The Global Fund for Women annually awards around 500 grants. Women-led groups outside the United States are offered grant in between $5000 and $30000 per year for operation and project expenses. The Fund is accepting applications from 15 September 2014 to get funding for projects beginning from mid 2015.

The Global Fund for Women focuses on issues that make vital difference for women and girls supporting groups and organizations of women and girls. These groups or organizations use three approaches to meet the purpose.

1. Technology – to advocate, connect, and increase awareness of key issues to support global women’s right movements. Critical issues – security, advocacy and mapping.
2. Education – to build knowledge, skills, and self-confidence including advocating for change through increasing public awareness and influencing attitudes in support of women’s and girls’ human rights.
3. Leadership – to provide young women with important leadership opportunities and encouraging their leadership in protest, advocacy, representation and mobilization to change the attitudes and system.

Priority Areas for Funding

Zero Violence – projects ensuring the participation and empowerment of women, and advocate for peace building while challenging laws, policies, cultures and behavior that perpetuates discrimination, violence and abuse are funded. The fund aims to end gender based violence.

Economic & Political Empowerment – projects advocating the economic and legal reform and women’s equal participation in local and national elections and economics are supported. The fund supports democracy movements and efforts to secure land, labor and property rights. The goal of this support is to ensure that all women are economically secure and independent and are supported by policies ensuring women’s and girls’ equal rights to resources and livelihoods.

Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights – campaigns, service delivery, advocacy and education are supported to influence attitudes and achieve policy change that secures women’s and girls’ full access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. The primary objective of this support is to ensure that all women and girls are free to make their own reproductive and sexual choices. Sexual and reproductive health services and information are readily available.

Priority regions/countries

1. Asia and the Pacific- South Asia (India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), Southeast Asia (Burma and Thai border areas, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia), Pacific Island Countries
2. Sub-Saharan Africa – Great Lakes (Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo,Rwanda), Mano River Region (Liberia, Sierra Leone), Tanzania, Northern Uganda, Nigeria, The Sahel Region (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger), Select grantees and networks in Kenya
3. Latin America and the Caribbean – Mexico and Central America (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua), Caribbean (Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica), Andean Region (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador,Bolivia), Southern Cone (Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina)
4. Middle East and North Africa – North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia), The Gulf Countries (Baharain, Yemen), Middle East (Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syrian Women refugees),Turkey
5. Latin America and the Caribbean – Mexico and Central America (Mexico, Gautemala, Honduras, Nicaragua), Caribbean (Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica), Andean Region (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia), Southern Cone (Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina)
6. Europe and Central Asia – The Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro,Serbia), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan), Eastern Europe (Russian North Caucasus,Ukraine), South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia)

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants can be from anywhere in the world except USA. US based organizations are not eligible.
• Applicants’ activities must reflect the goals of advancing women’s equality and human rights.
• Applicants must be a group of women working together, requests from individuals are not accepted.
• Applicant organization must be governed, directed and led by women. All or more of the leadership roles must be filled by women.
• It is not the requirement for the group to be a non-governmental organization to qualify for funding.
• Women-focused projects within mixed-gender organizations may occasionally receive support if they work with particularly marginalized groups – women within groups of people with disabilities or women within LGBTQI organizations.

For more information, please visit Apply for a Grant.