanitarian assistance, charity, poverty alleviation programmes, education, scholarships, literacy, and skills development programmes;
- Groups directly/indirectly related or connected with elections and election campaigning;
- Groups directly affiliated with political parties and government institutions (note that the applicant’s board and staff leadership should also not be affiliated with political parties and/or hold government positions, even if in their individual capacity);
- Groups directly affiliated with religious institutions or faith-based groups;
- Businesses/for-profit groups; Educational/academic institutions, or groups affiliated with them;
- A branch, chapter, or country office of a multilateral organisation (such as ASEAN, SAARC, or one of the United Nations agencies) or of an international organisation based in the Global North;
- A regional or global organisation or network; and
- Women’s funds or any other funding organisation.
Ineligible
- SFM grants programme does not support applications for any of the following:
- Microcredit, microfinance, and other income generation activities;
- Sponsorships and scholarships;
- Service provision activities such as running of health camps;
- Direct or indirect interventions in electoral or party-based political activities, such as election campaigns, election processes, supporting or opposing a political candidate during elections, and contributions to political parties or individual candidate’s fund (even if independent);
- Buying land or any construction activity;
- Emergency or relief funds; and
- Academic research.
For more information, visit Women’s Fund Asia.