Application Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in the Fund for Gender Equality. The application period for the 2009–2010 grant cycle has now closed. Information about the next Call for Proposals will be available on this page in late 2010.

Grant Review Process

Applications were submitted in five languages (Arabic, English, French, Russian, and Spanish) and represented:

• 1,239 applications from 127 countries: 543 Catalytic (44% of all applications) from 110 countries, 696 Implementation (56%) from 111 countries (view the list of applications by country).
• 28% with a focus on political empowerment, 25% with a focus on economic empowerment, and 47% focused on both political and economic empowerment.
• 53% (660) presented formal partnerships of two co-lead organizations, with more than three-quarters of all applicants identifying additional strategic partners that would participate in programme implementation.
• 70% (877) of all applications met the basic eligibility requirements: 80% (445) of Catalytic and 64% (432) of Implementation.
• In total, applicants requested more than US$2.3 billion: $177 million in the Catalytic category and $2.2 billion in the Implementation category.

The grant review process ensured a rigorous and competitive assessment of applications:

• A Technical Committee (TC) of 39 women’s economic and political rights experts based in the regions (Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and the CIS, and Latin America and the Caribbean) was responsible for proposal review.
• TC members reviewed and scored the proposals according to their potential to achieve sustainable impact in the lives of women and to advance gender equality laws and policies that had been agreed upon at national levels.
• Each proposal was reviewed by at least two TC members. Top-scored proposals then underwent a rigorous ranking process a comprehensive assessment and to identify the most promising programmes.
• 27 Catalytic Grants were selected on the basis of Concept Note application in December 2009.
• 22 Implementation Semi-Finalists were invited to complete in-depth full-fledged proposals in February 2010. Semi-finalists received technical assistance from experts in monitoring and evaluation on the development of logical frameworks to define their expected results. Technical Committee members assessed and scored Full-Fledged Implementation Proposals for their promise of substantial gains in women’s economic and political empowerment and considering thematic and regional diversity.
• 13 Implementation Grants were selected in July 2010.
• The Fund’s Steering Committee, composed of donor, governmental and NGO representatives from partner countries, multilateral agencies and the private sector, reviewed recommendations from the Technical Committee (in both grant categories) and ratified final grant selections.