Call for Proposals: Civil Society Grants to Expand Women’s Leadership and Political Participation (WYDE | Women’s Leadership grants up to150,000)

The UN Women, through its WYDE | Women’s Leadership initiative, is offering grants to civil society and women's rights organizations (including youth-led) to enhance women's political leadership and participation. The core objective is to advance women's full and effective political participation and decision-making at all levels, specifically targeting social norms change, intergenerational and intersectional leadership, and movement building, aligning with Generation Equality AC6. Projects should contribute to WYDE Outcome 1: 'Leadership and networking of women in public life are strengthened.' Eligible strategies include building women's political leadership capacity (especially for underserved groups like women with disabilities, Indigenous women, LGBTQI+ women), establishing mentorship and intergenerational networks (pairing emerging/youth leaders with seasoned advocates), driving social norms and narrative change (engaging men/boys, media, countering disinformation), strengthening feminist movements (consortia, knowledge sharing), and increasing women's access to decision-making (advocacy, evidence creation). Mandatory eligibility criteria include legal registration, 3+ years experience in relevant fields (5+ preferred for larger awards), 3 years of audited financial statements, single-country implementation in an ODA-eligible country, and compliance with UN Women's partner agreement terms, Anti-Fraud, and PSEA standards. Total funding for this round is approximately USD 1,000,000, with individual awards between USD 45,000 and 150,000 for projects spanning 12 to 22 months.

Applicants should meticulously prepare their proposals by focusing on the following: 1. **Template Adherence**: Use all specified UN Women templates (CFP Letter, Proposal Data Sheet, ToR, Partner Agreement Acceptance, Annex B-1, B-4, B-2, B-3) and ensure all mandatory documents are included to avoid ineligibility. 2. **Strategic Alignment**: Clearly demonstrate how the project aligns with WYDE Outcome 1 and the priority focus areas (capacity building, mentorship, social norms change, movement strengthening, access to decision-making). Incorporate a country-specific social norms strategy backed by evidence or past pilots. 3. **Partnerships**: Strongly consider forming consortia and sub-partnerships, especially with youth-led organizations (≥51% leadership 18-35) and constituency-led groups, as this is a prioritization criterion. Detail roles, due diligence, and capacity support for sub-partners. 4. **Results Framework**: Develop a robust results framework with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) indicators, verifiable baselines, and clear targets directly linked to Outcome 1. 5. **Budget & Timeline**: Submit a realistic, results-based budget that matches activities, adhering to specified caps for personnel (≤20%), M&E (~3%), audit (3-5%), and overhead (≤7%). Ensure the implementation timeline (12-22 months) is feasible. 6. **Safeguarding & Risk**: Integrate safety, PSEA (Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse), safeguarding, do-no-harm, and online/offline disinformation response tactics into project design, training, and reporting mechanisms. 7. **Prioritization Factors**: Highlight alignment with prioritization criteria, such as being an Africa-based project, youth-led, serving marginalized groups, or demonstrating success in social norms change, coalition building, and operating in shrinking civic spaces. 8. **Submission**: Compile all required documents into a single email and send to `wyde@unwomen.org` by the deadline (10 November 2025, 23:59 EDT), ensuring the subject line references 'CFP UNW-HQ-WPP-CFP-2025-001'.

This grant opportunity presents a competitive landscape, with a total envelope of ~$1,000,000 for awards up to $150,000, suggesting a limited number of successful applications. Key strategic insights include: * **Thematic Depth**: Reviewers will scrutinize the depth of understanding and innovative approaches to social norms change, intergenerational/intersectional leadership, and feminist movement building. Generic proposals will likely not succeed. * **Geographic Priority**: Africa-based projects have a distinct advantage, indicating a strategic focus for this particular round of funding. * **Partnership Value**: The strong emphasis on sub-partnering, especially with youth-led and constituency-led organizations, underscores UN Women's desire for localized impact, inclusive representation, and genuine movement strengthening. Proposals demonstrating robust partnership plans will be highly competitive. * **Evidence and Experience**: Demonstrated success in relevant areas (social norms change, coalition building) and operating in challenging civic spaces will be a significant differentiator. Citing evidence and past pilots is crucial. * **Compliance as a Gateway**: The mandatory eligibility criteria, particularly related to financial audits, PSEA, and Anti-Fraud policies, act as pass/fail gates. Organizations must ensure impeccable compliance to even be considered for technical review. * **Rigorous Evaluation**: The two-phase evaluation (70% technical, 30% financial) highlights that project quality, feasibility, results framework, M&E, partnership plan, and risk management are paramount. Financial proposals will be assessed for value for money, not just lowest cost, indicating a preference for cost-effectiveness and realistic budgeting over simply cheap options. * **Digital Integration**: The explicit mention of 'smart use of digital tools' and addressing 'gendered disinformation' signals that integrating digital strategies into both the proposal and project activities will be viewed favorably, showcasing modern and effective approaches.