Fund for Gender Equality

The Fund for Gender Equality is a multi-donor initiative designed to advance high-impact gender equality programmes that focus on women’s economic and/or political empowerment at local and national levels. It provides grants to civil society and governmental agencies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Arab States, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Fund is unique in its focus on turning local and national laws and policies into tangible gains for women’s rights.

Types of Grants Available

Potential grantees may apply for one of two types of grants:

• Implementation grants will range from US$2 million to US$5 million distributed over a period of two to four years. These grants will support programmes in countries with agreed upon national or local plans, policies or laws that advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, and that are ready for implementation.
• Catalytic grants will range from US$100,000 to US$500,000 distributed over a period of one to two years. These grants will support the establishment of strategic coalitions or partnerships to catalyse the development and endorsement of gender equality national or local plans, policies or laws. Once a plan, policy or law is developed and endorsed, successful institutions will be eligible to apply in the future for a larger Implementation Grant.

For both types of grants, proposed programmes can encompass global, regional, national or local initiatives, but each must make the case that it contributes to the implementation of commitments to gender equality at national and/or local levels that will generate concrete and measurable results in the lives of women and girls during the programme period.

Background

The Fund for Gender Equality is designed to maximize national ownership, harmonization and alignment, and holistic strategies that will accelerate progress on gender equality in line with National Development Strategies (NDSs) and advance commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Beijing Platform for Action, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and other global and regional agreements. The Fund’s mission is in line with the Monterrey Consensus (2002), the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005), and the Accra Agenda for Action (September 2008), and follows the Development Assistance Committee Guiding Principles for Aid Effectiveness, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (December 2008).

Launched with an initial contribution of US$65 million (EUR 50 million) from the Government of Spain and housed in a Secretariat at the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Fund for Gender Equality is guided by a Steering Committee composed of donor, governmental and NGO representatives from partner countries, multilateral agencies and the private sector. A Technical Committee of experts on women’s economic and political empowerment supports the review and selection of grant proposals.

The Fund’s principles and practices will be based on lessons learned by other thematic funds, including the Fast Track Initiative on Education for All; the Global Fund on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the Spanish MDG Achievement Fund; The Dutch MDG3 Fund; and the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

For instructions on how to apply, please consult the Application Guidelines. If you have questions, please review the Frequently Asked Questions section or contact the Fund for Gender Equality Secretariat:

Ana María Enríquez
Programme Manager
Secretariat, Fund for Gender Equality
E-mail: