Deadline: 21 February 2020
South African Women’s Rights organisations are invited to apply for funding under the Government of Canada Women Voice and Leadership-South Africa Fund (WVL SA). The grant call is managed by Gender Links through its GL Services portfolio.
The initiative arises from Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) addressing six main elements:
- Promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls
- Human dignity
- Growth that works for everyone
- Environment and climate action
- Inclusive governance
- Peace and security
Types of Grants
Multi Year Core Funding – four year grants of R500,000 – R1 million reviewed annually for organisations with an annual income of less than R 1 million.
- Multi-year funding is secure, long-term partnerships, including the possibility of support for core administrative functions to support sustainable resourced women’s rights organisations. Funding aims to support on-going and new programmes. These include service provision, awareness raising and advocacy, feminist research, policy dialogue and consultation, including with governments, and networking and mobilising.
- The Multi-Year Core Grants aim to build the capacity of Community Based WROs in four provinces (Gauteng, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape). Grants will be complemented by substantial institutional support and capacity building. This will be provided by GL as sub-granting agency together with the support of other qualified WROs that provide the relevant training required by Grantees.
Networking and Alliance Building – four year grants of R500,000 – R1.3 million reviewed annually for organisations anywhere in South Africa that build networks and alliances.
- The Networking and Alliance Building Grants aim to build a strong women’s movement in South Africa. Organisations can be based anywhere in South Africa and should ideally work across more than one province. Network and Alliance Building for movement building amplifies the voices of local organisations so that they are heard at national, regional and international fora and fosters an enabling environment in which broader collective action can coalesce. For this, resources or mechanisms to be defined in the design of the initiative shall include:
- To facilitate network and partnership/supportive alliance building among and between different organisations for women’s rights and feminist movement building, this includes peer – peer networks, and linking different types of organisations such as community-based organisations, professional associations, and women economic and political leaders
- Plan and convene events that bring partners together for collective action, agenda-setting, and knowledge sharing, particularly on innovative approaches solutions.
- Facilitate and amplify the voice of local women’s organisations in regional and international arenas
- Mechanisms to strengthen and support the activities of new organisations that are ineligible to receive funding directly.
Rapid Response Grants of three months to one year of R20,000 to R50,000 for an urgent, catalytic need.
- Rapid Response Funding is for discreet activities and short projects including delivery mechanisms that would allow nimble and timely response to unforeseen events where it is strategic that action be taken. The funds can also be used to support and pilot innovative ideas.
- The philosophy behind the fast, flexible funding is that WROs often end up responding to human rights abuses, deregulation, cyberbullying, personal harassment or other types of gender discrimination as part of their mandates, but the project funds they typically access cannot be used for this type of work. Most project-based funding does not allow them the flexibility to do this. Any mechanism that responds to these issues can be considered appropriate under this pillar of funding.
- Interventions include but are not limited to activities, events and policy level initiatives. The main recipients for this Grant are organisations piloting innovative approaches and/or responding to emerging issues on women’s rights and gender equality.
General Eligibility Criteria
Eligible women’s rights organisations (WROs) will be:
- Based on feminist principles and must explicitly include gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in their mandate and programming.
- Demonstrate capacity/ability to collaborate with other WROs to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
- Have an Executive Director/Head and 80% of the people in all decision-making levels (management and governing board, if one exists) who are women. At least 60% of the staff must be women.
- Applications will be accepted from networks of WROs, which may include feminist, women-led groups that are not registered, do not have three years of experience and/or are less experienced in terms of financial management and technical capacity but are willing to take steps to strengthen these areas of their work.
Eligible Activities
Include, but are not limited to WROs working to promote women’s and girl empowerment in following areas Constitutional and Legal Rights, Governance, Education, Economic Justice, GBV, SRHR, Health, HIV and AIDS, Media and Climate Change.
Non-Eligible Activities
Activities and costs that are ineligible for grant funding include, but are not limited to:
- Creation of endowments (Note: financing of loan portfolios is not an endowment).
- Any previous obligations by Gender Links to the beneficiary.
- Bad debts of the Grantee.
- Fines imposed on the Grantee.
- Penalties imposed on the Grantee.
- Any expenses related to ceremonies, parties, and celebrations.
- Purchase of any goods restricted and prohibited under Gender Links regulations such as alcoholic beverages.
- Purchase of surveillance equipment, military equipment or arms whether new or surplus, police or law enforcement equipment, abortion equipment and services, weather modification equipment, luxury goods and gambling equipment.
- Purchase of goods from prohibited sources.
- Expenses related to purchases or activities which are illegal under South African law.
- Promotion of political parties, religion, or commercial interests.
- Payments made to government employees.
For more information, visit http://www.wvlsa.org.za/first-call-for-proposals/